google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday April 27, 2014 Gail Grabowski

Gary's Blog Map

Apr 27, 2014

Sunday April 27, 2014 Gail Grabowski

 Theme:  "Featured Article"- Article THE spans across each two-word theme entry.

23A. Organic farming staple : COMPOST HEAP. My sister-in-law has a compose pile in her backyard. (Added later: I meant compost pile.)

25A. Co-beneficiary : JOINT HEIR

38A. Batsman's protection : CRICKET HELMET

49A. Slim down and shape up, say : GET HEALTHY. Oh, Jayce & Lucina, I never head of yesterday's Crab Rangoon either.  Cheese does not exist in real Chinese cuisine.

68A. "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" author : ERNEST HEMINGWAY

89A. Stand up to : MEET HEAD-ON

97A. Government appropriations session : BUDGET HEARING

117A. Became discouraged : LOST HEART

119A. Floor-warming technique : RADIANT HEAT

121D. Featured article hidden in this puzzle's nine longest answers : THE

Simple theme. Very consistent T & HE split.

Notice Gail placed THE at the last Down slot.  Not the last Across. Had she done latter, there would be triple-stacked 7's (not easy to fill cleanly) besides the 3's, or she would have to put two cheaters besides the final THE.

Across:

1. Spanish desserts : FLANS. Sweet start.

6. Loads of fun : A HOOT. And 21A. Words after make or devise : A PLAN.  Also 91A. "That's __!": director's cry : A WRAP.  Now you see why the first two are not clued as straight partials.

11. Loaded, in Limoges : RICHE. Alliteration is often used in foreign word entry. See also  79D. Tijuana title : SENOR

16. Local geog. division : TWP (Township)

19. Bar mitzvah reading source : TORAH

20. Help with the kids : NANNY

22. Member of the flock : EWE

27. Honshu city : KYOTO. Literally "Capital city". Tokyo means "Eastern capital", east of Kyoto, of course.


28. Regarding : AS PER

30. Pleads not guilty : DENIES IT. Not easy to parse.

31. Flimsy : LAME

33. Minimal effort : EASE

34. Salt in chem class : NaCL

35. Like some access : LIMITED

44. Hydrocarbon suffix : ENE

45. Second-smallest st. : DEL

47. Keema __: meat-stuffed bread : NAAN. Never had it. Did you really had Mexican food & beer after doctor's visit the other day, D-Otto? Or were you just kidding?


48. Compact coloring : ROUGE

54. Devices that can correct diplopia : PRISMS. Did not know "double vision" is called "diplopia".

57. Single, for one: Abbr. : SYN (Synonym). Single & One are synonyms. Lovely clue.

58. '60s "Super!" : GROOVY

59. Shows of support : YEAS

61. Garfield's "purebred clown" : ODIE

62. Energizes, with "up" : PEPS

63. Emulated a pirate : STOLE

64. Puts up : ERECTS

66. Food critic's criticism : NO TASTE. I like Cantonese food the most, the authentic one. It's a bit mild. Fresh seafood/fruits/veggie all year round there. No need to spice things up.

72. Water, often : DILUTER

75. Needles : TEASES

76. Drifters : HOBOS

80. Respond to "Let's hear it ..." : CLAP

81. Response to a capitán : SI, SI

84. Picked at random : DREW

85. Comfort : SOLACE

86. "Antz" effects, for short : CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery)

87. Opera set on Cyprus : OTELLO

93. Separate mil. service since 1947 : USAF

95. Thai language : LAO. Lots of Lao people in China too. We have 56 ethnic groups. Over 90% are Han.

96. Latin I verb : AMO

102. More significant : GREATER

105. Switch back? : EROO. Switcheroo. .

106. Hungarian castle city : EGER

107. Ranking symbol : STAR

108. Actor born Alphonso D'Abruzzo : ALAN ALDA. Vowel rich, like ED ASNER, hence their frequent appearances.

112. Jacksonville's county : DUVAL. Need crossing help.

114. Will of "Blue Bloods" : ESTES. Stranger to me.


122. Make a scene? : ACT. Nice clue.

123. Dangerous snake : ADDER

124. Idyllic regions : EDENS

125. Stagger : LURCH

126. Cross-country need, perhaps : SKI. I was amazed at the dry wall stuff Marti did, and the various DIY projects TTP accomplished. My rose water spray and body scrub are DIYed though :-)

127. "Needless __ ..." : TO SAY

128. Tailor's tucks : DARTS

129. Cropped up : AROSE

 Down:
 
 1. Consumer protection org. : FTC

2. "Get a load of that!" : LOOK

3. Multitude : ARMY

4. City mentioned in the song "That's Amore" : NAPOLI. Naples.

5. Aimed for : SHOT AT

6. Tiny Amazon : ANT. Amazon ant. Never heard of it.



7. "Good one!" : HA HA

8. "Be right with ya" : ONE SEC

9. Even (with) : ON A PAR 

10. Enters : TYPES IN

11. Indian friend of TV's Sheldon and Leonard : RAJ. Do you still love "The Big Bang Theory",  Irish Miss?

12. It can help you carry a tune : iPOD

13. Customer : CLIENT

14. "Steel Magnolias" actress Daryl : HANNAH. I watched the "Steel Magnolias" long time ago. Can't remember any detail.

15. Decoys : ENTICERS

16. Golf bag items : TEES

17. Big conflict, briefly : WWII

18. Flippant : PERT

24. Eventually : SOMEDAY. Any luck yesterday, Splynter?

26. "You there?" : HELLO


29. Sports news staple : RECAP

32. Pulitzer-winning biographer Leon : EDEL. I'm surprised to see this guy.  We got him a lot in the old Tribune Daily puzzles.

35. Hose in a shell : L'EGGS

36. Motionless : INERT

37. "Ditto" : ME TOO

39. Big name in syrups : KARO

40. Oklahoma city named for a Tennyson character : ENID. "Idylls of the King".

41. Inspiration sources : MUSES

42. Karnak's country : EGYPT. Has any of you visited Karnak?


43. Wound up : TENSE

46. Parsec's 3.26, roughly: Abbr. : LT-YRS (Light-years)

50. Hide : HOLE UP

51. Chris known for her ground strokes : EVERT

52. Auto antifreeze brand : HEET



53. Regatta entry : YACHT

55. Joins the chorus : SINGS

56. Catty remark? : MEOW. Can picture the smile from LaLaLinda.

60. Mount : STEED

62. Radio bribe : PAYOLA

64. Like many King novels : EERIE.  Stephen King had a great interview with "Fresh Air" last year. I loved what he said below about God and his view change over the years. 

"I choose to believe it. ... I mean, there's no downside to that. If you say, 'Well, OK, I don't believe in God. There's no evidence of God,' then you're missing the stars in the sky and you're missing the sunrises and sunsets and you're missing the fact that bees pollinate all these crops and keep us alive and the way that everything seems to work together. Everything is sort of built in a way that to me suggests intelligent design. But, at the same time, there's a lot of things in life where you say to yourself, 'Well, if this is God's plan, it's very peculiar,' and you have to wonder about that guy's personality — the big guy's personality. And the thing is — I may have told you last time that I believe in God — what I'm saying now is I choose to believe in God, but I have serious doubts and I refuse to be pinned down to something that I said 10 or 12 years ago. I'm totally inconsistent."

Click here for more.
  
65. Excessive flattery : SMARM

67. Lake near Squaw Valley : TAHOE

69. Tweet source : NEST

70. "Uh-huh" : I SEE

71. Handrail post : NEWEL

72. 1983 Mr. T comedy : DC CAB

73. 20th-cen. largely female labor org. : ILGWU. I had to google: International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. 

74. Scottish landowner : LAIRD

77. Lacking a knack for : BAD AT

78. Carol opening : O COME

82. Swing around : SLUE

83. To whom Rick said "We'll always have Paris" : ILSA. I can watch "Casablanca" again and again.

85. Cut : SHORTEN

87. Collapsible headgear : OPERA HAT

88. Propelled in a regatta, maybe : OARED

90. Follows (along) : TAGS

92. Deal sealer : AGENT

94. "Exactly what I thought" : FIGURED

98. City on Lake Erie : TOLEDO

99. Surfing wannabes : HODADS

100. More than 70% of its population lives in Clark County : NEVADA. What's your favorite spot in Las Vegas, Steve?

101. Landscaping machine : GRADER. Wow, I never knew  this is called grader.


103. "Stand and Deliver" Calif. setting : EAST LA

104. Garfield's successor : ARTHUR

108. Quaint plaint : ALAS

109. It may be picked : LOCK. Oh, hair.

110. Piedmont product : ASTI

111. Forte : AREA

113. Fluffy stuff : LINT

115. First name in Finnish American architects : EERO (Saarinen)

116. Egg holders : SACS

118. Not give up : TRY

120. Balaam's mount : ASS

C.C. 

54 comments:

  1. The 2007 Ig Nobel Prize Literature Prize: Glenda Browne of Australia, for her study of the word "the" -- and of the many ways it causes problems for anyone who tries to put things into alphabetical order. REFERENCE: "The Definite Article: Acknowledging 'The' in Index Entries," Glenda Browne, The Indexer, vol. 22, no. 3 April 2001, pp. 119-22.

    There once was an indexer named Glenda
    Who deemed it worthwhile to expend a
    Bit of her energy
    To a study on THE THE
    And how THE THE disrupts THE indexer's agenda!

    An article is an a, an, or THE.
    THE THE can be pronounced thə or thee
    So it's really two words
    Which makes THE absurd
    Presumption of THE THE's identity.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Greetings!

    Thanks, Gail and CC! Great work!

    CC: I'll bet that picked refers to door locks here!

    Quite an effort. Just under an hour. Long for a Sunday. No cheats.

    Time for beddy!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Redemption after my Saturday fiasco! I got FLANS, TORAH, and COMPOST almost immediately giving me confidence to proceed at my usual Sunday pace with no look ups or helps. I went counter clockwise down the West coast, across the south and up the east coast. By that time THE was a big help.
    I loved KYOTO. Because it wasn't bombed during the war, many neighborhoods retain their ancient characters. Lovely.
    I picked many a LOCK on bedroom and bathroom doors when the kids were little. A little tool comes with new locks, but often I could used a straightened paper clip or bobby pin.
    OTELLO is one of my favorite operas.
    Have a great Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very enjoyable. Everything a Sunday puzzle should be.

    [22:03]

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good morning C.C. et al.

    I filled in FLANS, skipped A HOOT (could have been "A riOT"), put in RICHE, skipped TWP, filled in TORAH…and so it went. Fill one, skip one, fill one, skip one.

    I was almost totally flummoxed with CRICKET HELMET. I had ***CKET HELMET, and just couldn't see anything except "jacket." It turned out to be my last fill, after changing "a riot" to A HOOT and "in a sec" to ONE SEC. That did the trick, and let me see ON A PAR and TYPES IN crossing NANNY.

    Have a relaxing day everyone - I know that I, for one, am declaring a day of rest!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Morning, all!

    Fun puzzle overall today. Normally, I would think that having "THE" as the theme would be a bit on the dull side, but Gail really pulled it off well.

    Did not know HODAD and hated TWP (as always), but everything else was smooth sailing today. Well, mostly smooth. The top central section remained blank for quite awhile until I finally went back and managed to come up with AHOOT, NANNY, HAHA, etc. I should have gotten CRICKETHELMET right off the bat (so to speak), but I had no idea they even wore helmets in cricket...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good morning!

    This was a top-to-bottom solve with nary a stumble. Nicely done, Gail.

    Enjoyed your writeup, C.C. and, yes, we really did stop for spicy Mexican food and beer after the EGD. The sedative drugs had completely worn off, and that meal really hit the spot after fasting for 18+ hours.

    I agree with Fermat; it was door locks that were being picked. We always called that piece of heavy equipment a road grader.

    We keep a COMPOST Tumbler out back for yard waste and non-meat kitchen scraps.

    SOLACE (a Mexican Serenade) 3:36 Is a hauntingly beautiful Scott Joplin rag. It was featured in The Sting.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Barry, I could never understand your antipathy to TWP. In New Jersey townships are a class of incorporation with fixed boundaries and equal standing to a village, town, borough, or city, analogous to a New England town or towns in New York.
    The correct abbreviation is TWP, common all over the state on signs, maps, postal addresses, brochures, etc. I worked for Montville TWP Public Schools. When I enter NJ, Mount Laurel on my GPS, it asks whether I want Mount Laurel or Mount Laurel TWP.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good Morning, C.C., and friends. Fun Sunday puzzle. I knew we were looking for THE from the title of today's puzzle. The The is also the name of a band.

    I had a fabulous FLAN at Caracol's restaurant in Houston. The rest of the meal was delicious, too.

    As other's have noted, it is a LOCK on a door that is picked, but my first thought was Luck. One can pick one's luck, no?

    We visited Karnak about 10 years ago.

    That GRADER is not one I would use to landscape my backyard!

    I mis-read or mis-interpreted the Batsman Protection and was wondering what kind of Helmet Batman wore.

    QOD: I know only two tunes: one of them is “Yankee Doodle,” and the other isn’t. ~ Ulysses S. Grant (Apr. 27, 1822 ~ July 23, 1885)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Forgot to mention...I did wonder for the longest time why Batman would be wearing a CRICKET HELMET. D'oh!

    Here's a recent Smithsonian article which confirms that Cats a) Are Pretty Smart, b) Don't Really Care What You Want. Be sure to click on the Look at them link at the bottom of the article.

    ReplyDelete
  11. d-otto, they are all so cute, but # 32 is just priceless!

    We "tried" to sleep in this morning, but at 6 AM, all three cats decided it was time for us to get up and feed them. We ignored their initial tentative paw-on-the-face trick. When that didn't work, they decided to walk up and down our backs. When that elicited nothing more than a grumpy "mmfff" from us, they thought it would be fun to play tag with each other - using us as the playing field.

    DH finally got up and fed them - further insuring that they would play the same games tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you for the puzzle, Gail. Thank you for the excellent review, C.C. I always enjoy hearing about Chinese culture. I find it interesting to discover that Crab Rangoon is an American creation. I think a lot of “Mexican” dishes are too.

    OTOH, my wife and I both love FLANS, so I got that immediately. There must be different recipes, because the texture varies from place to place.

    I enjoyed this puzzle. It took me about normal Sunday time with no red letter help. I got a couple of THE theme answers and THE unifier. That helped get THE other theme answers.

    I didn’t know EGER, EDEL, DC CAB, HODADS, and Keema NAAN, but the perps saved me.

    I couldn’t remember who succeeded Garfield, but ARTHUR came back after a couple of perps. I had NAPLES before NAPOLI, but again the perps fixed it.

    I didn’t know ENID was named for a Tennyson character, but how many 4-letter Oklahoma cities appear in crosswords?

    I watch Blue Bloods, and I recognize Will ESTES from the picture, but didn’t know his name. Perped it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. C.C., I love Casablanca too. It is one of the few movies I will watch again and again.

    I’ve never been to KARNAK, Egypt, but I almost feel like I have. I watched a TV program (History Channel?) and it was featured in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.

    We still watch The Big Bang Theory faithfully. It hasn't grown old yet, although I don't think it is as funny today as the early years. Some weeks are better than others.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi All ~~

    This went faster than most Sundays for me. I think catching on to the theme so quickly (with COMPOS THE AP) helped speed things along. Very enjoyable, Gail!

    A couple of write-overs: A Riot before A HOOT and for 'Deal sealer' - Shake before AGENT.

    HODADS was a learning moment.

    Mike NAPOLI plays first base for the Red Sox.

    65D - Excessive flattery makes me think of Eddie Haskell from "Leave it to Beaver."

    I enjoyed your write-up, C.C. When I read your take on "picked locks," I pictured and Afro being picked out with its special comb. And yes, MEOW brought a smile. =^..^=

    Marti I loved your kitty wake-up call story!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hello, Puzzle People! Thank you for that reassurance on Crab Rangoon, C.C. I believe Chow Mein is another American creation.

    And thank you, Gail, for a funday puz. It was a real sashay all the way through and THE was easy to spot. Not many write overs, either. I smiled as STRIKE HELMET occurred to me, thinking, that makes sense! No, it doesn't. It was CRICKET HELMET.

    All else fell in place until the Natick at EGER/FIGURE which seems awkward for "exactly what I thought." I also didn't recall DCCAB and had POLUTER for water. I know, it's pollute.

    OwenKL:
    Not too many people pronounce THE as thee anymore but it should be so before a vowel as "thee answer" etc. Good to see it in your poem.


    Clues I enjoyed:
    catty remark, MEOW
    single, for one, SYNomym
    member of the flock, EWE

    Have yourselves a joyous Sunday, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Got this one, which is more than I could say for yesterdays. Didn't even need red letters for once. WEES. Did have a lot of write overs. Erased NANNY, but then had to put it back in. Erased HA HA, but then had to put it back in. Erased NAPOLI... DILUTER... AGENT... SKI... a couple others, I think. OTOH, I had I KNEW IT before FIGURED (guess I didn't know it after all). INEPT before BAD AT, A-TEAM before DC CAB, VIPER before ADDER, CUPS before SACS. Was sure that HELMET was Kevlar or Tyvek or something. And "it can be picked?" NOSE.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Good Morning everyone.

    WBS and also D - O. Enjoyed the way the theme was executed. Liked seeing L'EGGS and GROOVY. Few unknowns like DE CAB and ESTES were gotten from the perps. No searches needed.
    81a, If the response was to a capitán's order, I doubt the sailor would say SI SI. I think the right context would be "a la orden, Señor" What say you, Lucina?
    67d, Lake TAHOE is a graben lake.
    98d, TOLEDO, one of JazzB's haunts. Nice shout out.
    GRADER - C.C.'s picture I grew up knowing as a road grader. But I've also seen them involved in rough site development/landscaping, such as shopping malls, airports, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hello Puzzlers -

    Caught onto the theme early with help from the title. A few fills went faster because of that. Had a little annoyance with "As Per", which I equate with "according to". The clue is not quite a fit as I see it. However, the clue "single, for one" is super!

    Morning, C.C.! I don't recall whether you've said you have a preference for cats, or dogs, or whatever. D Otto appears to have staked a claim - adorable kittens!

    We still watch The Big Bang, but with less relish. It seems to have lost some of its punch.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dudley, we've never owned a dog, but at the moment we've got six cats roamin' around, all of them rescue cats. We don't pick 'em -- they just show up and then don't leave. They love to hunt in the 5 acres of woods behind our house. DW is always having to rescue some lizard, mole or bird that they're torturing.

    I'm with Buckeye Bob on Will ESTES. Recognized the picture, but couldn't name the actor.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Spitzboov:
    Si, Si, I doubt anyone would address el capitan in that way.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Can I swap DH for anyone else's???? I sent him to the store with our electronic grocery list in Evernote. I'm making a stew, and all we had on hand was russet potatoes. Those get too mushy in stew, so I like to use New potatoes or fingerlings, instead. So here's the list entry:
    - Small new potatoes (8 or 9) - I can't use the russets we have (one was mushy anyway…)
    He came home with a 5 lb bag of russets. His thinking?
    "Oh, she can't use those old potatoes, so I'll get her some new ones…"

    ReplyDelete
  22. Marti, I use russets in stew -- I just don't put 'em in until the last hour of cooking. BTW, I had Evernote on my tablet for a while. Then I realized that since I don't carry the tablet around, writing notes on it is sort of useless. It's gone now. And, I understand Alan's (maybe it's not Alan?) thinking entirely.

    ReplyDelete
  23. D-otto, I have used russets and added them later like you said. But I like to make big batches and freeze some for another meal. That's when new potatoes make a difference, to me.

    Allen and I have Evernote on our iMac, laptops, iPads and iPhones, and the are all synced together. If I type a note in my laptop, it appears on all the other devices. Very handy!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi there~!

    Nothing yesterday, C.C., which was too bad - it was raining, and the perfect time to inspect a house.
    I did find one, but I'll have to wait to see the inside.

    Good work, HeartRx - shark bites, nice~!
    As for new potatoes, that's funny~!

    I see TWP on signs here on Long Island, too.

    And you know I have to link something for L'Eggs~!

    Splynter

    ReplyDelete
  25. I learned a new word that will certainly show up in a crossword: PHABLET. Leastwise, it's new to me.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Good Morning:

    Had a few bumps along the way but nothing that the perps couldn't resolve. Had limp/lame, Inasec/onesec, ariot/ahoot, AlPacino/AlanAlda, etc. Estes was a gimme as I am a big Blue Bloods fan.

    As to TBBT, CC, I gave up on that two seasons ago. IMO, Chuck Lorre, co-writer/creator, has turned the show into a half hour of tasteless "jokes" about women's bodies and bodily functions, male " short-comings", and, surprise!, just how nasty and asocial Sheldon can be. Considering he is also the creator of Two and A Half Men and (I think) Two Broke Girls, that tells you a lot about his brand of humor.

    Good job, Gail, and super write-up, CC.

    Have a great Sunday. BTW, what is an opera hat?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi Y'all! THE theme, I have TO SAY, was LAME! I think I was too tired from all the walking I did yesterday to enjoy it. I almost LOST HEART completely as I LURCHed from one group of letters and words to another. Gail grabbed me by the owski again!

    I filled all the squares but not without several red letter alphabet runs. DC CAB & ILGWU were all runs. Couldn't figure out what CGI had to do with "Antz" until I was in bed and it crawled into my mind.

    CRICKET HELMET: They make bugs wear protective head covering now?

    Thank you, C.C., for all you do. Enjoy your insights into Chinese things. You are a charming ambassador for your birth culture.

    I was awakened late this morning by loud thunder, torrential rains and high swirly winds. All the windows under the deep eaves on all sides of my house were plastered with running dirty water. I've never seen that before. Scared me.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Irish Miss: I wanted to know what an opera hat was too so I googled. It's a tall top hat like Lincoln wore, collapsible with a spring. Hmmm!

    ReplyDelete
  29. -I am late posting because we were in Lincoln for Elise’s 9th birthday for a lovely $18/head breakfast buffet. This picture is of Elise, her American Girl Doll in a matching outfit and her mother, my daughter, Crissy at the restaurant.
    -SIL had to retrieve the Lincoln Journal Star out of the flower bed in the rain this morning and I got 2/3 of it done before brunch and then finished back here at home.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Very enjoyable. Took me quite some time to find a spot to get started - it wasn't until I found PEPS/PAYOLA that I got a toehold and went basically clockwise from there.

    Thanks for the expo, C.C.

    Barry - cricketers started wearing batting helmets around 1980 or so when (primarily) the Australian and West Indian fast bowlers made liberal use of a delivery known as a bouncer - the ball bowled very short of the wicket so that it would bounce up towards the batsman's head. When these guys were bowling at around 100 mph you needed some protection!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Does anyone else remember the "Look for the Union Label" advertisement song they kept playing on TV from the late 70's/early 80's? I kept humming it trying to remember the first and last letters to: *LGW*
    It finally came to me later.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Gary, those are two lovely girls/women; three if you count the other doll. Great photo!

    Irish Miss, I don't feel quite as negative as you do about TBBT but I know what you mean. Give Modern Family a try. I like it.

    I have tried Bletchly Circle and liked it. I would like to see the first season about their code breaking.

    ReplyDelete
  33. 23A Does your sister-in-law write music? If so, when she composes, why does she put her written music in a pile in her back yard. I think you meant compost pile (a decayed mixture of plants (such as leaves and grass) that is used to improve the soil in a garden.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Gale’s puzzle took some effort here on the plains but was as welcome as the wonderful rains we are getting.

    Musings
    -Only 1 M in HEMMINGWAY, HEAP not PILE, didn’t we have LAME fill for LAME recently, HOBOS ain’t PC anymore, loved iPod cluing, HEET not PEAK,
    -JOINT HEIR – “You mean all of dad’s stash is in the will for us”
    -KC’s Omar Infante had this piece added to his batting HELMET after he got hit in the jaw a few weeks ago.
    -Our gov’t has a BUDGET? We’re $17,000,000,000,000 in debt!
    -Some nouveau RICHE lottery winners manage their money as incompetently as the aforementioned gov’t
    -Even the Boston Marathon bomber DENIES IT in court
    -Eyeglasses with PRISMS can allow this accommodation too..
    -In what movie did Jack use them?
    -I’d probably need a lot of DILUTER at Tin’s house
    -We watched wonderful Frozen with Elise last night. The CGI and music (3:38) were fabulous as seen/heard here!
    -When we were in NAPOLI, they were in the middle of a garbage strike.
    -Three NESTS are visible from my recliner here
    -What Alan ALDA and Carol Burnett movie did a lot for Vivaldi?

    ReplyDelete
  35. Bob L. You've got me singing your song.
    Link Look for the union label

    Look for the union label
    When you are buying a coat, dress or blouse.
    Remember somewhere our union's sewing
    our wages going to feed the kids and run the house,
    We work hard but who's complaining.
    Thanks to the I.L.G. we're paying our way.

    I just returned from buying my annual library card for $100. My TWP doesn't collect library taxes or pay into the county consortium. We have only a tiny all volunteer local library which is not acceptable for reciprocity. I sign out approx. 75 ebooks and print books a years, read the periodicals and sometimes copy the NYT puzzle.
    When I was stil tutoring I used the reference section and reference librarian a great deal. This library is worth supporting. I know, because, alas, we don't have one.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I goofed. Here are the entire lyrics.
    Look for the union label
    When you are buying a coat, dress or blouse.
    Remember somewhere our union's sewing
    our wages going to feed the kids and run the house,
    We work hard but who's complaining.
    Thanks to the I.L.G. we're paying our way.
    So, always look for the union label,
    it says we're able
    to make it in the U.S.A.

    Link Try again

    ReplyDelete
  37. Splynter, the only reason I had to learn about Shark Bites is that the contractor accidentally cut into a copper water line when he was cutting out the rotted cast iron pipe. He asked me to get a Shark Bite to repair it, but he didn't put it in correctly and it was still leaking. So I had to go get a longer one and replace it myself…along with fixing the Fernco coupling he had put in without filing down the old cast pipe. Arrrrgh!

    Argyle, PHABLET is now in my word list…coming soon to a crossword near you!

    HG, ooh, prisms used by Jack Nicholson = one of my all-time favorite movies! (One of the items on mine is to climb Machu Picchu.)

    ReplyDelete
  38. Marti: I have always wanted to go to Machu Picchu. We are going later this year. We are in the process of finalizing our plans even as I type this!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Thanks, Argyle, that was the Youtube spot I was trying to link. I can't understand why doing the linking the same way sometimes works and sometimes does not.
    HG, great pic of your daughter and granddaughter. What a happy time you all must have had. Happy birthday to her.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hahtoolah, so cool you are planning a trip to Machu Picchu! If you have time and are in Lima, please make plans to meet and say hello to Dr. Jorge Heraud, director of the Institute of Radio Astronomy - NAFRI PUCP and principal teacher at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru. Dr. Heraud has worked with me and my colleagues at QuakeFinder, and is a very pleasant fellow indeed. He speaks fluent English, as he got his Ph.D. at Stanford.

    ReplyDelete
  41. -Thanks for the comments on my lovely daughter and granddaughter.
    -Hmmm… If we want to settle that PIN OAK root issue from yesterday, maybe we just need to wait for a thunder storm like in this time lapse photo I just got from a friend.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Hahtoolah, can I be your bag handler? (I promise, I'll pay you for my services!!!) Please be sure to share pictures...

    HG, What an incredible photo of a pin oak getting hit by lightning!!! And I forgot to say, I loved the pic of your daughter/granddaughter/granddoll…

    ReplyDelete
  43. PK - Thanks for the info on opera hat.

    Bill G - I have seen Modern Family a couple of times, but I guess I gravitate more toward drama rather than comedy.

    HG - Very nice photo. Happy Birthday to Elise.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Sheldon Cooper has turned out to be just plain mean, vindictive, and unpleasant. And I agree there has been too much potty humor lately.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Did this in the newspaper and DNF due to not knowing DC CAB (wanted A TEAM) or ILGWU. But I did get THE featured article and had an enjoyable time.

    Hand up for IN A SEC and A RIOT. Have never heard of HODADS and was not sure of it even when perps filled it in.

    Happy Sunday to all.

    ReplyDelete
  46. I enjoyed this puzzle. Solved it a little faster than a typical Sunday.

    Edel, Eger, and TWP were all solved with perps. Being from California, I had no idea what a TWP is.

    I also read the clue as Batman's protection and couldn't figure out what kind of helmet he wears. When cricket filled in, I wondered why he wears a cricket helmet.

    My one write-over was in a sec to one sec. I thought the cluing for as per was questionable.

    I agree with Marti, the #32 kitty is adorable (of course, they're all really cute). Wonderful picture of your daughter and granddaughter HG.

    ReplyDelete
  47. There are smaller GRADERS than the one CC pictured, just for home landscaping jobs. Even some with wheels! And others you just pull along and scrape the soil to level it.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Thanks, Jayce. We will be spending some time in Lima.

    ReplyDelete
  49. I have to correct myself on chow mein which may or may not be original Chinese. It's chop suey that is an American concoction.

    ReplyDelete
  50. HG: HOBOES are fine in the right context. I belong to a HOBO Society.

    Batman's helmet is called a cowl.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Good evening, folks. Thank you, Gail Grabowski. for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.

    Got 1A right out of the chute. We had FLAN last night at our church couples group. I did not partake, because I do not care for that type of food, custards, etc. But, I got the crossword answer quite easily.

    TORAH was easy. COMPOST HEAP was also easy. I have one in my garden.

    Had no idea what the theme was until I got way down to the bottom right and got THE. Then I got some of the themes because of that word, THE.

    TWP was easy. I live in Wayne Twp., in DuPage County. In PA I live in Ridgway Twp., in Elk County. We vote by which township we live in. Within the township are precincts.

    Interesting original name of ALAN ALDA.

    Hey, my hometown, buried with EERIE.

    This puzzle took me most of the day, off and on. Got it finished on the way back from the Kabul House Afghan Restaurant. It was a pretty good meal. A little low on the quantity of the food items, but they were good. Had ground meat kabob, rice, spinach, and a few other things. Great glass of doogh (a yogurt drink).

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    (kind ytogypt)



    ReplyDelete
  52. It's hard for me to understand why somebody wouldn't like flan. It's smooth, custardy and sweet. But I do remember one time seeing a little snippet on TV with Rosie O'Donnell. She was in Gloria Estefan's Cuban restaurant. Gloria was very proud of everything though Rosie was being picky. Gloria wanted her to try their traditional dessert, flan, but Rosie wouldn't even taste it. It seemed rude and impolite for her not to even be willing to taste it. I like almost everything that other people think is good to eat and I would certainly give any such new food a taste.

    I don't remember who it was but thank you for turning me on to Bletchley Circle. I'm enjoying it very much.

    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.