google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 Matt Skoczen

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Jun 25, 2014

Wednesday, June 25, 2014 Matt Skoczen

Theme: ALL THAT BLOWS IS NOT THE WIND. [With a H/T to Bill G from comments yesterday.] The first word of each theme answer can follow the word BLOW, yielding a common, in-the-language phrase.

17 A. *Bit of formalwear : TOP HAT.  To BLOW one's TOP is to get very angry.  But nobody could be angered by Fred Astair showing us the entire formal outfit.




 18 A. *Interrupt : HORN IN ON.  This implies a forceful and unwelcome interruption or coercion -- or something a trombonist might happily do.


39 A. *Scandal management ploy : COVER UP.  You can run, but you can't hide.  I'm sure you can think of an example or two.  Seems like somebody always BLOWs the COVER, though.

60 A. *Less intense workout after a workout : COOL DOWN.  Self explanatory, I hope.  After working on my feeble high register, I COOL DOWN by playing low notes.  BLOWing one's COOL is similar, but perhaps less severe than BLOWing one's TOP.

11 D. *Psychologically manipulative tactics : MIND GAMES.   A series of deliberate ploys planned to achieve some advantage or superior position.  To BLOW one's MIND is to make a particularly strong impression.

33 D. *Snoop : NOSE ABOUT.  I'm not sure this is a common phrase, but the meaning is clear enough.  As for BLOWing one's NOSE - well, it's allergy season, s'nuff said.

And, of course, the unifier. 62 A. Lose when you should have won, and a hint to the start of the answers to starred clues : BLOW IT.  But viewed from the other side, it's a clutch come-from-behind victory.  It all depends on whose ox is being gored.  But why am I thinking about Joe Nathan?

Hi gang, it's JzB, your humble resident trombonist and frustrated Tigers fan, in case you haven't guessed by now.  Today we have a very rich and well-executed, perfectly symmetrical theme, with horizontal and  long vertical crossing entries.  Did it BLOW your MIND?  Let's see if I can lead the way through without BLOWing IT.

Across

1. Looking at the stars : GAZINGAstronomy perhaps. Star gazing can also imply absorption in chimerical or impractical ideas, or the quality or state of being absent-minded. How do you spend your nights?  

7. Dog star's first name? : RIN.  RIN Tin Tin.  And I'm Sirius.

10. Singing an olde-fashioned love song? : SMIT.  Derived from "smite" to strike forcefully - yet another kind of BLOW.  Here, pierced by Cupid's arrow -- but --
 
I've heard of being SMITTEN, but not being SMIT,
There are old-fashioned love songs, but this doesn't quite fit.
So SMIT can be today's odd SMITTEN nit.

14. Saudi neighbors : OMANIS. To the East.

15. Poetic preposition : ERE.  I've heard this before

16. Opera set in Egypt : AIDA.  Premiered in Cairo in 1871.  The story of a love triangle between AIDA, an Ethiopian Princess captured and enslaved by the Egyptians; Ramides, an Egyptian military commander torn between duty and his love for her; and Amneris, the Pharaoh's daughter, whose love for Ramides is unrequited.  "In fact, a perfect opera."

20. Wear a long face : MOPE.  I have granddaughters who have raised this to the level of high art.

21. Lucrative way for a handicapper's bet to pay off : TENFOLD.  A long shot winning at 10-1 odds.

22. Supply with weapons, old-style : ENARM.  The erstwhile arms race, as 'twere.

24. Letters for the Queen Mary : HMSHer Majesty's Ship.

25. Numeral : DIGIT.  Any number, suitable for counting on your fingers.

28. Mideast ruler : EMIR.

30. Delaware tribe : LENAPE.  Also known as the Delaware tribe.  Because of displacements from their native territory along the Delaware River watershed, they are now mainly located in Ontario, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma.

31. "General Hospital" extra, for short : LPNLicensed Practical Nurse

34. Territory in dispute between Russia and Ukraine : CRIMEA.   The OTHER Crimean war occurred from 1853 to 1856.  Either way, a sad story.




37. FBI agent : G-MANGovernment Guy.

38. U.N. workers' rights agcy. : I. L. O.   International Labor Organization.

41. Memphis-to-Nashville dir. : ENE. East North East.

42. Condé __ Publications : NAST.  A mass media company headquartered in New York, and famous for its many magazines.  Read all about it.

44. Like Enya's music : NEW AGE.   Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin has shown up as fill so many times in puzzles I've blogged.  It's refreshing to see her in a clue.  As a music genre, NEW AGE is rather bland and amorphous, intended to inspire relaxation, optimism and NEW AGE spirituality, sadly characterized by a conspicuous absence of trombones.  It probably will not BLOW your MIND.

45. Emulated Miss Muffet : SAT.  On a tuffet.  Said Miss Muffet to the Spider:  "Get out of my whey!"

46. Vigor : ENERGY

48. Open carriage : SHAY.   It seems this is a back-formation from chaise, taken as plural.

50. Jazz player, briefly : NBA- ER.  As you can well imagine, this had me entirely down the wrong track.  I hold this fill in the same high regard that I hold NFL-ER, AL-ER, and NL-ER.  Which, I suppose, makes me a nitter.

51. "__ seen enough!" : I'VE.  Well placed fill, IMHO.

53. Stavros superior, in '70s TV : KOJAK.  Another famous show I never watched.  But I still know "Who loves ya!"

57. "Star Wars" weapon : BLASTER.  Which makes me wonder why the Imperial troops even bothered with their totally ineffective armor.

59. Mandlikova of tennis : HANA.  From the '80's.



64. Molokai neighbor : MAUI.  Islands.

65. When repeated, a Kenyan rebel : MAU.  The MAU MAUs revolted against British occupation in the 50's.

66. Puccini's "La __" : BOHEME.   More opera.  Its premier was in  Turin in 1896, conducted by Arturo Tuscanini.  The Bohemians were the dirty hippies of a by-gone time. 

67. Times in the p.m. : AFTSAFTernoonS.  Also, I'm guessing, the best time to go to the back of a boat.

68. Suffix with Canton : -ESE. Food, language, people.

69. Quarters : ABODES.  Living quarters, not fourths of things.

Down

1. "I dunno" : GOT ME.

2. "There's __ Out Tonight": 1961 hit : A MOON.  When you get tired of Star GAZING, you can go MOONing.




3. Rock legend Frank : ZAPPA.  Pappa of Dweezil and Moon Unit.

4. Response from the next room : IN HERE.  Where are you, Pappa?

5. Singer Peeples : NIA.   Virenia Gwendolyn Peeples is also an actress.



6. Clock-setting std. : G.S.T.  Greenwich Sidereal Time. More astronomy.

7. Sew up again : REHEM.  A HEM is a narrow cloth edge folded over and sewn to provide a finished look and prevent unraveling. REHEMing a dress or skit would make it shorter.  Selena Gomez demonstrates.



8. Presses : IRONS.  Next step after REHEMing.

9. Indoor ball brand : NERF.  The trademark for this line of polyurethane foam game and play products introduced in 1970 is in all caps.

10. Asea : SAILING.  Literally out on the waves.  Another frequent filler turned refreshingly into a clue.

12. Words often said in front of a priest : I DO.  Not always.  We got married in the Courthouse in Dearborn.  As it turned out, not the best VENUE.

13. Brown shade : TAN.  Can be confusing at times



19. Plant stem joint : NODE.


21. Flourish : THRIVE.

23. DL x IV : MMCC.  Erstwhile 550 x 4 = 2200.

26. "Brusha, brusha, brusha" toothpaste : IPANA.  Takes me back to my 'ute.




27. Maxim : TENET.  Core belief.

29. "The Twilight Zone" plot device : IRONY.  In this sense, dashed expectations, often associated with a plot twist.

30. Chuckle : LAUGH.  HA!

31. Flax fabric : LINEN

32. Something to fall back on : PLAN B.  If you BLOW plan A.

35. Litter sound : MEW.  Kittens.

36. Pencil topper : ERASER.  Mistake eliminator.  Necessary with Sudoku.

40. Busiest type of season : PEAK

43. Ivy support : TRELLIS

47. Alum : GRAD. Alumnus and GRADuate.   A former student who made the grade

49. Start of a pirate's refrain : YO HO HO.   And a bottle of rum.  Absolutely no ice, though.

51. "__ a dark and stormy night ..." : IT WAS.  Does any story actually start this way?

52. Locale : VENUE.  Place where something happens.

54. Yakked : JAWED.  Gabbed.

55. Cartoon genre : ANIME.  The concept seems a bit muddled, but I guess I know it when I see it.  It can look like this.



56. Beckinsale and Chopin : KATES.   Kathrin Romary Beckinsale (b. 1973) is a British actress.  Katherine Chopin (nee O'Flaherty, 1850 — 1904) was an American author of short stories and novels.

58. A few : SOME.  Not many.

60. Awards often co-hosted by Carrie Underwood: Abbr. :  C.M.A.  Country Music Awards.  No link.  I'm not a fan.

62. Mgr.'s degree : B.B.A.  Bachelor of Business Administration.

63. Toss : LOB.  A soft throw.

We made it.  Nice puzzle, with some musical interludes.  There were a couple of nits, but nothing to BLOW your COOL over.  I had a lot of fun with this one, and hope you did, too.

[Not BLOWN] Cool regards!
JzB


Note from C.C.:

Below are 2 sweet photos of JD, Bob and their grandsons. JD, who is now in Amsterdam,  said:

"This was taken on Sat. at Cameron’s 4th birthday. Grady will soon be 5, and Truman will be 7. Dylan was already down for the night when we took this. They are growing up fast."


 Left to Right: Cameron, JD, Grady, Bob & Truman


Here they were in 2010:
 
Taken on July 5, 2010.
From left to right: Grady (11 months), Truman 3 & Cameron (2 weeks)

56 comments:

OwenKL said...

A trumpeter to try out his hand
Aimed to BLOW HIS HORN in a band.
The sound was atrocious,
Still they called him precocious;
He'd BLOW HIS NOSE to cool Dixieland!

You shouldn't BLOW YOUR COOL and get ired,
Or you might BLOW YOUR TOP and get fired;
Which is bad, 'less your purpose
Is an act in the circus,
And as the Live Cannonball you were hired!

If you BLOW YOUR COVER you might find
That spies are a dozen for a dime.
But the greatest of flaws
In espionage
Is how firing squads can just BLOW YOUR MIND!

Who can decipher this Cryptic clue for one of the answers in today's puzzle?
Mystic music from New England nets paycheck

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

I finished this one unassisted, but there were plenty of bumps on the road along the way.

Barely remembered LENAPE, didn't know HANA, had no idea there was a KATE Chopin, never heard of BBA before, etc. And then, of course, there was AFT and SMIT...

All in all, it made for a choppy solve. I figured out the theme and made it to the end, but felt like I kept stubbing my mental toe in the process.

Lemonade714 said...

JzB as usual enjoyed your write up of a workable Wednesday. Did not see the theme until the reveal and even then the connectors took a while.

TENFOLD seemed random and I imagine HANA was not everyone's radar.

MAUI and MAU together was cool

HeartRx said...

Good morning Jazzbumpa, C.C. et al.

Wow, we get not only AIDA but also La BOHEME, plus some more of Jazzbumpa’s poetry thrown in for good measure. (I’m still chuckling over the one from last night, Jazzb!)

OwenKL – your human cannonball was priceless...

I loved this theme, and thought the reveal was really fun. I basically solved top to bottom with only one stumble at LENAPE. I had the *ENA** and foolishly entered sENAca without checking the crosses. Oops! That was quickly corrected, and I proceeded on my journey.

I also liked seeing MAUI next to MAU mau. But was the crossing of ERASER and COVER UP on purpose?

JD, sweet pics. Have a happy hump day everyone!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

I got through this one in normal Wednesday time, but managed to make quite an inkblot in the process. The worst was ADAGE before TENET so that Miss Muffett ATE rather than SAT.

Never watched KOJAK, and I thought Stavros was an enemy of Dr. Who back in the 70's.

I think NOSE around is more common than NOSE ABOUT. The latter sounds British, somehow.

I thought the S in GST was "Standard." But I guess the standard is called GMT.

Unknown said...

HMS is the wrong answer for the Queen Mary.
HMS only applies to ships of the Royal Navy!
I think that you will find that the correct answer is RMS

Manac said...

The HMS Queen Mary was a Royal Navy Battlecrusier sunk in the North sea
1n 1916 so the answer is correct.

( I owe, I owe, so....)

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Matt Skoczen, for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, JZB, for a fine review.

Started easily with GAZING. Most of the rest came easily as well.

SMIT took a while. So did LENAPE.

Tried GMT until that did not work. Then entered GST, thinking it meant Standard. The blog educated me on that, Sidereal. We will see if I can retain that bit of knowledge.

Theme was illusive until the very end. Works for me.

Interesting about HMS and RMS. Never knew that. So, it looks like the clue/answer was wrong, if Richard Johnson is correct.

Nice photos, JD. Great family. Enjoy them while they are young.

See you tomorrow. Raining today, so will be working inside.

Abejo

(120)

Mari said...

Good morning everybody.

Was anybody else's puzzle screwed up? I took mine from the print edition of the Chicago Tribune and it skips from 1 Down to 10 Down. My 1 Down says "I dadoor ball brand (no closed paren).

The Trib's Across clues seem right in line with JzB's, but the down's are messed up.

I couldn't finish it. Anybody else have this problem?

Yellowrocks said...

Neat puzzle today. I completed it without help, but didn’t spend enough time looking for the theme. I left that up to JzB’s excellent review.
D/O, me, too. I had ADAGE before TENANT, ATE before SAT.
We teach about the Lenape here in NJ. They were the local tribe.
I enjoy Olympic figure skating, so I knew HANA,.
I figured if there is an MBA, there is likely a BBA, although I never heard of it.
As it happens there was a HMS Queen Mary, as well as an RMS Queen Mary.
HMS Queen Mary was the last battle cruiser built by the Royal Navy before World War I.
I can picture Snoopy sitting on the doghouse roof with a typewriter.
Link Snoopy

Yellowrocks said...

The Voyagers
We shall launch our shallop on waters blue from some dim primrose shore,
We shall sail with the magic of dusk behind and enchanted coasts before,
Over oceans that stretch to the sunset land where lost Atlantis lies,
And our pilot shall be the vesper star that shines in the amber skies.

The sirens will call to us again, all sweet and demon-fair,
And a pale mermaiden will beckon us, with mist on her night-black hair;
We shall see the flash of her ivory arms, her mocking and luring face,
And her guiling laughter will echo through the great, wind-winnowed space.

But we shall not linger for woven spell, or sea-nymph's sorceries,
It is ours to seek for the fount of youth, and the gold of Hesperides,
Till the harp of the waves in its rhythmic beat keeps time to our pulses' swing,
And the orient welkin is SMIT to flame with auroral crimsoning.

And at last, on some white and wondrous dawn, we shall reach the fairy isle
Where our hope and our dream are waiting us, and the to-morrows smile;
With song on our lips and faith in our hearts we sail on our ancient quest,
And each man shall find, at the end of the voyage, the thing he loves the best.
by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Sorry, I was interrupted while composing my post and didn't see you had the same answer. The clue is, indeed, correct. Great minds....

Anonymous said...

My puzzle was also messed up. Had to solve on line.

Anonymous said...

Chicago Tribune was missing clues 2 thru 9 down further complicating the solution

TTP said...

Good morning all.

Thank you Matt Skoczen. I was SAILING along, following no particular order. The east and southeast were the last to fill. Fortunately, LENAPE was taken care of by perps. My avatar liked 7A.

JzB, you are so funny. "And I'm Sirius." How do you come up with these associations ? Ella's Cry Me a River... "Get out of my whey." I liked all the links too.

I thought of Husker Gary when I entered MOPE. Gary uses it most often as a noun and less frequently as a verb. I have a Chicago friend that also uses it as a noun.

JD, you have a nice trio of Superheros there ! Superman, Batman and ??

Hope everyone has a great day !

kazie said...

The Wisconsin State Journal also had the missing down clues and messed up 1D like the Trib today. I went online and got the clues there, but then I messed up the SE corner. I didn't know SHAY, KATES, HANA, or KOJAK. Not that I don't know of Kojak, but for some reason I didn't get to the right TV show. having also missed PEAK and having guessed RENES/KATES threw me further.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all.

The N and NW was not workable for me because our paper, the Utica Observer-Dispatch, omitted clues: 2 thru 9 down. So I had to go on line to get them. Otherwise the solve went well enough and no searches were needed.

RMS - Royal Mail Ship
HMS - His Majesty's Ship
I think HMS is correct because THRIVE, 21D, FITS.

Off to play some bridge.

Have a great day.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

A little chewy but got the TADA w/o help. Smit and BBA unknowns.

Thanks, Matt, for a fun Wednesday romp and thanks, JZB, for your witty write-up.

Yesterday's rain never materialized so three sisters and three nieces and I enjoyed an al fresco dinner on the patio of one of our favorite Italian restaurants. The Tuesday special is an antipasta, a cheese pizza, and another pizza with your choice of two toppings for $20.00. It easily feeds four people. Another special is steamed Little Neck clams for $4.99. We had a great time and enjoyed being outdoors on such a pleasant June evening. (Thought of Tin as my _ _ _ melted so quickly!)

Have a great day.

Dennis said...

Good morning, gang - the puzzle went smoothly enough, but even after getting the reveal, it took a minute to get the theme. Very clever. My only real goof was with 43D Ivy Support, where, as I'm picturing a trellis, I typed 'trestle'. It's interesting watching one's own mind go away.

As with Yellowrocks, having lived in NJ made LENAPE a gimme. Had the same thought as desper-otto regarding Stavros.

So our anniversary evening took an unexpected turn. We had drinks and dinner at the hotel, and because the bartender has been a friend since we first stayed there, he made sure the drinks (Linda's two martinis -- I was drinking iced teas since I'd be driving) were adequately strong (read horse tranquilizers). After dinner, we went up to the room to change before running down to Miami just for a nice cruise. Linda said something about wanting to lie down for a minute, and the next thing I heard was heavy breathing, and not the good kind. Long story short, I hung out with the bartender for a bit, watched some Phillies/Marlins and had a very good night's sleep.

Jazz, outstanding write-up -- had me laughing out loud and groaning at the same time, which probably didn't sound very good.

JD, great pictures as always; I love how much you get to travel.

Lemon, I thought this was supposed to be rainy season here?

Catching up on some older posts -- Chickie, yes, you don't forget the sound of those big radial engines on the WWII bombers. Sorry I didn't see your post earlier.

Hope it's a fun day for everyone.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Good puzzle, Matt! Witty as always, JzB!

Enjoyed this puzzle although I didn't get the theme until the revealer.

Never heard of LENAPE Indians. Hand up for sENAca first.

KOJAK was a gimmee with his brother Stavros. He was a favorite with my very bald husband.

Tinbeni said...

Jazz: Wonderful write-up and links.
It BLOWS my MIND how much time you must invest doing your write-up's!

YR: I'm at a loss understanding why if you "enjoy Olympic figure skating, so I knew HANA" made you know the Tennis Star.

Fave today, of course, was YO-HO-HO and a bottle of Rum.

Cheers!!!

Misty said...

Well, I thought I had aced this in spite of not knowing LENAPE, or "getting" SMIT, NBAER, OR AFTS. But it turned out I had put GAPING instead of GAZING because I thought the clue cleverly referred to movie stars rather than celestial stars. Darn. But the theme was COOL, JazzBs write-up was great, and I loved seeing AIDA and LA BOHEME in the same puzzle. So a good morning in spite of everything.

Wouldn't have gotten CRIMEA so quickly if we hadn't been tracking the Ukraine news so carefully these past few weeks.

Interesting poem, Yellowrocks, but a bit more florid than I like. Not quite an A for poetic elegance, to my mind.

Sweet grandkids, JD.

Sounds like a lovely supper, Irish Miss. Wish I could have joined you!

We're off to the audiologist this morning to look into hearing aids for Rowland.

Have a great Wednesday, everybody!

Lucina said...

Good day, friends! JazzB, have you ever thought of doing stand up comedy? I believe you would be excellent at it. I enjoyed your witty blog!

Thanks to Matt Skoczen for his MINDGAMES today. Although most of the fill was straightforward, enough of it was misdirected that it required an ERASER a time or a few.

SMIT and LENAPE were completely out of my wheelhouse but luckily the perps assisted. KOJAK and KATES seeped out of my gray cells. One semester I taught reading to an advanced ESL group using short stories and KATE Chopin was one of the authors.

HANA simply emerged with YOHOHO.

GMS, I thought Greenwich MEAN Time, held up the finish for a while but eventually OMANIS pushed through and it was done.

JD:
It's lovely to see your grandsons' gradual changes over time. They are so darned cute!

Dennis:
Sorry your anniversary night was BLOWn.

Have a pleasant Wednesday, everyone!

Dennis said...

Lucina, perhaps you didn't understand what happened......oh, wait, I see what you meant, lol. Thanks.

Yellowrocks said...

Tinbeni, as Dan Quayle said, "....what a waste it is to lose one's mind or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is." Duh!

Misty,that was not one of my favorite poems, but was an illustration of "olde" fashioned and "smit."
Here is the poem I originally intended to link, brought to mind by SHAY. My sister and I used to recite it when we were kids. It is one of my favorites, but a bit old fashioned, too.

The Deacon’s Masterpiece or The Wonderful "One-Hoss Shay": A Logical Story
by Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)
Have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay,
That was built in such a logical way
It ran a hundred years to a day,
And then of a sudden it — ah, but stay,
I’ll tell you what happened without delay,
Scaring the parson into fits,
Frightening people out of their wits, –
Have you ever heard of that, I say?
Link entire poem

john28man said...

Its a good thing I came here before emailing the Colorado Springs Gazette about missing 2D to 9D clues. I didn't want to do it because my son is a Senior Reporter for them.

Jerome said...

Jazz- The border region between Russia and the Ukraine was immortalized in the Julie London song "Crimea a River"

Ol' Man Keith said...



98% - because I had to Google for 38A.
Didn't know LENAPE. Barely remembered LPN.
Pretty sure the Queen Mary we all remember (and visit in the Long Beach harbor) was an RMS. The warship version isn't what pops into our heads. I don't know how precise or exclusive those designations are; could she have been both?
I didn't like SMIT in place of SMITTEN. Seems stuck in the 17th century, back when Shakespeare could get away with WRIT for WRITTEN.
I enjoyed JzB's writeup - great links too!

Yellowrocks said...

There were three Queen Marys
1. HMS Queen Mary - battle cruiser in the Royal Navy, 1913-1916
She was sunk in 1916.
2. RMS Queen Mary, ocean liner,1936-1967 now retired
3. RMS Queen Mary II - ocean liner, maiden voyage 2003, still cruising

CanadianEh! said...

Fun solve today and enjoyed your write up JzB. I was misdirected at 50A and thought it was a CSO to you. Oh, Utah Jazz!

Hand up for GMT before GST, MBA before BBA, HAMA before HANA. We call them RPNs not LPNs here.

Never heard of LENAPE. And they have relocated into Ontario??

YR, thanks for the Lucy Maud Montgomery poem. Nice to see something of hers besides Anne of Green Gables. Have you read The Blythes are Quoted, first published in 2009 from some of her rediscovered original works. Shows a different side of her!

Loved the photo with the grandchildren JD.

Steve said...

Thanks for the expo, JzB. Enjoyable puzzle, Matt!

“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” — Edward George Bulwer-Lytton - "Paul Clifford" (1830)

This genuine opening to Bulwer-Lytton's novel has inspired the annual Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest where entrants submit a single opening sentence to a book. The 2013 winner:

"She strutted into my office wearing a dress that clung to her like Saran Wrap to a sloppily butchered pork knuckle, bone and sinew jutting and lurching asymmetrically beneath its folds, the tightness exaggerating the granularity of the suet and causing what little palatable meat there was to sweat, its transparency the thief of imagination." — Chris Wieloch, Brookfield, WI

CrossEyedDave said...

Excellent write up Jzb!

I had Manga before Anime, which made me try to figure out the reveal from the 1st words of the starred clues. (it aint easy bein backwards!)

Nose about was last to fall as I had no idea that linen was derived from Flax.

( A 2:00 primer on the flax to linen process.)

But how do they get the foot long fibers into a continous thread? (More research needed...)

I did a quick look for a funny "blow it" pic, but I am afraid the Internet has a dirty mind, & I cannot link what I found. Except perhaps this one unexplainable pic, which I have filed under more research needed?

Bill G. said...

JD, I enjoyed your family photos. That's a good-looking crew.

I've never heard of LENAPE but crossing letters filled most of it in. I've heard of smitten but not SMIT.

Owen, I don't fully get your cryptic clue stuff in spite of your effort to teach me, but how about NEW AGE?

Irish Miss, your Italian dinner sounds great!

Unknown said...

This was a very easy Wednesday puzzle. The only unknown was LENAPE, but that was solved by perps.

I immediately thought of RIN for 7 across because I'm reading a book about Rin Tin Tin and his (their, since there were several Rintys over the years) owner/trainer Lee Duncan right now. It's fascinating.

We're going to a barbeque tonight where my husband will be installed as president of the Auburn Lions Club. He'll serve in that capacity for a year.

I just looked out the window and saw a wild turkey walking across our driveway. I really enjoy living in an area where we see lots of wildlife. Yesterday, when my husband was walking the dogs, he saw a doe and two tiny fawns. I wish I'd been with them.

Misty said...

My goodness, Oliver Wendell Holmes put a lot of work into that "One-Horse Shay"! Many thanks for posting it, Yellowrocks!

willow said...

My newspaper omitted clues 2 through 8A & combined 1A & 9A to read, "I dadoor ball brand (!) Neddless to say, this increased the difficultly level quite a bit! Anyone else run into this?

kazie said...

Finally back after a busy day to say to JD, what cute kids your grandchildren are! Amazing how they've changed in such a short time!

Also, nice to see Dennis back again!

Bill G. said...

Nancy, so where is this pretty rural area with turkeys and deer?

Willow, if you'd read back through all of the comments and posts so far, you'd see that a lot of people had a similar problem.

I just came across the second half of "Bullitt" on cable. What a good movie, one that set the standard for good car chases. Steve McQueen was especially Steve McQueen-like. Whatever cable channel it was had managed to add enough advertising minutes to equal the remaining movie time.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Fun puzzle and review, Matt and Jazz!

A bit chewy with HANA, LENAPE and SMIT. When Russian friend was here, learned all about CRIMEA.

No cheats.

Great pics, JD!

How did you like Covert Affairs?

Cheers!

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Every president tries to COVER UP something
-Three foot putt for birdie, don’t BLOW IT
-My Asea was FAILING but FMIT made no sense. Oh SAILING/SMIT
-Crying gets Papa’s attention, MOPING, not so much
-I-40 ENE from Memphis to Nashville is lined with trees. Nothing to see
-It’s a sign of the times when a rebel song like Light My Fire is elevator music like ENYA’s stuff
-Poor singers on the reality singing shows can’t believe it when a judge says, “I’VE SEEN ENOUGH!”
-My goodness, look at HANA’s relic of a racket
-I prefer MAU MAU as a part of Elvira’s refrain
-Skirt? Shirt? Who cares?
-I watched an episode of The Twilight Zone the other night on ME TV. Story and production values were terrible
-Type of flower on our TRELLIS
-The Boston Marathon Bomber wants a change of VENUE because he thinks he is hated in Boston? What’s Chechnyan for Duh?
-Astronauts go by GMT in space and also call it Zulu
-Lenny Briscoe on Law and Order used MOPE as a noun frequently
-Lovely pix, Judy!

Anonymous said...

Nancy, where is this idyllic place? I would love to see it. I live on the interface between NJ rural and suburban. I love it. This week we saw wild turkeys on our property and also a young adult bear. Every year we vacation in WV, billed as a great place to see wild life, It is one of my favorite natural spots. But my own home is also a great wild life spot. New Jersey is much more wild than out of starters realize.

Irish Miss said...

Misty and Bill G. - Maybe we can't have dinner together in the real world, but it's always fun to share our "foodie" experiences. Part of the enjoyment last night was being outdoors as we don't have very many nice restaurants that offer al fresco dining. Tonight's patio special is half-priced appetizers and $4.00 glasses of wine; tomorrow's is a burger and beer for $10.00 and Friday is a raw bar; I imagine that means clams and oysters on the half shell, shrimp, etc. Bon Appetit!

Avg Joe said...

A pretty crunchy but accessible puzzle today. Had some head scratchers like Lenape, but perps saved the day for all. Hilarious write up Jazz!

I need to get out more, evidently. I'd never heard of raw clams on the half shell until just now. As much as I like clams, not sure that would work. Oysters, yes.

We also have deer and turkey stroll across the property with some regularity. Then there are the skunk and badgers....

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

We had a fun day with Nate and Em.

I really enjoyed this puzzle and it looks like most of you did, too.

TTP - For good or for ill, that's just the way my fevered brain works.

Rehearsal tonight, so IMBO

Cool regards!
JzB

Anonymous said...

So far this week I'm 3 for 3. A few write-overs but nothing major. I've even gotten the themes! Thanks to the constructors. JzB, the expo was COOL today!

Didn't know SMIT or LENAPE but perps filled the in.

Today's "Frazz" comic is related to 32D. (For some reason I get error messages on this computer when I try to link anything).

Happy Anniversary a day late to Dennis and Linda, and Mr. and Mrs TTP. May you enjoy many more.

Congrats, Argyle, on your 500 blog!

JD, your grandsons just keep getting cuter and cuter.

My daughter's 8 year old German Shepherd was diagnosed with lymphoma today. Do you spend the money on chemo and hope for remission or let nature take it's course? She has canine "children" so she's going to try chemo. I hope it works.

My father-in-law celebrates his 95th birthday today! Let's all BLOW a birthday HORN for him!

Pat

HeartRx said...

pje, here is the Frazz link. Funny!

CrossEyedDave said...

Ok, after some research, I did find an interesting clip of spinning flax into linen. (2:00) But connecting lengths of fiber seemed "iffy" to me. (just add water?)

So I took a detour into the explanation of Ronalds exciting day, (which I can't link here...) but after a half hour of that, learning how to spin seemed much more relaxing.

This video (at 10:30) is very interesting, but if you want to know how they connect foot long sections of thread, skip to 8:30, it's just that easy...

OwenKL said...

YR: WOW! Never heard that Voyagers poem before, but such imagery! It shall now become one of my favorites! The Deacon's Masterpiece already was.

Speaking of poetry, The Embarrassing Episode of Little Miss Muffet by Guy Wetmore Carryl.

One of the last to fill was the reveal, so I had all the answers, and even knew from the reveal's clue that it was the first words of each that were tied together, but still couldn't figure anything out on my own. Beckinsale, HANA were unknowns, thought Stavros was a superhero villain, without perps JAWED & LOB had multiple possibilities, and couldn't figure out how to shoehorn Frederic [Chopin] into 56d. The hardest block was how sure I was of MBA.
It has always seemed strange to me that MBA is the only business degree one ever sees, so today I looked it up. A BBA is a normal 4-year degree, but an MBA is only a 2-year degree, with the only prerequisite some work experience! Why isn't it 6+ years like any other Masters degree? Or else called an Associate of B.A. like any other 2-year degree?

Nit: never heard of SMIT, and while in retrospect I can see the connection to love, what does it have to do with song?

Mystic music from New England nets paycheck
[NEW AGE] from [N.E.] + [WAGE]

Argyle said...

Definitely a Dark and Stormy™ night. Right, Trumpeter Landfrey?

Bill G. said...

pje, best wishes for your daughter and her dog. That's a tough situation. I'm hoping for the best. Best wishes for your father-in-law too!

Owen, yep, that's what I was thinking but in a more confused sort of way.

Yellowrocks said...

Owen,in my experience and in all my research, an MBA is a 2 year degree AFTER obtaining a prerequisite 4 year bachelor degree. I know several people with MBAs, none without the four year bachelor degree.
I think SMIT is mostly used in love poetry and love songs.
Cute Miss Muffet poem.

After 2 weeks my son still is not well. His condition remains minor, but he is not well enough to go to work. I have never seen this before. Previously this minor phase either disappears in a few days or morphs into something major right away. I am quite worried, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Vidwan827 said...

Yellowrocks, my heart aches for you and I hope a pleasant outcome may eventually result. My family and I went through such a chronic sadness, many years ago, for many years. I'm sure it is never easy but take it one day at a time and prayers often help. My prayers and thoughts will be for you tonight.

I had a nice time with the puzzle with only a few misleads. Thank you Mr. Skoczen. I'm sure either the 'c' or the 'z' is silent in your name .... Thank you JazzyB for lots of videos. I did go thru the entire Ipana ad and the multiple choice videos after than led to a wedding song of my favorite Bollywood movie. But it doesn't come in the next time - the choices change - so I can't link it.I got the "English Vinglish" wedding song elsewhere. Unfortunately, no english translation, so just enjoy the music and the dance.

Thank you OwenKL for the poem, Miss Muffet, part 2 - very enjoyable.

Thank you CED - for all your videos including the R rated one .... I have heard of flax seed and even eaten it ( not very tasty - ) but I did not know how the linen was spun or made. Its quite like cotton except that cotton fibres are only 0.75 to 1.5 inches long. Even the so called Egyptian long staple cotton is less than 2 inches long and yet they make very fine shirting cloth from it. Its all in the twist and the water humidity that makes the difference.


One final last thing - Misty mentioned about looking for a hearing aid for her husband. I don't have much time or space to write this all - but if he has only a problem of hearing low amplitude and low pitch sounds - consider a Personal Sound Amplification Product. PSAP - Perfect Choice HD.


By federal law, it is NOT ( to be called - ) a hearing aid but to my amateur mind it does pretty much the same thing. It costs about $ 579.00 per ear, and you may need only one. Much cheaper than ~ $ 3500 that a hearing aid costs !!! Go to firststreetonline.com or call 888-882-3905 or 877-815-8392 .... or go to the latest National Geographic issue, which has their ad. They can sell you on a trial full return within 60 days. It might save you a lot of money. Good luck.

Good night, and apologies for this long post and rant.

Lucina said...

HGary:
"I-40 ENE is lined with trees. Nothing to see."

For a desert dweller like me, that is something to see!

OMKeith:
You surprise me! With your glib rhetoric and phrases full of imagery I would think that the poetic twists of "writ" and "smit" would sit well with you.

Dennis:
Aha!

aka thelma said...

Yellowrocks..... I am so sorry to hear that your son is not doing better.... my heart goes out to you... please know that my thoughts and prayers will be with both...

thelma

aka thelma said...

That should have been will be with you both.... sorry... :( and to think I thought I proof read my entry pretty well... :( eyes aren't getting any better....

thelma

Misty said...

Vidwan, many thanks for taking time to relate your hearing aid experience and advice. Unfortunately my husband has problems mainly with high pitch sounds and also with hearing in groups (dinner parties, etc.). So we are probably going to have to go with one of those expensive jobs. But I was pleased that they are very inconspicuous, and even more, that to our surprise, our insurance will actually cover 80% of the cost, a huge relief. But your experience and your advice are bound to be helpful to lots of people on the blog. So many, many thanks!

Anonymous said...

6D "Clock-setting std." = GST is incorrect. If you set your watch by Greenwich Sidereal Time, you're likely to be a minute or two late (or early) to school or work. Better to use Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).