google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday November 20, 2013 Victor Barocas

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Nov 20, 2013

Wednesday November 20, 2013 Victor Barocas

Theme: BACK BUTTON (66A. Browser feature, or what the ends of 17-, 31-, 38- or 50-Across can have) - "Button" can follow the last word of each 2-word theme entry.



7A. Series of "Got milk?" spots, e.g. : AD CAMPAIGN. Campaign button. Some of the rusty looking old JFK buttons at the flea markets are repros.

31A. Snowballing financial crisis : BANK PANIC. Panic button.

38A. It's used to break a habit : WILLPOWER. The only one-word theme answer. Power button.

50A. American bacon source : PORK BELLY. Belly button.

C.C. here, pitch-hitting for Jazzbumpa, who still has no power due to the big storm last weekend. He said "no home phone, TV, or internet... It's taking me back to me early 'ute - the 40's."

Beautiful grid from Victor. Normal word count, but only 34 black squares. Solid 7's in all four corners.  This type of design is often the result of a 9-letter theme entry in the middle row 8 & an adventurous spirit from the constructor, as it's easier to break one edge into two 3's.

I met Victor a few times. He's extremely talented. Very unassuming.

Left to Right: George,  Victor,  Andrea, C.C. & DK

Across:

1. Food at a bar : SALAD

6. 54-Across vaccine developer : SALK (Jonas). And 54A. See 6-Across : POLIO. He chose not to patent his vaccine, while Oprah tried to patent her "Aha moment"!

10. "My stars!" : EGAD

14. Run off, in a way : ELOPE. 29. Ran off with : STOLE. Quite a few clue echos & cross references in this grid.

15. Help in solving : CLUE

16. Age-old stories : LORE

19. Suffragist Lucretia : MOTT. I must have googled her before. I recognize this face.


20. Emmy-winning Arthur : BEA

21. "__ Gang" : OUR

22. Tolstoy work subtitled "The Story of a Horse" : STRIDER. Never heard of it.



24. Queen's subjects : ANTS. Queen ants. I only know Queen bees.

26. Dismissive cry : BAH. My feeling when I clicked on that talk from Jayce's mean boss.

28. Kitchen attraction : AROMA

34. Mexican cover-up : SERAPE. SARAPE is a var.

36. JFK Library architect I.M. : PEI. He was born in Guangzhou.

37. Connecticut hrs. : EST

42. That girl : SHE

45. Garden pond fish : KOI

46. Weather map line : ISOBAR

55. Whirlpool subsidiary : AMANA

56. Sweet tuber : YAM. I just call it sweet potato.

58. MacDonald's home : FARM

59. Ristorante dish : RISOTTO. And 2D. Ristorante request : AL DENTE. 
 
62. Apprehend : NAB

64. Place for some me-time : SPA

65. Make a muffler, perhaps : KNIT

69. Clothing fluff : LINT

70. Actress Elisabeth : SHUE. I only notice now that her name is not Elizabeth.

71. French sweetie : CHERI. Mon chéri/ma chérie.

72. Tense : EDGY

73. Undiluted : PURE

74. Company with "counting sheep" ads : SERTA

Down:

1. Popular food fish : SEA BASS

3. The "L" in URL : LOCATOR. URL= Uniform Resource Locator.

4. Org. for shrinks : APA

5. Showroom model : DEMO

6. Sacred beetle : SCARAB

7. Sacha Baron Cohen's "Da __ G Show" : ALI.  Ali G, Borat & Brüno are 3 of Sacha Baron Cohen's characters.

8. Galoots : LUGS

9. Reporter known for ducking into phone booths : KENT (Clark)

10. New York city near the Pennsylvania border : ELMIRA. I can never remember this name. What's it famous for again?

11. "Well played!" : GOOD ONE!

12. Sister of Apollo : ARTEMIS. Twins.

13. Take away (from) : DETRACT

18. Watering hole : PUB

23. See 68-Down : RAP. And 68. With 23-Down, what an accused thug may beat : THE

25. Fries alternative : SLAW

27. Antepenultimate fairy tale word : HAPPILY.  Antepenultimate is quite a mouthful. Third to last

30. Prefix with center : EPI

32. Not paleo- : NEO

33. New Zealander : KIWI

35. Actress Sommer : ELKE. Learned her name from doing xwords. Very pretty.



39. Typed chuckle : LOL

40. Seer's claim : ESP

41. Sleigh's parking spot : ROOF. Hi there Santa!

42. Vivacity : SPARKLE. Marti! So full of life and love.

43. Neanderthal, for one : HOMINID

44. Frequent schoolroom activity : ERASING

47. Weapon for Han Solo : BLASTER

48. Touchdown site : AIRPORT. Nice clue.

49. Bucharest's country : ROMANIA

51. Difficult : KNOTTY

52. Club on the diamond : BAT. And YANKEE (53. Mariano Rivera, e.g.). He's not going to save the Yankees any more.

57. Fairy queen of English legend : MAB

60. 1/16 of a cup: Abbr. : TBSP

61. Site of the Ko'olau range : OAHU. Easy guess.

63. Tampa NFLers : BUCs

67. Lowlife : CUR


Informal survey: Do you have an Old Country Buffet in your area? Do you like the place?

C.C.

77 comments:

Paul said...

No Old Country Buffet here, but there is in Elmira. Perhaps near Mark Twain's home...
Snow on the roof... better watch out Santa! Yams are popping up all over the place... must be Thanksgiving!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Pretty smooth (and fun) Wednesday solve today. Didn't know STRIDER and barely remembered ELMIRA, but that didn't slow me down much. Struggled a bit in the SW after putting in BACK BELLY for some unknown reason. Maybe I was thinking of back bacon? I dunno...

[sidgesu]

OwenKL said...

A CAMPAIGN BUTTON, also known as a pin
Is what you wear to help your candidate win.
His AD CAMPAIGN
Will undoubtedly explain
How he's more ethical than his masticating-in-public, formicating-on-the-hill, thespian-loving, niggard-accusing, gamboling-addicted opponent has been!

(10 points to anyone who formicates without looking it up!)

On Wall Street, it's forbidden to limerick.
Last time, in '29, it was epic!
Someone rhymed PANIC BUTTON
With old Willie Sutton;
The result was a depressing BANK PANIC!

(5 points to whoever can quote Willie Sutton!)

Mr. Bickerson liked BUTTONs for POWER.
They started coffee, and computer, even shower.
But buttons pushed by his wife
Caused his WILL POWER much strife,
And got him banished to the couch from their bower!

(7 points for anyone who can tune in the Don!)

The BELLY BUTTON that Budai contemplated
Must not with Mohammed's be conflated.
Budai's bindle was on his back.
Whole cities would Mohammed sack,
And PORK BELLY the dour prophet just hated!

(A dozen points to anyone who's enlightened about Budai!)

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C. and friends. I enjoyed this Button, Button, Whose got the Button theme.

I didn't know Tolstoy's novel and when I googled it, i found Kholstromeer. That must be the Russian name.

YAMS and Sweet Potatoes are different species.

QOD: Smooth shapes are very rare in the wild but extremely important in the ivory tower and the factory. ~ Benoît Mandelbrot (Nov. 20, 1924 ~ Oct. 14, 2010)

[hatmple]

Montana said...

Yes, an Old Counrty Buffet is close. I've never been there but my son likes to take visitors there, especially in-laws.
(Denver Tech area)
I am in a hurry this morning so turned on red letters right away. Probably could have solved it with time to go up and down repeatedly.
I did get the theme right away, but didn't use it to help solve.

Have a good day, everybody,
Montana

Lucina said...

Good day to all! I'm sorry to hear of Jazzbumpa's power woes, but so happy to see you pinch hitting again.

We don't have Country Buffet, but one similar where I hate to go because buffets make me crazy with too many choices and so many carbs! It's good for someone with a large appetite who can eat tons of food.

I really liked to push the BUTTONS on this puzzle although felt quite smug starting with TAPAS/TILAPIA. That was soon squelched and I was off sashaying.

Though I've seen ELMIRA before it doesn't exactly trip off my tongue, but it was easily grokked. Same with ALI.

Most of this filled quickly, ERASING only in the aforementioned 1A/D and initially misspelling HOMINID. I was going for HOMONOID but that didn't fit. RISOTTO gave me the I.

I guess it's the curse of old age to awaken early because that's what has been happening to me. Ah, well, I'll nap later.

You have a really great Wednesday, everyone!



Lucina said...

OwenKL:
Is Budai a variation of Buddha?

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

This could've been a sashay (ala Lucina), if I'd put the KOI in the pond and not where SHE needed to be. It all worked out OK, though.

I feel for Jzb sitting in the dark and POWERless to do anything about it. Nine days after Ike I paid scalper prices for a portable generator. Ten days after Ike the power was back on. The next year I put in a whole-house, natural gas backup system. Now we're never in the dark for more than 40 seconds.

C.C. down here they call it Ryan's -- same buffet chain. There's one 25 miles away in Conroe, but I've never been.

TTP said...




Good morning all. Thank you Professor Barocas !

Did not ace this one. That's two in a row where I had issues in the Northeast. Wasn't as bad as yesterday. This time it was a natick for Sister of Apollo crossing suffragette Lucretia. Also didn't know that Tolstoy wrote any book other than War and Peace, but STRIDER made sense as a title for a book with that subject matter as a subtitle. The theme helped me get PANIC in that corner.

Will Power is the Australian born IndyCar driver.

Our neighbor gave us a very large head of cabbage, a couple of Acorn squash, and a half dozen or so big sweet potatoes last month just because I blew out the drive after a snowstorm last winter.

My Cheri Amour

Lucina, I started out with SUSHI bar.

CC,
I did not know it, but there is an Old Country Buffet within about 10 miles of me, near the mall. Have never been there.

Great job pinch hitting !

Lemonade714 said...

Queen ant, STRIDER slowed me down a bit and I put Jonas in where POLIO fit. None took long to fix, thanks Victor and as always C. C.

David Blaine is sick.

Anonymous said...

During the Civil War Elmira had a famous (infamous) prisoner of war camp, dubbed Hellmira by its Confederate inmates.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone. Good intro, C.C.. Sorry to hear about JzB's travails. Bummer.

Enjoyed Victor's offering this morning. Most of the solve flowed ok, but had to wait on the NE. Punched through with AROMA, and then the 'R' got me ELMIRA. The rest fell right out after that and, voilà, it was done.

re: 10d, C.C. asked what Elmira was famous for. Other than being near the Pennsylvania border, I would say it is a hotbed of glider flying. Maybe some of the zoomies here can weigh in on that. Also, Mark Twain hails from Elmira.

Have a great day.

Paul said...

Anonymous said...
During the Civil War Elmira had a famous (infamous) prisoner of war camp, dubbed Hellmira by its Confederate inmates

Yes..... I remember that now... I've read a few books about Andersonville Prison Camp... (Robert Knox Sneden)... The Eye of the Storm. Fascinating.
Never learned about Hellmira until last year. Went to Gettysburg a few years ago. Still have goose bumps.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Victor Barocas, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.

This is the second time I have been on the blog today. The first was to report on yesterday's puzzle. Caught your note TTP, and I survived the dentist. Have to go back in three weeks to finish the job, a new crown.

Went through most of the puzzle quite easily. The SW corner was my last to finish.

The themes were easy and made sense.

Tried JONAS for 54A. Quickly figured out that POLIO was wanted.

Never realized that a Tablespoon (TBSP) was 1/16 of a cup. I guess i should have known that. I cook enough.

ELMIRA, NY, for some reason reminds me of music. Maybe there is a music school there?

ARTEMIS was with perps and a wag. Got it.

I have eaten at Old Country Buffets more times than Carter has Liver Pills. We have several in the Chicago suburbs. They have great food, all you can eat, and the prices are reasonable. If you want to pig out, that's the place. They have every kind of food you can think of.

Tomorrow I go to my eye doctor who is going to give me another laser to one of my eyes for Glaucoma treatment. My pressure is back up. Then the other eye next week.

Happy birthday yesterday, Creature. Stop in now and then. We miss you.

We will be off to SW Ohio for Thanksgiving next week. My oldest daughter and her family live there.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(yecens)

Husker Gary said...

The NE put a crimp in my colon for awhile and it took the reveal to get the fun theme, so this was a just right humpday puzzle.

Musings
-Does the sneeze guard at a SALAD BAR give you pause? We’ve got one CC, but we generally do not do buffets. Quality vs quantity?
-What’s on and what’s off on this POWER BUTTON?
-I wonder if Ursula put butts in the seats for SHE
-The AMANA colonies in Iowa were a failed experiment in socialism. When Hans saw lazy Fritz got the same pay as he did… Today they are a lovely tourist attraction
-Nobody did EDGY like the brilliant Don Knotts
-You’d think they could have come up with a way where you could write the URL as Crossword Corner Blog Spot Com instead of no caps or spaces.
-OJ is testimony to the fact that being guilty doesn’t DETRACT from the fact that you can beat THE RAP
-PC’s make for less ERASING in classrooms these days
-CANO wants $300,000,000 to continue playing for the YANKEES who have way too many overpaid aging superstars already
-“Why do you rob banks, Willie?” “That’s where the money is!”
-Snow and 28°F tomorrow. FORE!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Swooped through today, sussed the theme only with the unifier.

Morning, C.C. - The Schweizer Aircraft Corp. is located in Horseheads, immediately north of Elmira. They are best known for gliders, but they also make small helicopters and a crop dusting airplane. The Soaring Museum is in Elmira. Just a few miles west is Corning, site of the impressive "CMOG" - the Corning Museum of Glass.

oc4beach said...

Tough time in the NE corner. Didn't know MOTT or STRIDER but perps solved the corner.
C.C.: Elmira was a major transportation center in the 1800's starting with canals and then railroads moving coal and lumber to the major cities in the NE and mid-Atlantic. That is part of the reason that the Union set up the POW camp during the Civil War.

desper-otto said...

Abejo, maybe this is the music you were thinking of.

Husker, when I lived in Cedar Rapids back in the 70's we used to go to the Amana Colonies often for some great family-style meals: schnitzel, ham, roast beef and all-you-can-eat sides. Makes me hungry just remembering...

buckeye bob said...

Technically it is true that "Mark Twain hails from Elmira". One of the definitions of "hail" is "... a native to or a resident of." Mark Twain was a native of Missouri, but his wife Olivia was a native of Elmira, they lived there briefly early in their marriage, and the Clemens family is buried there. While Elmira is famous for a lot of things and notable people (such as Don Zimmer, CC!) IMO the connection to Twain is the one that is promoted a lot.

buckeye bob said...

@ abejo 8:54 a.m.

Where in SW Ohio? That is home for me. We are not natives here, but its been home for 20 years now.

Yellowrocks said...

Paul @ 8;50. I posted the note about Hellmnira. I am very interested in Civil war history and the personal lives of both the Yankees and the Rebels. I have read much about the prisons at Andersonville, Elmira and Camp Douglas in Chicago. What horrible suffering!There were documentaries on TV about all of these camps.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Curiously difficult for a Weds morning, didn't you think?

I blame 24A for my longest holdup.

CrossEyedDave said...

Thought it was going to be a tough day when I put "Tapas" for 1A & not much else across, but little by little it filled in very nicely.

57D Mab requires more explanation. (but I'm not the one to do it.)

No Old Country Buffet here... Probably because they would go out of business with me here. I am such a cheapskate that I cannot go to a Buffet without going back for 2nds, (or 3rds,)

(or 4ths.)

Owen, Ya got me, I had to look up formicating! (but i did get Willie Sutton.) Totally lost on the Don...? & I got Budai half right.

(Uh, Bill G... Can you tell me how many points i got?)

Hatoolah, what do you mean upsetting my life long belief that Yams & Sweet Potatoes are the same thing!?!? (Ack! This is going to be a very confusing Thanksgiving!)

& TTP, Thank you for the Will Power. I Googled him (the clip at 22:00 is too long) but he is up 1st in this (4:35) Oh Sh*t moments at Indy. (P.S., If you don;t "literally" say Oh Sh*t between 2:00 & 2:15 your not human.)

It has been posted before, but it seems appropriate for this puzzle...

I also recently discovered that Windows has a short cut "go back" by using Ctrl+Shift+T. I don;t know why you would need it, except that it opens windows that were previously closed.

Tinbeni said...

C.C. Excellent job Pinch-hitting (that gives me an idea).

Without looking at the cross-clues; at 42-A, That girl, I put in HER and at 53-D, Mariano Rivera, e.g., I put in CLOSER ...
So that made nice Ink Blots when fixed to SHE & YANKEE. EGAD!!!

Fave today (of course) was PUB. Go figure ...

BUCS are "on-a-roll" with a 2 game winning streak. (yawn!)

A "toast" to ALL at Sunset.
Cheers!!!

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Thought this a little crunchy for a Wesnesday, especially the NE corner, but, eventually, all fell into place. I always thought Artemis was a man's name.

Thank you, Victor, for a mid-week challenge and thank you, CC, for your successful pinch-hitting expo. If there is an Old Country Buffet in our area, I'm not aware of it. But, I am also not a buffet-style restaurant lover, either.

Have a great day.

Bill G. said...

Thanks Victor and CC. I enjoyed this one but then, I enjoy almost all of the LAT puzzles. I had to cogitate for a few seconds before the theme made sense.

No Old Country Buffets here that I know of.

Elmira is close to where I went to college (Cornell in Ithaca).

What do you think of the word "meme"? I never heard of it before a couple of months ago but suddenly it's become very stylish.

Here's today's Animal Tracks slide show. Always enjoyable I think. Animal Tracks

Anonymous said...

JB in VA
SW was an issue. Couldn't decide on SHE or HER at 42A. ERASING and KNOTTY took a while to see. With a Goggle search for STRIDER in the NE, that section opened up. Yes, there is a difference between a yam and sweet potato, but you will have to ask Hahtoolah. You are more south than I am. Aren't true yams from Louisiana or Alabama?
Enjoy hump day.

Misty said...

Fun puzzle this morning--challenging but doable--many thanks, Victor! C.C., always love your write-ups with expert grid analysis. And also the great pics of constructors and friends.

First of all, thank you, Lucretia MOTT! We women would have had a far less rewarding life without the efforts of those early suffragists.

My favorite clue: Clark KENT in that phone booth. What would he do now with cell phones?

Knew ELKE Sommer but not Elisabeth SHUE. Any info on her?

Also thought of Queen BEE before ANT, but got BEA Arthur right away.

Started with TAPAS, like Lucina and CED.

Thought I knew my Tolstoy, but never heard of STRIDER.

Finally, I love all the SPARKLE on this blog! Have a great Wednesday, everybody!

Mary Swanson said...

This puzzle was very enjoyable for me.

The answers seem to just fall HAPPILY.

Besides, who doesn't like PORK BELLY.

"Kick his ass! SEABASS", followed very shortly by "It was a GOOD ONE" were classic lines in a very funny scene from Dumb and Dumber. I won't link it as I wouldn't want to offend any of the easily offended.

Those your skis?

yes

Both of them?

Nice effort Victor, thanks.

JD said...

Good morning all,

Nice to see you on a Wed., C.C.Victor's puzzle amused me in so many places, even when I was going thru the alphabet to finish an unknown, like strider and blaster...even button was a WAG.
C.C., I bet many people who did this puzzle were happy for your explanation of the theme.BTW, I have an old Madonna button, maybe it's more of a pin. Don't know what to do with odds and ends like that.

Risotto- one of our family favorites with mushrooms and shrimp.I'm with Lucina, not into buffets... way too much food.

Have a lovely day. We FINALLY had some rain last night after having no precipitation for 246 days. woot woot!

Mary said...

Forgot to say,

No Country Buffet for old men around here. They have a strict policy of nobody over 50 years of age.

HeartRx said...

Good morning (just under the wire!) all!

Nice to see you on hump day, C.C. But I hope JazzB gets his power back soon. We don’t have an Old Town buffet near here. I guess there are a few closer to Boston. But I’m with Lucina and JD – buffets are a waste of money for me because I can never eat enough to justify the price of admission.

ARTEMIS was a gimme. I just finished reading “Ready, Player One” and one of the players had an avatar named Art3mis, because “Artemis” had already been taken by someone else. So I silently pronounced her name as “art – three – miss” until they finally explained her name!

Bill G., loved the Animal Tracks, as always. But, really? Being given facial by a giant slug? Ewwww.

Gotta post this before we go into PM mode!! Have a great day everyone!

Point of order said...

Always glad to see that OwenKL is allowed to exceed the 20 line limit.

Mary said...

I guess my joke wasn't as fresh as I thought it was.

For fans of No Country For Old Men and a weird sense of humor: Video

desper-otto said...

Misty, Elisabeth Shue is on CSI -- she's the blonde who joined the show after Marg Helgenberger left.

Mary said: You've gotta be kidding about the "nobody over 50 years of age". What, exactly, is it that they're serving there?

CrossEyedDave said...

Nooooooo!

(From the mind of Daughter #1)

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Fun puzzle today. I was impressed by the construction as well as the content.

Around here the Old Country Buffet is called HomeTown Buffet. We've never gone there. Generally we avoid buffets for the reasons already mentioned. Like Lucina I get overwhelmed with so many choices, and the only way to see what's "on the menu" is to walk up and down the buffet line peeking over everyone's shoulders to see what food is there. The only buffet we have liked is the breakfast buffet at the hotels when we travel.
Gotta go. Best wishes to you all.

creature said...

My birthday wishes and all the dear remarks made me swell with love. I can't get over it. My sound is not working so I still have things to check out.
I think I have the farm sold and have found a condo that I will call home. I hope this all happens. Every day AND night are filled with paperwork,etc.etc.
I have pored over all your generous remarks and felt my love for you all.Such a treat!
I think it will take 60 days or more to get rid of so much STUFF. No one thinks I can accomplish this.
Cross your fingers--Thanks. That ought to do it.
Love to each of you, my special people!

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

We're back on line today - everything is working. Except for my brain. NE corner beat me up badly.

Even the theme went over my head.

And I thought WILL POWER was Tyrone's brother.

Gotta run. Duty calls.

Cool regards!
JzB

CanadianEh! said...

Just a little tougher today but still fun. Didn't know STRIDER and HOMINID. Had to think about AMERICAN BACON SOURCE as we have Canadian BACK bacon which is probably what Barry G was thinking about!

Liked SLEIGH'S PARKING SPOT=ROOF AND TOUCHDOWN SITE=AIRPORT.

With Nov 22 coming up, JFK library clue was timely.

The closest I have been to Elmira NY is Watkins Glen and Corning. Beautiful area. We have an Elmira in Ontario - Amish area and also well known for Maple Syrup Festival every spring.

Have a good day all.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Great puzzle! Nothing trite and only one small abbrev. Thanks, Victor. C.C. to the rescue again. Bravo!

Antepenultimate? Really? I can't wait to email my brother who is the middlest child of 5 and tell him he is antepenultimate. That ought to swell him with pride.

I don't know of an Old Country Buffet here, but there are a lot of eating establishments here I don't know. Every time I go out to what has become the main commercial "drag", I see one or two new restaurants.

I knew that 1/4 cup had four tablespoons and I can do math that simple.

JzB: Did you have any wind damage other than the power outage?

Creature: I'll keep all my fingers and toes crossed for the sale of your farm and pray they can arrange financing. Good luck!

Yellowrocks, please share some more of your trip.

creature said...

I see where I left my other note on the 19th and then had to find this again. Pls forgive for my split-mind.

Jazzbumpa said...

Speaking of BLASTERS, ISOBARS and the ROOF, this is why I'm a bit EDGY today.

I'll take Willie for 5. When asked why he robbed banks, Sutton replied, "Because that's where the money is."

Cheers!
JzB [who had to look up formication, and is now also feeling ANTSY]

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

(Creature's misplaced post earlier)

JD- wow! My eyes are all watery from the free hugs, so I went back and hugged each of you again. You can't imagine…

My tummy aches from Dave's cakes- super icing finger lickin' good.Hope everyone got a big piece!
I'm definitely full, but the last one took my heart.
Thanks, Dave, for the gallant effort. I'll never forget.

Love to my dear friends. Nothing came near it.Wish we could have a big meeting before it would be too late to stay up all night. Maybe its too late but I'd sure give it a try.

Lucina said...

Misty:
Besides her current role in CSI, Elizabeth Shue was in Leaving Las Vegas with Nicholas Cage. She won the Academy Award nomination for supporting actress. Though she has been in many movies,most of which I haven't see, that role in LVG is for me the most vivid and when I really noticed her.

It is a disturbing film about an alcoholic man (Cage)in which she plays a prostitute. Mr. Cage was also nominated and if I remember correctly the movie won best picture Oscar.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Paul et al,
Thanks for the Elmira info.

Buckeye Bob,
How is Don Zimmer related to Elmira?

Creature,
Hi!

Lemonade714 said...

Please come and reclaim My Cheri Amour from my brain; please.

Jazzbumpa said...

Belatedly, thanks to C.C. for pinch hitting a home run.

We didn't actually lose power, but our UVerse was down. The joys of bundling. But hundreds of thousands here were without power, so we were lucky.

This didn't help.

Fortunately we didn't have any wind damage.

Cheers!
JzB

CrossEyedDave said...

Jzb,

I can see why the weather might make you edgy, the Chicago Tribune ran this pic of a tornado scar in Wash. Ill.

Looks like a brillo pad went thru the place!

OwenKL said...

Lucina: Wiki Budai, you'll find your question sort of right, sort of meaningless.
CED: Wiki The Bickersons for a rather dry article about Don Ameche & Frances Langford. It has a short transcript, but unless you can hear their voices, it loses soo much! Back when I still had my hearing, I used to collect OTR (Old Time Radio) programs.

buckeye bob said...

@ C.C. 2:25 p.m. --

Don Zimmer played with the Elmira Pioneers of the Single-A Eastern League in 1951. He married his childhood sweetheart at home plate before an Elmira home game in 1951. Probably not as strong a connection as I expected.

A bonus - in my research, I learned he was born in nearby Cincinnati, and later played about 1 season with the Reds.

thehondohurricane said...


Buckeye Bob,

Back in the late '40's, early '50's the Dodgers had a farm team in Elmira which was part of the Eastern league. It was Class A. Without looking it up, my guess would be Zimmer put some time in there.

Lemonade714 said...

Don Zimmer was a mediocre ball player but went on to manage many teams including the Red Sox and Yankees.

Perhaps he is mot famous in modern times for charging Pedro Martinez who pushed the 72 year old Zim aside, LINK .

Tinbeni said...

Lucina:
Nicolas Cage WON the Best Actor Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas.
The film was NOT nominated for Best Picture.
That year the Best Picture Oscar went to Braveheart (which beat out Apollo 13, Babe, Sense and Sensibility and Il Postino).

For some reason, I always thought Cage's performance was perfect. lol

Cheers!!!

Tinbeni said...

Lemon:
Don Zimmer managed the Boston Red Sox (1976–1980) and the Chicago Cubs (1988–1991).

His main job with the NY Yankees was "bench coach" for Joe Torre.

In 1999, Zimmer "filled in" for Manager Joe Torre while Torre was recuperating from prostate cancer.
His record was 21-15 while guiding the Yankees during Torre's absence.

MamaLi said...

Hello everyone. I am a newbie to crossword puzzles. I found your blog and I just love it! I did not know crosswords were so complicated - grids, black spaces, white spaces, etc. I am learning a lot reading the posts on this site. I look forward to learning all the secrets!

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks for puzzle, Victor! Just right for a hump day. Thanks too to CC!

Aeons ago, my family went to the Sizzler so our sons could pig out on the cheap. The salad bar was just so-so. The steaks were terrible. (The closest we came to a buffet.) Two years ago I attended a brunch buffet (celebrating a dear friend's anniversary) at The Odyssey restaurant in the north of the San Fernando Valley. Now that was something else!

Good luck with your move, Creature! (It would take me lots more than 60 days to move out of my place. It would be horrible to leave my 50 year cactus and (other) succulent collection. Not to mention the huge collection of 3D models that I constructed for math videos and teaching.)

Cheers!

Avg Joe said...

As a heads up, those that haven't missed the chance and like the show need to watch Jeapordy today. Not only does it have a shout out to our Tampa resident, it has a really fun catagory of before and after. Hilarious stuff!!

Best of luck on your transaction and move, Creature. Don't let nostalgia become an anchor in the process. When we moved after 22 years a few years back, we tossed or gave away roughly 3/4 of our worldly possessions. In the time since, we've only missed one item. One! Most of our amassed junk is just that.

Glad to hear you're back up and running JzB.

Qli said...

EGAD! done in by MOTT! after I looked that up, the rest came without too much trouble.

Is there still an Old Country Buffet around the Eden Prairie area, C.C.? My sister and her husband used to go to one there.

It's snowing like crazy here. Two to four inches expected. Hope DH doesn't feel like venturing out to the Y tonight.

Lucina said...

Tinbeni:
Thank you for jarring my memory. All I recall was Nicholas Cage being in constant inebriation and Elizabeth trying to help him.

My favorite movie from that list is Il Postino. Italian with subtitles. Wonderfully warm and heartwarming.

Welcome, MamaLi!!

Argyle said...

MamaLi, welcome to the corner but isn't that recliner reaching maximum occupancy?

TTP said...

Lemonade,

Sorry for putting that ear worm in your head.

Desper-otto, I had the exact same thoughts for why Abejo said Elmira said it reminded him of something musical. I think he was funning us.

I'm sure all you dedicated wordies saw that selfie and twerking have now been officially added. Not that spell checks know.

AROD is making the news thinking he's getting dissed by the comish. I guess he's taken the tact that the best defense is a (very public) offense. Maybe he and Rob Ford should compare notes ?

In the aftermath of the tornadoes, it's spirit lifting to see not just the resolve of those that were adversely affected, but to witness the generosity and personal sacrifice of those that are stepping in to relieve the pain and help those that have been less fortunate.

Lemonade, maybe this song will take that earlier ear worm out of your head The Youngbloods

Welcome MamaLi !

Shep Proudfoot said...

I think there might be a Old Country Buffet up near Brainerd. Ya know, home of Babe the big blue ox?

Lemonade714 said...

MamaLi welcome, and thank you TTP.

Lemonade714 said...

Gunman, you're certainly correct about Zimmer only managing the Yankees on an interim basis. I mentioned it because he is one of many tried for years to beat the Yankees and ended up a loyal Yank. Roger Clemons, Wade Boggs, and a guy named Ruth come to mind.

He actually first managed San Diego, and later Texas, as well as taking the Cubs to a pennant and being voted Manager of the year.

JD said...

Welcome MamaLi!

Creature, you'll ALWAYS have those memories. I would think getting rid of 40+ years of "stuff" would be refreshing-hard to do though.I'm having a hard time with just one closet!So many little girly things that little boys don't need or want.And in my closet? Why have I saved all my outdated purses?LOL!

I have not seen Elisabeth Shue since Adventures in Babysitting.Any time I run across it on TV I will watch it for awhile.

Anonymous said...

Ibid, you honor.

Any other questions?

TTP said...

In the interest of 38A, and thinking that Boomer would know this song but that CC may have never have heard it, here's one from Gary Puckett and the Union Gap

Anonymous T said...

G'Eve All!

Taking a break from helping the kids with homework... Boy do they load 'em up. MamaLi I'm sure will have views on that. Welcome M-Li.

I did the puzzle while in a training session and found it fairly easy with just enough brain ticklers to qualify for a Wed. Natnik at 10d/19a. I had a "V" that C.C. turned into an "M" for me. Hence, ELvIRA. Sorry to do that to you LEM after getting the other ear-worm out of your head :-)

WEES + my favs = PORKBELLIES. All I could think of was Les Nessman giving the news.

And there must have been an antepenultimate supper.*

C.C. Thanks for DHing for JzB today. JzB glad you're back in business.

CED - That Trib pic of down-state IL. Wow! I'm amazed at the spiral pattern in the crops.

Creature - Let family pick through what they want and leave the rest for the new owners :-)

Back to greatest common factors...

Cheers, -T
*did anyone see Cleese's tweet confirming Python reunion? Time re-learn my cheeses....

Bill G. said...

Hey AnonT, do any of those kiddies need help with their algebra homework?

I went to one of my usual coffee emporiums after a short bike ride and before tutoring. The local high school had just gotten out, always a dangerous time. One of the girls right in front of me was wearing the tightest, shortest shorts I've seen since Daisy Duke. Her cheeks were just barely contained. I was pleased with myself that I was able to mostly ignore her. I wonder if that is the coming style?

Thanks for the heads-up about Jeopardy. The Before and After category was very clever.

Misty said...

Lucina, Desper-otto, Tinbeni and others--many thanks for the information on Elisabeth Shue. It all comes back to me now.

MamaLi, how nice to have you join us on the blog! Welcome!

Bill G. said...

AnonT, you reminded me of Les Nessman and WKRP, one of my all-time funniest shows. I've found a few reruns on cable. Great stuff!

Speaking of great stuff, when I went to your Monty Python's Last Supper, I came across their Dead Parrot routine. The first half of it is one of their best skits ever! I enjoyed it all over again for the tenth time or so. Dead Parrot

Anonymous T said...

Bill G: Last year was Algebra for my now Frosh. She's doing Geometry and having issues (the teacher is not dynamic nor does she attempt to make it visual). I worked with eldest a few nights to get her to visualize planes and lines. Conic sections are next...

I've found full episodes of WKRP online and on Netflix.

Cheese shop sketch is great too! We were at subway last night (late ballet & rehearsal) and they (Subway) were out of all but white bread. As we kept going through the choices, "nope, none, nope".

Walking out of the store w/ eldest I said, "Well, they were certainly uncontaminated by bread..." She couldn't stop laughing...

BTW, I forgot to credit eldest for most of my ease in the NW. She was reading my puzzle in the car on the way to school and blurted ARTIMIS. I'll have to teach her x-word manners.

Cheers, -T

Anonymous T said...

Er, NE corner...

Bill G. said...

Hey AnonT, your eldest sounds like a kid to enjoy. She obviously has a good sense of humor and she was so excited about knowing Artemis that she just blurted it out.

I would expect one of the next geometry topics would be congruent triangles. I think that's where it gets to be more fun.

Anonymous T said...

Bill G: Congruency she got w/o me.

Yes, A is fun - her time "off" is trying to learn languages on-line that she heard in a movie. I only tried Klingon - she's into Russian and Sweedish now. Formally, she's on her third year of French.

Youngest, Z, can be even more fun when not stressed from greatest common factors (she can do it, but 50 in one night!?! - MamaLi pipe in! :-) Youngest will make up jokes, puns, and create crazy crafts just for giggles.

Yes, that's right, my kids' names start with an A for the 1st one and Z for the second. We were done.

Cheers, -T

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Qli,
I've never been to the Eden Prairie one, but Google shows it's still there. I love the salsa in our Maple Grove Old Country Buffet. I won't love a buffet unless its salsa is good.

TTP,
Never heard of the group. I had to check to make sure your Gary is not related to our Kirby.