google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday December 29, 2013 Gail Grabowski

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Dec 29, 2013

Sunday December 29, 2013 Gail Grabowski

Theme:  "Interjection" - TER is added to each familiar phrase. I don't quite get the title "Interjection" and the theme gimmick connection. Can you explain to me? Should I just parse it as "In-TER-jection"?

23A. Period after one round too many? : TEETER TIME. Tee time.

28A. Fertilized egg? : CHILD STARTER. Child star.

53A. Benefit from barn raising? : BETTER THE FARM. Bet the farm.

87A. Where Monet got his physical? : PAINTER CLINIC. Not familiar with "Pain clinic".

109A. Tipsy gym helper? : TIGHT SPOTTER. Tight spot. You need a spotter in lifting weights.

120A. Joking after a midterm? : TEST BANTER. Test ban.

36D. Need some trough repair? : BUST A GUTTER. Bust a gut.

43D. 1970s presidential fundraiser? : CARTER RALLY. Car rally.

Classic Gail Grabowski grid, always 5 or 6 theme entries Across, and 2 Downs. She also likes pinwheel style for her weekday puzzles.

Half of the TERs are added to the end of first word, half to the second word. Very consistent.

Across:

1. Speech therapist's concerns : LISPS

6. Work on the street : PAVE

10. DOL division : OSHA

14. The Christina in Wyeth's "Christina's World" : OLSON. Got via crosses. Wiki said she suffered from Polio.


19. For this purpose : AD HOC

20. Rotten to the core : EVIL

21. Be inclined : LEAN

22. Scope : RANGE

25. "Shoot!" : DANG

26. Duplicity : GUILE

27. "Golf Begins at Forty" author : SAM SNEAD. I nailed it.

31. Capital of Denmark? : DEE. The capital letter in Denmark.

32. It may be blank : STARE

33. Signal to begin speaking : TONE. Answering machine.

34. Out-of-favor sunscreen compound : PABA

37. Certainty : FACT

40. Flock member : BIRD

42. Reacted to a sour note : WINCED

46. Like many laps : SWUM

47. Herding dogs : CORGIS

49. Vichy vacation times : ETES. Paris is empty in summer.

51. Thing to grind : AXE

52. State legal VIPs : AGS. Attorneys general.

56. Stephen of "Interview With the Vampire" : REA

57. Pretends : LETS ON

59. Oil can letters : SAE. I can never remember what it stands for: Society of Automotive Engineers)

60. Paretsky's Warshawski and Grafton's Millhone, briefly : TECS. Detectives.

61. Key not used by itself : CTRL

62. Isn't kidding : MEANS IT

64. Tom : MALE CAT. All the three Toms I know via this blog are incredibly nice guys.

67. "Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief" speaker : RHETT (Butler). "Gone With the Wind".

68. Semisoft cheeses : GOUDAS

70. Advertisers say it sells : SEX. Sex sells.

71. Musical weakness : TIN EAR

73. Reject with contempt : SPURN

75. Suitable for most audiences : RATED PG

78. Complete with crayons : COLOR IN

 81. Mention : CITE

82. Whirled : SPUN

83. Rosy-fingered goddess : EOS

85. Herbal tea : TISANE. Remember the tisane scene in "Le Divorce?". Read here.


86. Social pest : ANT

91. JFK alternative : LGA

92. Surname for an unknown : DOE

93. Jazzy James : ETTA

94. Take a turn : ROTATE

95. Tremendously : A LOT

96. Low clouds : STRATI

98. "Breaking Bad" lawyer Goodman : SAUL. Finally. I linked this poster a few times in the past.
 


100. Usher's find : SEAT

102. Pandora's box, e.g. : MYTH

103. Three-part figs. : SSNS

105. Dropped-egg sound : SPLAT

107. Magnolia St. campus : USM (University of Southern Mississippi)

113. Flash drive connections : USB PORTS. With Drop box, now flash drives are almost unnecessary.

118. Sister of Calliope : ERATO

119. School acronym : EL-HI. Elementary (school) + high (school). Super friendly letter combo, hence its frequent appearance in crosswords.

122. Box cutter, e.g. : RAZOR

123. Wheels that are longer than cars? : LIMO. Nice clue.

124. Push for : URGE

125. City near Florence : SIENA

126. Cockamamie : INANE

127. Car buyer's aid : LOAN

128. Chew (out) : REAM

129. Rigged supports : MASTS

Down:

1. Pull-down beneficiaries : LATS.

2. Mind matter : IDEA

3. Son of Noah : SHEM. I also know HAM.

4. 1945 conference site : POTSDAM. Faintly recall this name. It's close to Berlin.

5. Crime locale : SCENE

6. Gp. opposed to factory farming : PETA

7. Enthusiastic : AVID. And 8. Enthusiasm : VIM

9. Campaign poster word : ELECT

10. Pre-1000 Celtic language : OLD IRISH

11. Caulk, e.g. : SEALER

12. Crew member : HAND. Oh, deckhand.

13. Inner turmoil : ANGST

14. Life form : ORGANISM

15. Actress Ambrose of "Six Feet Under" : LAUREN. Stranger to me. Never watched  "Six Feet Under". I wanted embed that picture, but Google sent me below email 2 days ago. How am I supposed to know which pictures I can or can't embed?
 
"Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog is alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others. As a result, we have reset the post(s) to \"draft\" status. (If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement, regardless of its merits. The URL(s) of the allegedly infringing post(s) may be found at the end of this message.) This means your post - and any images, links or other content - is not gone. You may edit the post to remove the offending content and republish, at which point the post in question will be visible to your readers again."


16. Tizzy : SNIT

17. Not look well? : OGLE. A smile after I got it.

18. "When hell freezeth over!" : NE'ER

24. Atoll former : REEF

29. Behavior pattern : HABIT

30. Airport structures : TOWERS

32. Broadcast online in real time : STREAM

34. Miserere, for one : PSALM. Wow, I never heard of Miserere before. It's Latin for "Have mercy".

35. "Shucks!" : AW GEE

38. Do one's part : ACT

39. No-frills beds : COTS

41. Loss : DEFEAT

44. Bring to bear : EXERT

45. Coped (with) : DEALT

48. "You're the One That I Want" musical : GREASE. Was this a gimmie to you?

50. Bit of strategy : TACTIC

53. Merchant vessel elision : BOSUN

54. Oklahoma's "Wheat Capital" : ENID. New trivia to me.

55. And such: Abbr. : ETC. Do you think plural ETCS is legit?

58. Big yawn : SNORE

61. Complete confusion : CHAOS

63. Site of some mammoths' demise : TAR PIT

65. Spearheaded : LED

66. Consider it likely : EXPECT

67. Museum artifact : RELIC

69. Places for sweaters? : SAUNAS. Sweat-ers, those who sweat.

72. "Me? Uh-uh!" : NOT I!

73. Quite a bit : SCADS

74. Wine grape : PINOT

76. Big bang producer : TNT

77. Bring up the rear : GO LAST

79. Cash bar? : INGOT. Great clue also.

80. "'__ the Arizona Skies": 1934 John Wayne movie : 'NEATH

82. Glossy materials : SATINS

84. Location : SITE

87. Place to buy a tank : PET STORE. Fish tank.

88. Violent outburst : ERUPTION

89. "Good Times" actress : ROLLE (Esther)

90. Museum funder: Abbr. : NEA

95. Pungent cleanser : AMMONIA

97. Actor Kutcher : ASHTON. He and Mila Kunis are a great couple. Hope this embed is safe.

99. Bronchial woe : ASTHMA

101. Ernest of country music : TUBB

104. Write letters? : SPELL. I like this clue also.

106. Pianist Rubinstein : ARTUR. Or Arthur. Click here.

108. Twitch : SPASM

109. Actress Polo : TERI

110. Country on the Caspian : IRAN

111. Disputed strip : GAZA

112. Mixed bag : OLIO. You all think of me, right?

113. Open-organizing org. : USGA (United States Golf Association)

114. Mushroom piece : STEM

115. Hwys. with nos. : RTES

116. No-frills shelter : TENT

117. Toledo titles: Abbr. : SRAS

121. Quaint "before" : ERE



Dudley sent me this sweet picture yesterday. He said:

"Within the blog family, there are certainly some cute little kids, but I submit that my grand-niece Lillie is the cutest of all. Here she is thanking a dear family friend who had done a very generous favor."


C.C.

37 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

I went through most of this puzzle thinking the theme involved adding an ER sound to common phrases and got increasingly frustrated with some of the so-called "common" phrases that seemed to make no sense to me. What is a Cart Rally? Or a Paint Clinic?

Th lightbulb finally went on when I got to the NE corner (which I had left for last) and solved CHILDSTARTER. That corner, incidentally, nearly killed me. Had to guess at both OLSON and LAUREN and literally WINCED when NEER became inevitable. Shouldn't there be some indication that the answer is poetic or archaic? I guess I'll just NEER understand what goes through Rich's head sometimes...

The rest of the puzzle was an absolute delight, btw!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

I was right there with Barry thinking ER. Almost
DNFed at BUST A GUTTER. My SWUM was SWIM -- somebody who likes some laps would SWIM. PISTA GUTT? MISTA GUTT? Oh, BUST A GUT! D'oh!

C.C., so far as the title is concerned, I think it's a TER Injection -- TER is injected into all the theme answers as well as the title. And, no, I don't think ETCS should be allowed.

Noah's son had to be SHEM, because Ham was too short and Japheth was too long.

I use a Flash Drive and USB port to back up my financial records. However, both the original and the backup are always "on-site", so it's not particularly safe.

There's a cute CORGI named Stella on our walking route. Whenever she sees us passing her cul de sac, she comes dashing out to greet us and rolls around in the street begging to be petted. I think of her as a little collie with stubby legs.

Later...

Anonymous said...

"Shouldn't there be some indication that the answer is poetic or archaic?"

18D: When hell freezeth over!

Yep, right there.

Lemonade714 said...

Good morning. I think the title suggests TER is injected into the answers. As always Gail delivered a fun puzzle.

Pain clinics were generally money making phoney businesses where those addicted to meds like Oxycontin could buy as many as they want as long as they paid ridiculous fees. They were very big in Florida until thy were all shut down.

I will always associate Tisane with Hercules Poirot.

Enjoy the last few days of 2013.

Beautiful child Dudley.

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

D-Otto,
ETCS was in a NYT puzzle a few weeks ago. I was surprised.

PK,
Phyllis was delighted to read your comment yesterday. She asked which book you read, since she wrote two books. Her other book is a murder mystery, "Maddy & Terri in Murder at the Dry Dock."

Al Cyone said...

After yesterday's debacle this wasn't looking much better until the theme clicked and it ended up being a very satisfying puzzle.

[38:29] (interrupted by two phone calls)

buckeye bob said...

@ C.C.

I found several online dictionaries that have et ceteras, the plural of et cetera. But I have never heard it in common usage. I think it is legit, but not used.

et ceteras link

Danielle03 said...

I had a tough time in the NE corner also, since after I got range I confidently wrote in creature for 14D. Doh! That really messed me up good for awhile. I enjoyed the theme, though it took me some time to catch on to it. @Lemonade, there are still lots of "pain clinics" down here in Fl, just not as many as before. I vote no on etcs being legit, it's already plural. Well, off to hang out with my kiddos before work this evening, I hope everyone has a nice Sunday! I'm terrible with uploading things but will try to get an avatar soon. :)

Lucina said...

Greetings, Puzzlers! Thanks, C.C., for explaining the theme which I didn't get and fortunately didn't need for solving.

Great fun today from Gail Grabowski! I sashayed right along though floated downward when the top eluded me. Chided myself with some fill that was straight forward when I was expecting a misdirection and vice versa. Great stuff!

My only question is about actress Polo NERI. I can only think of Pola Negri.

Dudley:
What a cutie!

Have a terrific Sunday, everyone!

Barry G. said...

18D: When hell freezeth over!

Yep, right there.


D'OH! Thanks, Mr. Anonymous!

My only question is about actress Polo NERI. I can only think of Pola Negri.

I think it's actually TERI Polo.

Husker Gary said...

Before and After this puzzle, especially the east side of horrors! Thanks for a challenging Sunday, Gail. Too confused to muse and gotta go shower for church. Read y’all later.

Bumppo said...

"NE'ER"? "When hell freezeth o'er" 'da been better.

Yellowrocks said...

TIGHT SPOTTER crossing TERI Polo from Meet the Parents. I started with AXE 51 A and solved clockwise.I caught on to add TER right away, but found D/O's explanation very well done. The theme was very helpful.
I viewed ETCS as the abbreviation ETC used several times.Similar to, "There are too many I's in an egoist's speech."

Lucina said...

Thanks, Barry. I didn't even notice, obviously.

Bill G. said...

Hi everybody! I finished this after my usual struggle. I got the theme early on but failed to understand the title until I came here. I had trouble with WINCED, TISANE, PABA, etc. I didn't know CORGIS were herding dogs but I did manage to finish. Thanks Gail and CC.

==========
My wife and I were sitting at a table at her high school reunion and she kept staring at a drunken man swigging his drink as he sat alone at a nearby table. I asked her, "Do you know him?" "Yes", she sighed, "He's my old boyfriend. I understand he took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago and I hear he hasn't been sober since." "My God!" I said, "Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?" And that's when the fight started...

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I just lost my entire post by hitting "cut the entire" by mistake. ACK!

Starting over, it took me a while to get the theme but once I did, it helped make the solve a smooth one. Not exactly easy, but smooth, slow and sure.

Had scorn before spurn and, for reasons unknown, Rated GP before Rated PG. Liked seeing CED (male cat) and Manac (Corgi) behaving themselves, for a change! (-:

Thanks, Gail G. For a fun,yet challenging, offering and thanks to CC for an always enlightening expo.

We are expecting frigid temps in the next few days and perhaps some snow. Ah, the delights of winter in the Great Northeast! Stay warm everyone.

Have a super Sunday.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! This was a doozy! I got the theme early which helped with the others, but wasn't sure where the TER would fall. I'm more in tune with Gail now and don't panic when I see her name. Good one!

SEX below MALECAT right in the center seemed like it would be significant with everything revolving around it. But it wasn't, especially when RATED PG appeared below. Oh shucks! The CHILDSTARTER also seemed a bit risque if one's mind leans that way.

I think Warshawski & Milhone call themselves Private Investigators (P.I.'s) rather than TECS. That derivative always strikes me as wrong.

Never heard of PABA, SAUL, LAUREN. PSALMS? Strange clue, that. The clue for LATS was stretching it a bit.

Family farmers also oppose corporate and factory farms, but that didn't fit.

C.C.: I read Phyllis' first book, "Maddy & Terri". Glad she noticed. Writing can be a fun and doubly so if someone reads one's work. Go, Phyllis!

PK said...

My granddaughter has a corgi and a dachshund. The corgi tries to herd the dachshund -- usually away from his dinner bowl, so she can eat both hers and his. The results began to show as she got fat and he was getting very thin. Now they have to watch and keep glutton gut's face in her own plate.

Bill, I've had four unreadable Captchas this morning. Your joke was too funny.

Montana said...

Dudley, I agree that Lillie is very cute. I'll bet she is fun to be around!

Montana

River Doc said...

Happy Sunday everybody!

Close, oh so close, but alas no cigar. Done in by the Carolinas (TISANE, LGA, MYTH, etcetera...)

Hands up for thinking ER was the unifier. TEETER TIME was my D'Oh moment....

PUTS ON for LET'S ON, NORTH for NEATH, BMOC foe EL HI, AS PER for AD HOC, and DRAT for DANG....

Finally, C.C. I get your confusion about what is postable and what is not. To this simple mind, if it's on the web it's public domain. IMHO, society has become way too litigious for its own good....

desper-otto said...

In the spirit of Bill G:

A husband and wife are shopping when the man picks up a case of beer and sticks in into the shopping cart. "What do you think you're doing?" she asks. "Well, they're on sale -- 24 cans for only 10 bucks." "Put them back. We can't afford it," says the wife, and they carry on shopping...

A few aisles later the woman picks up a $20.00 jar of face cream and sticks it into the cart. 'What do you think you're doing?" asks the man. "It's my face cream. It makes me look beautiful," she says. The man replies... "So does 24 cans of beer, and it's half the price!" And that's when the fight started....

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Did a lot better today than yesterday! This matched my knowledge database better. I struggle to recall the sons of Noah, Ham and Eggz or whatever. I'm glad that Swum was well perped - though I'm generally confident with grammar, Swim is one of those verbs I conjugate with uncertainty.

Morning C.C., I'm pleased that you find my grand-niece to be blog-worthy! She really is a delight, and we look forward to family gatherings more than ever. To answer your questions in the write-up: yes, I thought of you right away at Olio; yes, Grease was a gimme, loved that movie with Olivia Newton-John; and I agree, ETCS seems clunky, and surprising for NYT. That said, Yellowrocks makes a convincing case.

Montana et al - thanks, we're kinda proud of little Lillie even if she's not our direct descendent.

JD said...

Good morning C.C., and all,

ah... there are the familiar phrases- tee time, ETC. Thanks C.C., was very puzzled over the theme. Usually I can figure out Gail's clues, but today was forced to rethink almost every answer. Lots I didn't know, starting with Olson.

Had to giggle when corgis showed up, a surprise to me. Must have been a sight to see. WIKI says they used to drive the cattle from Wales to London.Collie was my 1st choice, but, of course, it isn't plural.

Sigma Alpha Epsilons (SAE) were the bad boys who lived upstairs from us in college... nothing to do with oil.LOL

big yawn = snore? ah...boring. Lady next to me in Saving Mr. Banks fell asleep MANY times and woke herself up snoring each time.

Lillie is precious, Dudley.

JD said...

BTW, I loved the movie, and it was not a big yawn.Emma Thompson was superb as PL Travers, the author of Mary Poppins.I don'r see an Oscar in store for Tom Hanks portrayal of Disney.Good, but not believably great.

OwenKL said...

"He ended the list with a bunch of etcs instead of just one, to emphasize that there were a lot more"

I knew SHEM, but absent-mindedly put SETH first -- another son from Genesis who also had two named brothers, just like the Cartwright kids!

HG: lol'ed at the pencil picture.

In the spirit of BillG:
"Darling, after I die, will you remarry?" "I like being married, so it's possible."
"Aw, that's sweet. Would you things together?" "Probably."
"Would you go golfing with her?" "Most likely."
"Would you let her use my clubs?" "Nah, she's left handed."

And that's when the fight started.

Lucina said...

Oh, you guys are funny! Keep it going.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Had fun solving the puzzle today, and caught onto the theme right after solving BUST A GUTTER. Lemonade said it well: "I think the title suggests TER is injected into the answers." Made me smile.
Man oh man, DANGed if OLIO didn't immediately make me think of C.C.
GREASE was not a gimmie for me. I did get it once I got EAS, though.
I use Dropbox a lot. I'd undoubtedly use it a lot more if I had a faster internet connection than our current DSL. Not gonna pay for cable, though; it's just not worth it to us. Besides, Comcast is EVIL.
Best wishes to you all.

Manac said...

Bill, What have you done?

How fights get started....

#1

#2

#3

#4
( Sorry IM, You know I can't behave for very long )

And not sure if I should post this one so for the DF crowd...

#5

Manac said...

One more

My wife, feeling frisky last night, snuggled up to me and said "I want you to whisper dirty things in my ear"

So I said " Kitchen, bathroom, living room..."

THATS when the fight started!

Bill G. said...

In looking through the newspaper, I noticed John Grisham's new book is at the top of the list. I'm guessing part of the reason it's there is that many people, like me, see he's got a new book and they want to read it, having enjoyed his stuff in the past. I'm a little over 75 percent finished and I'm seriously disappointed so far. Nothing has happened of note except the basic framework and setup. I hope he has a big finish in store because it's as if he's been on autopilot up to this point.

==========
Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the van and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day. I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back; now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible." My loving wife of five years replied, "And, can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?" And that's how the fight started...

Bill G. said...

Manac, you know when you precede a post with; "I'm not sure if I should post this...," everybody will be sure to open it. Clever ploy!

Here's a slide show from NBCNEWS.COM of the pictures of the year. Number four is awesome, dude! (I skipped over the graphically-unpleasant ones.) SLIDE SHOW

Husker Gary said...

We’re back after spending 1:45 to 6:15 watching grandson and soon-to-be grandson play basketball in Lincoln. I really enjoyed the “That’s when the fight started” stories and could add some actual ones I have authored but choose not to. I enjoyed Doc’s reference to “The Carolinas” because that is where I had issues with the resulting damage to the north end of my Ticonderoga #2. Glad you liked the image Owen.
I must iTERate my admiration of Gail’s lovely puzzle. I have unbounded respect for the constructors and editor here and a Sunday product seems like it would take Herculean effort.

Bill G. said...

Gary, where did you find that clever pencil eraser image? Good one!

Another feature from NBC. It's a compilation of favorite animal stories of the year. Since we all like animals so much, it seemed like a natural. Favorite animal stories

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Swell puzzle, Gail! Fine expo, CC!

I picked up early on the theme, as explained above by Jayce. A few rough spots but finally got 'er done. More time than the usual Sunday.

DirecTV has gone haywire (since Christmas Day). They have failed to come at appointed hour and are now supposed to come on Tuesday. Give me a break!

Decided to read Gone Girl as it has been on the best-seller list for eons. A horrible waste of time!

Cheers!

Husker Gary said...

Bill, Gail’s puzzle led me to lots of erasures and so my quest began for a worn down eraser and I turned up the image of a new eraser and the old eroded one.
BTW, yesterday’s high was 60 and today it was 10.

Yellowrocks said...

Etc. Etc. Etc.
I knew I heard that before.
Link Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera

Bill G. said...

Hey Gary, I figured out why you posted the photo of the two pencils, I was just curious how and where you found it.

YR, that makes sense about the plural etceteras. What about if you were editing someones essay and you commented in red pencil, "Good ideas but you used too many etceteras in the second paragraph." The spell check here doesn't like it but Google dictionary offered, "She began to pack her compact, comb and other etceteras."