google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, March 6, 2014, John Guzzetta

Gary's Blog Map

Mar 6, 2014

Thursday, March 6, 2014, John Guzzetta

Theme: "Heavens Above!"



17A. *Large emigration : MASS EXODUS.







24A. *Lunchbox item : SOUP THERMOS.










32A. *"I'll Be There for You" on "Friends," e.g. : THEME SONG.



47A. *Children's literature VIP : ILLUSTRATOR.



54A. *Daily Planet setting : METROPOLIS.


62A. Word that can follow five prefixes hidden sequentially in the answers to starred clues : SPHERE.

Wow. Once again, I believe I have an LA Times debut puzzle. If so, congratulations on your tour de force, John! Finding words that have atmospheric prefixes hidden in them would be tough, but to put them into the grid, in order of their height above the earth, is simply awesome!

It was fun to see 8D SHUTTLES crossing the THERMO- prefix, since that is where the space shuttle orbits. Let's see what else is on the agenda today.

Across:

1. Elementary fellow? : HOLMES. I immediately tried "Watson." Nope!

7. Chief Osceola riding Renegade introduces its home games: Abbr. : FSU Florida State  
University. The Seminoles had an unforgettable game against Auburn to win the national championship this year.

10. Daddy : PAPA.

14. Longtime Hawaiian senator Daniel : INOUYE.

15. Ottowan interjections : EHS. CanadianEh!

16. Woeful cry : ALAS.

19. Frisks, with "down" : PATS.

20. Asian holiday : TET.

21. Letter-shaped fastener : T-NUT.

22. Land at Orly? : TERRE. Cute misdirection. French "land."

23. Confederate : REB.

26. Smallish crocodilians : CAIMANS. Hey - I just had this one last week.

28. Portal toppers : LINTELS.

29. 100-eyed giant of myth : ARGUS.

30. Word of greeting : HEY.

31. Points a finger at : IDs.

36. __ date : DUE.

38. Levy : TAX.

39. Brought about : LED TO.

43. Southeast Asian honey lover : SUN BEAR. They also love termites.


45. Oporto native, e.g. : IBERIAN.

49. Brandy label letters : VSOVery Superior (or "special) Old. I immediately thought of Tinbeni.

50. Cream of the crop : ELITE.

51. CNBC topics : IPOsInitial Public Offering, on the stock market.

52. Breadbasket, so to speak : GUT.

53. Director Gus Van __ : SANT. I loved "Good Will Hunting."

57. Palm smartphone : TREO.

58. Celebratory poem : ODE.

59. Valuable lump : NUGGET. Not if it is just scat.

60. Bldg. annex : ADDN. Addition.

61. Beersheba's land: Abbr. : ISR.ael. We just had Beersheba in one of the Sunday clues this week.


Down:

1. "Tell __": 1962-'63 hit : HIM. The Exciters. 2:33.

2. Winning steadily : ON A TEAR. I always thought it meant to do something with a burst of frenzy. ("She was on a tear to get the house ready for her mother-in-law's visit.")

3. Get clobbered : LOSE BIG.

4. It's not an option : MUST.

5. Observe : EYE.

6. Church maintenance officer : SEXTON.

7. Disgusted : FED UP.

8. Back-and-forth flights : SHUTTLES. US Airways runs shuttles between Boston and NYC every hour from 6 AM to 9 PM.

9. Navy hull letters : USS. Spitzboov!

10. Empty threat : PAPER TIGER.

11. Afraid : ALARMED.

12. Platoon activities : PATROLS.

13. Look over carefully : ASSESS.

18. Burden : ONUS.

22. X, sometimes : TEN.

23. __ Victor : RCA.

24. Window part : SASH…jamb…sill…pane…head…rail...

25. Silver opening? : HI-YO. The Lone Ranger's shout to his horse "Hi-yo, Silver! Awaaaay."

27. Remote control : MUTE BUTTON. (Do husbands come with one of those?)

30. Spell : HEX.

33. Floride, par exemple : ETAT. More French.

34. Many couples : MARRIEDS.

35. Cub or Card : NLERNational Leaguer.

36. Simpleton : DULLARD.

37. Like some looseleaf paper : UNLINED.

40. Reveal : DIVULGE.

41. More to one's liking : TASTIER.

42. Plastic __ Band : ONO.

43. Cuarenta winks? : SIESTA. Spanish "40" = cuarenta.

44. Tongue suffix : ESE. Languages. Cantonese, Burmese, Chinese, etc.

45. "Click __ Ticket": road safety slogan : IT OR.

46. Quantum gravity particles : BOSONS. If you have trouble sleeping at night, turn to this article.

48. More timely : APTER. meh.

52. Painter van __ : GOGH.

54. French pronoun : MOI. It's all about me. Even more French.

55. __ tent : PUP.

56. CPA's office, perhaps : STE. Suite. I'll be visiting him soon.

'Til next week, adieu!

Marti

54 comments:

  1. What an ingenious puzzle by John Guzzetta, and an insightful writeup by Marti.

    Meanwhile, another blog just posted their 9 nominees for the Orca Award “Puzzle of the Year” (POY) and it’s a thrill to report that one of them is by our Minnesota friend Tom Pepper. If you haven’t yet tried “Executive Decision,” you are in for a real treat. For technical reasons, it has to be solved the old-fashioned way, with pen or pencil on a paper hard copy printout. Once you figure it out, be sure to read our “midrash.”

    Finally, for those of you going to the ACPT in NYC, I look forward to meeting you there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Evelyn, Evelyn, be a dear
    Take me somewhere away from here
    Make it up high
    Soaring into the sky
    Through all of the layers of atmosphere!

    Truly I worry you're in a windy flurry!
    Sometimes I wonder, what's your hurry?
    Me, I am sound
    Tight on the ground
    Earthbound unlike you, Murray, Murray


    EXOSPHERE extends to the edge of space
    THERMOSPHERE is where space SHUTTLES race
    MESOSPHERE is the middle ply
    STRATOSPHERE is where jets can fly
    TROPOSPHERE is where we and weather have our place.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Morning, all!

    This one played hard for a Thursday, especially the NW corner. Tried HER instead of HIM at 1D, and that nearly did me in right there. Didn't know INOUYE or SEXTON and had no idea that there was something called a SOUP THERMOS (as opposed to just a regular old THERMOS that can hold any hot or cold liquid).

    The theme was interesting in retrospect, but I haven't heard of most of the various atmospheric layers and was looking for other types of SPHERES (which I couldn't find, of course).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for the clever puzzle, John. Thank you for the enlightening review, Marti.

    I thought this was easier than a usual Thursday puzzle. I got the unifier, but didn’t understand it until I read Marti’s Magnificent Masterpiece. Fortunately, I didn’t need it to solve the puzzle. There was perp help everywhere I needed it. I like that!

    The SW corner was the last to fall. Once I got that, still no ta-da. I reviewed my Across and Down answers, and corrected several errors. I had IBEREAN before IBERIAN, ARGOS before ARGUS. Still no ta-da. In my next review, I changed HIHO to HIYO and ta-da! And I watched the Lone Ranger TV show regularly back in the ‘50s!

    I had several unknowns, and several other spelling errors. Hand up for Watson before HOLMES. I also had MON before MOI, got stuck trying to spell INOUYE and CAIMANS, and never heard of SUNBEAR or SANT, but the perps set me right each time.

    Ingenious puzzle with the right amount of help from the perps!

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Many couples : MARRIEDS"

    Weak.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bonjour! (and that's the extent of my French)

    I liked the puzzle, but it didn't DIVULGE its secret until the reveal. Here's another hand up for WATSON. I knew another answer was INOUYE and was annoyed that I couldn't spell it. I was ON A ROLL before TEAR showed up.

    Marti, should I assume you have no decorative nuggets of coprolite in your house?

    I don't have a mute button, but DW says I never listen to what she says. At least I think that's what she said.

    ReplyDelete
  7. George: good puzzle today, as usual. That gimmick has become frequent enough that it's surprising Across Lite hasn't developed a means of handling it.

    I spent a bit of time researching the layers, and found the acronym for them is TSMTE, in order from the bottom up, instead of top down, as today's puzzle appropriately lists them. A mnemonic was "TRicky Super-Man Ticked Ellen." So my first two lims are acrostics in each order.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What an excellent and clever puzzle! Thank you, John Guzzeta! And thank you, Marti for the commentary and especially the illustration. Happy to say it went quite smoothly, except, if I had been on a computer, there would have been no TaDa! because, I too, had MON and don't know the Bible well enough to be sure where Beersheba was and an abbreviation can be most anything!

    I do think On a Roll is winning, while on a Tear is connotes frantic, but will yield, given the rest of the excellent fill! Especially like Cuarenta Winks?

    Cheers to all...enjoy a sunshiny day.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello everyone,

    This solve rolled along at a quick pace until I came to the South. Instead of METROPOLIS, I tried Gotham City. Oops, wrong caped hero. Once I made that correction (and it took a while), the SE was done leaving the SW.

    When I entered MUTE BUTTON (even though I did not like the cluing} and wagged SUNBEAR, the rest came together..... very slowly.

    INOUYE was all perps.

    Being a U man, I can't wait for the day when Chief Osceola has to clean Renegade's mess from the field so the game can begin.

    Tin, what the heck is STE to a CPA? It's Special Test Equipment to me after many years in the Aerospace industry.

    Marti, thank you for the informative write up.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good morning everybody. This one was a tough DNF for me. I was stumped with: INOUYRE, CAIMANS, LINTELS, ARGUS, IBERIAN, VSO and SANT.

    There were some clever clues though. I liked 22D: X, sometimes: TEN.

    Nice to see some big words too, like: metropolis, illustrator, ETC.

    At least my captcha is numeric - I can always read those.

    Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Masterful working of the theme, John.I like the way the prefixes were in order from top to bottom. Great, expo, Marti, especially the illustration.
    Owen, you outdid yourself with the great verses and using ETMST as acrostics. The added mnemonic was icing on the cake.
    My first thought was that "Elementary, my dear Watson," was said TO Watson, not BY Watson. I kept searching my memory for Watson's detective. V8 can moment.
    I knew INOUYE, but needed the crossing of the Y for the spelling.

    I use ON A TEAR in three different ways.
    -on a wild drinking spree
    -winning steadily or on a winning streak in sports or other pursuits
    eg. Foot Locker is proving that expansion isn’t everything. The sneaker chain’s sales per square foot have been on a tear even as the company’s store count shrinks.
    -acting energetically or frantically.

    Some churches have social groups for young MARRIEDS.
    SOUP THERMOS Link See middle one in top row

    ReplyDelete
  12. OwenKL, you have out done yourself again! How clever...how complicated ...are today's poems! I may even remember all these Spheres now that you have given me a rhyme.

    Also, loved the puzzle, loved the write up. Fun day today!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Musings
    -The summation of our resident landlord works for me! My theme search saw SEX and LUST hidden but I didn’t think they were sequential. EXODUS, ISR and THEME SONG made me think of this lovely, haunting theme (first 3:00)
    -MASS EXODUS occurred last night after we got our ashes
    -There is usually a MASS EXODUS of fans when they know their team is going to LOSE BIG
    -The SHUTTLE orbiter did once fly there, but it is now a museum piece
    -Three people in this world call me PAPA and it warms my soul every time they do
    -I guess using the back of a hand to PAT DOWN a breast is supposed to be less offensive. Dennis?
    -Many REBS and Yanks got mowed down by 19th century weaponry and 17th century tactics
    -Asking a woman her DUE DATE can be very risky!
    -We’ll be watching our hometown girls try to be the ELITE Class A BB team in Lincoln the next three days
    -What in the world was Billy Joe McCallister helping throw off the Tallahatchie Bridge in his ODE?
    -Are we a PAPER TIGER in Syria and Ukraine? I know I don’t want American soldiers PATROLLing either place.
    -Husker Click IT OR ticket
    -What USS ship was the launching point for Doolittle’s Raiders?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi All ~~

    What a clever puzzle ~ thanks, John Guzzetta. Hope to see more from you. I tried to get the theme without the unifier but was stumped. I then had to go back and try to figure out how much of each theme answer goes with SPHERE - science is not my strong suit.

    ~ I often find I should just say "what desper-otto said". Today I, too, had 'On a roll' before ON A TEAR, 'Watson' before HOLMES and knew INOUYE but needed perps to spell it.

    ~ I had Aveo before TREO - I see now that it's a car.

    ~ Nice shout-out / CSO to CanadianEH!

    Thanks for a wonderful write-up, Marti. Including the pic of the SPHERE layers really made the theme clear. I filled STE for CPA's office, but didn't get it until coming here. BOSONS was an unknown, but I'll take your suggestion and save the article for another time. ;-)

    Bright and sunny today but oh so cold! Maybe this year I won't complain about the heat in July and August. Maybe.

    ReplyDelete
  15. BTW, Like our friend Wind I tried posting again from my 4G iPhone yesterday in an attempt to circumvent the school filter but when I hit Preview or Publish, the text disappeared again and again. Wind, you’re a better man than I am if you can post using those small buttons but I’d love to have the option while I’m sitting here this weekend in Lincoln.

    ReplyDelete
  16. "Quantum gravity particles" BOSONS Wow. That's a bad clue. It should have been "integral spin particle" That would have been a gimme. As it was, I had no idea if it was BOSONS, MESONS, GLUONS or ANYONS. Seriously. ANYONS. They are theoretical particles sometimes behave like fermions and sometimes behave like bosons.

    I wanted DOCTOR SEUSS for ILLUSTRATOR and I wanted NEWER for "More timely" so I wrote NEWS OFFICE instead of METROPOLIS. I had MASS EXODUS, SOUP THERMOS and THEME SONG but it wasn't enough to reveal the theme.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Good morning everyone.

    HG - the Hornet

    Fun puzzle from a new constructor. Always refreshing.
    Had Watson before HOLMES which mucked up the works in the NW, before properly spelling INOUYE and getting MASS EXODUS got everything on the rails again. Also had to remember how to spell CAIMANS but the rest of the solve went well. Interesting theme; I'm glad Rich supported it.
    USS - a CSO à MOI? Which navy wasn't specified, so HMS, FGS, NRP and some others were possibilities. USS was the most likely and has appeared numerous times here.

    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Good Morning:

    This was a little chewy but perps did the trick. Surprised myself by filling in Inouye correctly on the first try. Didn't care for marrieds or apter but, overall, a very clever and well-executed puzzle. Congrats to John G. and thanks to Marti for a clear, enlightening expo.

    Nice shout-out to Canadian Eh.

    Brilliant sunshine and frigid temps. What else is new?

    Have a terrific Thursday.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Here was a learning moment for me.

    “In the stories by Conan Doyle, Holmes often remarked that his logical conclusions were ‘elementary’, in that he considered them to be simple and obvious. However, the complete phrase ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’ does not appear in any of the 60 Holmes stories written by Doyle.”

    So the clue and answer are correct. However the popular “Elementary, my dear Watson” was never said in the books, only in several movies. So it’s like “Play it again, Sam” in Casablanca.

    See the Misattributed box at the bottom of the article.

    Elementary Misquote

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Gang -

    Well, the theme was out if this world. Excellent write up Marti.

    For Children's Lit, I wanted a particular author. SANT, not ZANT. WATSON, sure. Took 5 perps for my half-track mind to get HOLMES - though Katie is from my home town.

    Knew Daniel's name, but IN NO WAY could I spell it.

    SUN BEAR - total unknown.

    CPA in a STE - if you say so.

    Silver opening? Oh, Hi, Thumper.

    DULLARD in the SW corner - OK, I'm the ILLUSTRATOR of that concept.

    Better days are coming.

    We just don't know when.

    Cool regards!
    JzB

    ReplyDelete
  21. After finishing the easy early week puzzles, I got my comeuppance today! Thanks, John, for the challenge! Thanks, Marti, for all your help. I needed it.

    Hand up for Watson. Couldn't spell INOUYE. Had ON A roll instead of ON A TEAR. The south was pretty snowy today.

    Favorite clue: 34D Many couples--MARRIEDS. DH and I celebrate 38 years today! It would be nice to match both sets of parents who made it to 60 years.

    Sunny! Have a great day!

    Pat

    ReplyDelete
  22. Did someone say “Thumper”?

    Bambi and Thumper

    Oh, probably not that one! This one. LOL!

    Thumper

    ReplyDelete
  23. d-otto @ 6:57, no coprolites in this house – I have a hard enough time keeping current with the litterboxes, never mind dealing with fossilized feces!

    OwenKL, loved the poems today!

    I didn’t have any problem with STE for “suite” because many newly hatched biotech companies that I deal with are not large enough for their own buildings. They share office space with other companies, and the address would be something like "100 Industrial Park Ave, STE 100." Often there is only one “receptionist” for the entire building, and depending on which line rings, she answers with that particular company’s name. Makes it sound really professional, even if there is only one person in the company.

    HG, I too have problems commenting from my iPhone. Let me know if you ever figure it out!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi all, thanks for the encouraging comments! Yes, LA Times debut. I'm glad most people found the theme enjoyable to figure out (after a little head-scratching, as intended), rather than obscure. And I'm glad Rich Norris kept after me for better fill.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm still stuck on forbidden fan dance from Sunday's puz.
    wrote in to explain the meaning.
    Perhaps no one got it.
    The forbidden dancers used fans made from ostrich feathers and the fans were huge.
    It was called a fan dance not a forbidden dance.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I breezed through the top half of this puzzle but got seriously stuck on the bottom half. Took a lot of work to get it done, but also a lot of fun--many thanks, John Guzzetta! I got some of the theme but really appreciated Marti's expo. You're a good ILLUSTRATOR, Marti.

    Fun limericks today, Owen.

    Wanted HI-HO instead of Hi-Yo for the Lone Ranger, my favorite TV show when I was a kid.

    I must say that we enjoy the TV show "Elementary" so much more than the last episodes of Benedict Cumberbatch's "Sherlock"--which we found really loopy. The Sherlock on "Elementary" stays so in character, and Lucy Liu is a terrific Watson.

    Have a great Thursday, everybody!

    ReplyDelete
  27. ANON @ 12:00. IMO On Sunday the answer was not "forbidden fan dance," but two answers, not related, "forbidden dance" and "fan dance." In the same way there was no "chicken hat dance," but "chicken dance" and "hat dance." I still think the best interpretation of forbidden dance is the lambda which was called that. 859355

    ReplyDelete
  28. Good morning all,

    Well, I have to say that was an awesome theme. I had no asterisks so wagged sphere not knowing why. Loved the illustration, Marti. Is there ever a time that you don't "get" a clue? What then does our leader do?

    The whole west side slid in perfectly but I had a DNF due to the crossing of apter/ipos AND vso/ono. Lintels, treo and bosons filled with perps completely- new to me.

    Fun time with more fun coming. So many great "extras" yesterday. Thanks to all who add links.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hello Puzzlers -

    Not much trouble with the solve, but until the reveal popped in at the very end I couldn't spot the connection between the starred-clue answers. Once that light came on, I was amazed that the whole atmosphere could be represented, in the correct order! Nice work, John. You must have a science background, yes?

    ReplyDelete
  30. JD, we always have the entire blogging team to consult with. Between CC and the other contributors, that's a lot of crossword power!!

    Dudley - I was wondering the same thing about John's background...

    ReplyDelete
  31. Marti: Wonderful write-up & links.
    John G.: Thank you for a FUN Thursday puzzle. Clever theme!

    Only needed "every-single-perp" to get INOUYE, BOSONS, TREO and "the Meh" APTER.

    Liked ON-A-TEAR next to LOSE-BIG.

    Fave today, of course, was VSO, though I prefer Brandy that is VSOP!
    (Nice to see "Prohibition" lifted from the grid).

    Well the Sun is "over-the-yardarm".
    CHeers!!!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hola Everyone, A DNF for me today. I reversed the letters VSO and so tastier and Ono didn't come. ONO was an unknown Maybe someone could explain Plastic Ono Band?

    Other than that the theme came to me, but in the order that they come was way beyond my ken.

    Thanks Marti for an excellent writeup and to John Guzzetta a handshake for your puzzle today.

    Busy with Income tax work this morning. I'll have to read the rest of the blog later.

    Have a great day, everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hi Y'all! John Guzzetta, Bravo, Encore! I seemed to be on your wave length because I got HOLMES and HIYO as first tries. I even figured out the prefixes on the theme. Woohoo! Only unknown was BOSONS. Still is.

    However, I thought TROPOSPHERE was what they called a tropical rain forest under a geodesic dome I once visited.

    Since they've retired the SHUTTLE, I'm wondering how our American astronaut in the International Space Station will get home to earth. Isn't he dependent on the Russian transport to come down? With Russia & US at odds over this Crimean thing, will Russia hold our space guy hostage if the US invokes sanctions? Or can the supply ship bring him down?

    Happy 38th Anniversary, Pat a/k/a PJE! Hope you make your 60th goal.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Yep. Easy-peasy - so much so that I have to wonder what led friends to DNFs.
    I got the SPHERE theme early and appreciated it.
    I had one rewrite at 36A, with SEE preceding DUE.
    I enjoyed Owen's jingles - sprightly rhythms for today.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Yep, I agree with everything EES. I enjoyed solving it. Thanks Marti.

    I couldn't spell INOUYE either. ON A TEAR seems to be in a hurry, not on a winning streak.

    Oh well... It was still a fun puzzle.

    Anon (12:00), I didn't like FORBIDDEN DANCE either and I know what a fan dance is/was. Is that OK?

    Favorite daytime TV (recorded and then watched at leisure): Ellen, re-runs of Cash Cab and Dirty Jobs and maybe an old movie or two. Then, lunch, a short bike ride, espresso and tutoring.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Happy Thursday everybody!

    Well, I got the Ta-Da, but had no bloody clue how SPHERE was connected to MASS, ILL, etcetera, so I came to the Corner for answers. Thank you Marti...!

    Think well ever see CAIMANS from the CAYMANS in the same puzzle...?

    Hands up for WATSON and HER at first....

    Lotsa learning moments today, all filled nicely by perps....

    Wasn't Ed McMahon also famous for repeating HI YO after almost every Johnny Carson joke...?

    ReplyDelete
  37. Pat (pje) - Happy Anniversary and best wishes for many more.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Great puzzle, ingenious John! Thanks for the expo, Marti.

    Loved the SIESTA clue.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Greetings!

    Swell puzzle, John G.! Great expo, Marti!

    Chewy also for me. But, I filled in HOLMES immediately. Had a devil of a time spelling INOUYE. Theme very clever. Took a while to catch all my goofs and get the ta-da! No cheats.

    Up with acid reflux much of the night. Third time in 5 days. Have tried lots of things. Any suggestions?

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Extremely clever.perfect Thur. puzzle

    ReplyDelete
  41. Chickie @ 1:53, The “Plastic Ono Band” was a concept of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, before the Beatles had disbanded. They worked with a variety of artists to produce collaborative songs, and later Sean Lennon (John’s son) revived the concept and has produced additional albums.

    Pje @ 11:21, congratulations on 38, but even more congratulations on striving for 60!!!

    ReplyDelete
  42. To: fermatprime

    Probably an obvious question, but do you sleep with your head & shoulders elevated? That's always helped me. That, and Tums.

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  43. Sorry I am late to the party, this puzzle really did me in. I even tried taking Cuarenta winks, but it didn't help...

    Here is a pic of me trying to do this puzzle. Unfortunately my parachute did not open... I would like to say my DNF stood for "did not fall," but for this puzzle, I think the acronym SPLAT is more appropriate. (Superb Puzzle Lest...) Super Puzzle Looo? Oh forget it...)

    I did like the Quantum gravity Reference...

    Oooh, ooh, this puzzle gives me a great idea for another puzzle! (Abbyssopelagic? how the heck am I going to get that to fit??? Oh forget it..)

    River Doc, yes I remember Ed... (but I put HiHo in the *&^%$ puzzle...)

    Happy Anniversary pje!

    FermatPrime, can you sleep on your left side?

    Oh, & I would really have preferred the clue for "mute button" to be "silencer." (remote control? really?)

    ReplyDelete
  44. Late to the party today and nearly missed my CSO!
    I nearly missed it anyway due to a major NIT with spelling! 15A clue should be spelled OTTAWAN interjections.

    Another Canadian reference was METROPOLIS since original comic was based on old Toronto Star newspaper office.

    Daily Planet

    Lots of foreign word today with SIESTA, MOI, TERRE, ETAT.

    We should have known Beersheeba was in the Negev (wasn't that on Jeopardy recently also?) so it wasn't too much of a stretch to get ISRael.

    Grandbaby's DUE DATE is coming up!

    ReplyDelete
  45. HomeRemedies companionMarch 6, 2014 at 6:43 PM

    FermatPrime,

    I am a senior citizen, and have had occasional nightly acid reflux issues.

    some suggestions, in addition to taking the obvious drugs.

    1. Try to alter your diet, and take less liquid foods .... if your have to ingest liquids try preferably the less acidic diary types, if not lactose intolerant.

    2. Don't go to sleep immediately after eating ... try to keep awake for atleast a couple of hours. Or alter your feeding habit accordingly... so you dont go to sleep until the food has been properly digested and is lower down the digestive system.

    3. Some an occasional TUMS, gives you not only the antacid, but also vital calcium.

    4. Try to sleep with bulkier pillows, with your head and shoulders at a steeper angle to the rest of the supine body ... as mentioned in the previous blog posting.
    . sometimes, unconsciously, during the night your head may inadvertently slide lower, angle inward and thus, get, face down, and your mouth, thus gets below the level of the esophegus could ... get below your sternum ... this could exacerbate the acid reflux problem.

    5. There are some effective remedies in form of herbal and tribal medicines that have worked for me .... but you dont want a recommendation from an anonymous blogger ... for that !!!

    ReplyDelete


  46. Musings 2
    -Greetings from Room 339 in the beautiful new Hyatt in downtown Lincoln.
    -It appears that Sheldon’s brother Martin had his gluons stuck in the cyclotron to register such a parochial response in a place where we know these are just games ;-)
    -I saw Yoko at some Beatles tribute a few days ago. She looked like strange little woman dressed like an artsy hanger on
    -Congrats pje!
    -If the Russkies refuse to ferry us up to the ISS, we can shut down many of the systems on board that orbiting craft and render it useful as a screen door in a submarine.
    -I love the “inside baseball” from John and Marti. This Rich guy must know what he is doing.
    -Great Caesar’s Ghost! Didn’t all of you get METROPOLIS?
    -Time to walk across the street for more basketball!
    -iPhone still not gettin' er done.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Fermatprime, the commenters have come through once again! Sleeping on your left side, Tums, not eating too soon before going to bed, all will help. If nothing seems to work, there is always the "purple pill" (Nexium), which you could get from your doctor. Good luck, and sweet dreams!

    ReplyDelete


  48. CED = you always delight !!!! and even today I am not at all disappointed !

    YOu are a miracle link worker ! As Lemonade has said - well worth the admission ticket to the blog.

    One problem - sleeping on the left side, as recommended in your linked article - would mean that I would end up facing my wife...

    That might exacerbate the reason for the heartburn in the first place ...

    ReplyDelete
  49. LOL Homeremedies!

    (but I'm not finished yet...)

    Mass Exodus...

    A Soup Thermos for you teachers on the Blog...

    Sshh! I am busy writing a theme song for this great new show...


    Hmm, maybe I should have been an Illustrator...

    I couldn't find anything funny for Metropolis, so I am going to go with two kitties in the big city...

    & I am still looking for something funny about "sphere," but I still think that undersea levels might work for a crossword theme. But trying to construct it has me going in circles...

    ReplyDelete
  50. Canadian Eh - There was something about the Ottowa (sic) clue that didn't seem right. Thanks for putting a finger on it.

    pje - Happy Anniversary! BH and I are coming up on our 49th this June.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Thank you for the good wishes. CED, the cake was perfect; calorie and gluten free! Dinner tonight was at an independent restaurant. I had their signature Hungarian Mushroom Soup, followed by a filet and sautéed spinach. YUM! Here's to many more years of wedded (almost) bliss.

    Pat

    ReplyDelete
  52. Fermatiprime: If you have that much acid reflux, do you also have a hiatal hernia that exacerbates the situation? You might want to try abdominal large breaths. Take several deep breaths, expanding your abdomine as you inhale, which sucks the hiatal hernia and acid back down through the opening in the diaphram. You should get immediate relief by the third or fourth breath. I usually follow this by a drink of water and tums. Then sit up and relax a while in a recliner or propped up in bed. Relaxing is a key. Most acid attacks happen to me when I am angry at something.

    A psychiatrist taught me this breathing technique at a dinner party when I had an attack. I have blessed his name many times since.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Good Friday morning, folks. Thank you, John Guzzetta, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for the fine review.

    I worked on this till I went to bed last night after I got home from a meeting. The SW corner screwed me up. Could not get a foothold. So, I got some help. Finished, but not without help. It was tough for me.

    Thought the theme was excellent. Great job.

    Later I will try today's puzzle.

    See you later today, I hope.

    Abejo

    (99486439 109)

    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.