google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, July 11, 2014, Jacob Stulberg

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Jul 11, 2014

Friday, July 11, 2014, Jacob Stulberg

Theme: Welcome to Crossword CORNER! Leave your STAND over there.

A quick turnaround in Friday puzzles for Jacob, as we just had him on June 20, with his BETCHA CAN'T EAT JUST ONE puzzle..Today we have a visual where the reveal tells us to look at the corners and the circled spaces. Obviously, the theme is impossible without the circles. Each set makes a word when read around the corner; each describes a type of stand. (Stand in the corner...get it?). The visual of the puzzle almost shows the various stands in the corners, if you use your imagination. I confess the connection between the four circled answers eluded me. But with a little help from my friends... Ringo turned 74 on Monday! With so few words dedicated to the theme there was plenty of room for fun and Jacob gives us 30! seven (7) letter fill. Some of the best are ANODYNE,  A PRIORI, BROMINE,  DEDUCES,  DEMERIT, FLAT TAX,  FLICKER, GONE MAD,  GRENADE,  HIND END,  IMITATE,  INK PADS, RADIATE, ROGAINE, ROLODEX,  SEXLESS, SPLAYED, SUMATRA. Anyway, here we go...

21A. With 55-Across, be punished at school, old-style ... and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters : STAND IN.(7). 55A. See 21-Across : A CORNER.(7) This was a common punishment in grammar school when i was young. The revealed words in the circles are:

NW: MUSIC (5) Music stand.
NE: DISPLAY (7).Display stand.
SW: TAXI  (4).Taxi stand.
SE: WITNESS (7).Witness stand.

Across:

1. Often-bracketed word : SIC. Does (sic) you often get this wrong?

4. Lot's uncle : ABRAHAM. His wife got in a lot of trouble with too much sodium. Bible. 43D. Whence "salt of the earth" : MATTHEW. More bible, 5:13. Salt appears again (after Ms. Lot's transformation) as early as Leviticus 2:13.

11. Put down : DIS. The modern shortcut speak of DISRESPECT, not related to the negative prefix DYS. Surprised by the inclusion of 45D. Object : DISSENT, which does come from the same base.

14. Dotted line? : URL. Uniform Resource Locator, another modern clue/fill.

15. One of the halogens : BROMINE. Old knowledge here, (Br) along with fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), iodine (I), and astatine (At) are elements.I did not recall At, meaning I guess I no longer know where it is At.

16. Diocletian, e.g.: Abbr. : EMPeror. Old, old KNOWLEDGE. Thanks to my Classics major son, I am aware this one was the last in the chain to severely persecute Christians.

17. 1972 host to Nixon : MAO. I remember it well.

18. Color in four-color printing : MAGENTA. One of the CYMK colors, Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and the Key color Black.. Maybe marti will be nice enough to explain color printing.

19. 1,000 thou : MIL.

20. T or F, maybe : ANSwer.

22. Itinerary abbr. : ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.

23. Knotted : TIED. The score was....

25. Begets : SIRES. Now some biblical wording.

26. Tea holder : TRAY. Tea the service, not the bag or the drink.

27. Deserve : RATE.

28. Family nickname : NAN. I presume he is referring to the common nickname for grandmothers.

29. Bar mitzvah, for one : RITE. Ritual.

30. Pain reliever : ANODYNE.I am not sure where I learned the word, but Martha Grimes, Anodyne Necklace placed it firmly in my memory banks.

33. Charged, as an account : DEBITED.

36. OPEC member : UAE.United Arab Emirates.

37. Certain clip-on, briefly : MIC. This clue at least tells you it is an abbreviation.

38. Start to go out : FLICKER. Light bulbs and humans are good examples.

42. Lost it : GONE MAD. Sounds like a drama queen to me.

46. Unassisted : LONE.

47. Galley item : OAR. The ship not the kitchen on a ship.

49. Big __: Red Sox slugger's nickname : PAPI. Not much joy in Beantown this year for any of the defending World Series champs. Chemistry really seems to matter.

50. Aquatic birds : AUKS. WATCH. (2:18) Anyone been to Auckland? Not related.

51. Stephen King's "Doctor __" : SLEEP. His recent sequel to THE SHINING. LINK.

53. Orch. section : STRS. I guess this means strings, JzB, help me out?

54. Hot info? : TIP. From the track touts next to....

57. "___ not for you to hear what I can speak": "Macbeth" : TIS. The ironic greeting MacDuff gives Lady Macbeth as she comes upon Duncan's lifeless body.

58. Gatekeeping org.? : TSA. Transportation Security Administration.

59. Give off : RADIATE.Pregnant women are said to glow, what do you think? Talented?

60. Prepare for planting : HOE. No Don Imus jokes.

61. Lend a hand : AID.

62. Like new tires : TREADED. Really?

63. Directional suffix : ERN.

64. Frat letters : XIS.

65. Neuter : SEXLESS. Hey, let's not get personal.

66. One skilled in repartee : WIT. Well we are half way home, and perhaps the same can be said for the wit here.

Down:

1. Island on the Equator : SUMATRA. My favorite Starbuck's coffee. This is the largest purely Indonesian Island, and sixth largest island in the world. (per wiki).

2. Ahvaz native : IRANIAN. A city from ancient Persia with a new NAME.

3. Within reach of : CLOSE TO. All perps.

4. Subj. of a 1972 defense treaty : ABMS. Anti-Ballistic MissileS.

5. Regular sources of annoyance : BRATS. Well those Chicago Cub and Bear fans can get very rowdy.

6. Growth industry brand? : ROGAINE. Funny, hair growth industry.

7. Egyptian god : AMEN RA. Also spelled AMON and AMUN. More religion.

8. Rear : HIND END. What we often think of when dealing with...

9. Naysayers : ANTIS, who are often bad-spirited or down right...

10. Small-minded : MEAN. If we run things we can give them a ...

11. Black mark : DEMERIT.

12. Ape : IMITATE. I am excited about tonight's opening of this new franchise LINK.

13. Spread out : SPLAYED. Sounds cute but very serious for ANIMALS.

24. Concludes : DEDUCES. Interesting as this is part of understanding 44D. Like some knowledge : A PRIORI and deductive reasoning. Go Sherlock.

26. Arm straightener : TRICEPS. The muscle you use, and if exercised creates a nice horseshoe.

31. Long-haired grazer : YAK.

32. Formerly : NEE.

34. Genre of the band Jimmy Eat World : EMO. Do you want to LISTEN?

35. Storage container : BIN.

38. 1992 Jerry Brown campaign proposal : FLAT TAX. Many have proposed flat taxes, but to discuss would be politics.

39. French king known as "the Stammerer" : LOUIS II. Poor guy! I wonder if he saw this MOVIE.

40. Stamp suppliers : INK PADS. Nice misdirection.

41. Circular file? : ROLODEX. We think of the garbage can as the circular file, but the old Rolodex certainly were.

42. It has a safety pin : GRENADE. My favorite clue/fill, so far from my first thought of DIAPER.

48. Passé rooftop sight : AERIAL. Same thin as an ANTENNA.

51. Alarm : SCARE. I do not mean to alarm you, but we are almost done.

52. "For __ sake!" : PETE'S. According to the phrase finder, this was developed as a substitute oath much like JEEZ, FOR PETE'S SAKE - The phrase is simply a polite version of a common and profane expression involving the name of Christ. We'd surmise that the original 'Pete' was St. Peter."

55. Fine __ : ARTS. What is a coarse art? Exotic dancing? Finger painting?

Ah, the grand mysteries of life all explored here on the ultimate Las Vegas day (7-11 was famous before convenience stores). Well I hope you had the circles and had fun. Thanks Jacob and thank you all. lemonade out.

62 comments:

OwenKL said...

I really don't like to grandSTAND,
But I'm humble enough to withSTAND
The sincerest flattery
For my unrivaled mastery;
But just 'cause I'm awesome, underSTAND?

If you STAND on A CORNER all day
You may WITNESS a stunning DISPLAY.
A TAXI will come by
With its MUSIC turned high,
And all the cab-hailers will vanish away!

Through the auto parts aisles I threaded
To find a new tire, better TREADED.
To recycle's not free
I still paid a fee,
A "FLAT" TAX on the tire I traded!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

This was a struggle for me. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more had I seen some circles. As it was, I never quite got the theme reveal and obviously didn't get the theme as a result. Finally turned on the red letter help to make sense of the entire north central section, and then I was able to finish.

OwenKL said...

Here's today's Cryptic clue. I think you'll find it more difficult than the clues from the past few days.

A matriarch's support that's not kosher for patriarch (7)
~~~~~~~~~~~
Zipped through it like an early-week puzzle, until I got to the SE corner, where I didn't have a single block (correctly) filled! Had GONE APE for lost it and TRICEPT instead of TRICEPS, and nothing else. So tried wags for everything in hopes that something would pop out. PERCussion > STRingS, IT'S > 'TIS. Finally turned on red letters, and once the errors were erased, I saw A PRIORI which was my Rosetta Stone.

Used the Mensa site, so didn't have the circles, but thanks to the reveal I guessed easily enough where to find them, and after the first one (MUSIC for me) was found, it was also easy to guess what to look for.

I understood the K in CYMK stood for blacK.

Re: Tea TRAY, any other Dirk Gently fans here?

Ahvaz used to be Suziana, the gal from Louisiana?

Big Easy said...

This one started easily and ended badly. NW was a walk until the pain reliever which I wanted toput ANAPROX which wouldn't allow 3D to work; ANODYNE? What is it? I filled it anyway not knowing if it was correct but I was sure of the crosses. For 4D I wanted ICBM but CHLORINE wouldn't fit so I perped ABMS. PRIMATE felt right but wouldn't work, so I eventually got IMITATE, just as WENT APE changed to GONE MAD. I guesses 39D was LOUIS the something and Gov. MOONBEAM always changes his stripes to get elected. But the most puzzling clue to me was 'neuter'. CASTRATE wouldn't fit and SEXLESS only came after I finally got ROLADEX. A better clue would have been "What most nights are AFTER people get married"

Mari said...

Good morning everybody.

Wow, this puzzle was a brain buster. I thought I did pretty well, until I read the blog. I had a lot of write overs today.

I never saw ANODYNE and APRIORI coming. Where the heck did these words come from? And I thought ABSOLOM was Lot's uncle. Oops.

Well, hopefully I can use these new words in the future. Have a nice weekend!

Mari said...

PS: It's 7-11 Day. Go get your free Slurpee.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Just back from the 3-mile march. Saw two does and two little spotted fawns. Very nice.

So the ape was not a HOMINID and the hairy grass-eater was a YAK. Who gnu? Oh, and I spelled it AMUN RA until MAGENTA slapped me up side of the head. APRIORI came with just a couple of perps -- shades of old Philosophy 101.

Cute puzzle, and my newspaper had the circles, so that made things easier.

ASTATINE is one of the elements that doesn't hang around for long. As a result, scientists are not quite sure what it looks like. They can only conjecture that it probably looks a lot like iodine.

OwenKL, mark me down for--hmmmm, how many has it been?--five in a row?

Brian said...

When I looked at the grid I expected the theme to have something to do with spiders. Needed help to finish the southeast corner.

Husker Gary said...

Wow! Each part of the puzzle had very few “lead-in” letters which increased the difficulty but the theme and fill were fabulous and helpful! What a treat.

Musings
-Humiliating punishments like that are gone
-A perceived DIS in some neighborhoods can get you killed
-This cartoon was wonderful to show that halogens are so strongly attracted to alkalis.
-In my physics lab, kids mixed colored lights while in art class they mixed colored paints
-If “always” or “never” are in a T/F question…
-Was Big PAPI (scroll down for 2:46 audio) on steroids last year?
-TIS better to leave some things unsaid – right MacDuff?
-What talent is being displayed in your picture of the pregnant woman, Lemon? ;-)
-Non-TREADED new tires
-Wouldn’t the world breathe easier if people of the Middle East were CLOSE TO peaceful coexistence?
-Hilarious scene about SEXLESS reproduction (near the end of 2:05 clip)
-What was the name of the horse being offered as a TIP in Guys and Dolls?

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Circles? I din't get no lousy circles! Why, Mensa? I didn't notice the unusual grid either, but then I rarely do. The cleverness of Jacob's puzzle was somewhat diminished by these lacks for me. I thought it didn't have a theme. Thanks, Lemon, for bringing the rest of the genius out of the CORNERS.

I saw less red on this puzzle than on most Fridays despite its difficulty. Just kept perpin along and filled it.

"It has a safety pin": I thought of GRENADE at once. I could see that little "pineapple shape in my mind. Could not remember its name until I perped in the GR. Then I knew the rest. Memory glitches!

39D had to be a LOUIS. I don't recall any other French king names. With only 2 spaces for the number, it couldn't be 12-14. I started with II and that was it. I didn't stutter over that at all.

Never having seen that spelling of AMEN RA, I parsed it as one word and thought this was a new deity. DUH!

A PRIORI and DIOCLETIAN were learning moments for sure.

We had a tutorial session on HALOGENS not so long ago here on the CORNER. But being gaseous, they escaped me. Good old perps and WAGS to the rescue.

Awww, Big Easy, so sorry about the SEXLESSness!
That isn't true for some of us during marriage.

kazie said...

Thank goodness for the circles! I got them and the theme easily. In my day before I left Oz, boys were still being punished by caning. In high school, being sent to the office for "six of the best" was a mark of distinction among their friends, so I doubt it was a true deterrent for most.

However, I DNF'ed because my guessing for most of it simply didn't work for natticks at BROMINE, ABMS, AMEN RA.

Good news from Germany. They "brought Lea home yesterday afternoon. First thing she wanted to do was go to the park and feed the ducks!" Since her language skills are still very primitive, I can't help wondering how she conveyed that wish!

Yellowrocks said...

I have a horse right here. His name is Paul Revere.
In my school days, there was paddling with a big flat board, but no standing in a corner. Usually only boys were paddled.
We had three grades in a classroom. When I was in the third grade I was punished by having to go to the blackboard to do math with the first graders, although I was very good at math. My sister told my mom and I was punished again at home.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a toughie but perps and a lucky wag at the bromine/amenra crossing brought the well-earned TADA.
Fav clue was for Rogaine.

Thought the theme and execution were clever, with lots of fresh cluing and fill. Nice job, Jacob. And super commentary, Lemony.

Kazie, great news about Lea.

Have a great day.

Big Easy said...

PK- I am doing okay. It's just an old joke. 'What's the fastest way to quit having sex? Get married"

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jacob Stulberg, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.

I did this via the IPad and cruciverb today. This is the first time I have gotten the circled letters on the IPad. That really helped.

Got ABRAHAM easily. I remembered that he is Lot's uncle.

IRANIAN was easy. Remembered Ahvas (pronounced AHWAS).

SUMATRA was not easy. With about half the letters I finally got it.

Tea holder TRAY came with difficulty. I drink tea (Earl Grey) daily but use no TRAY.

A PRIORI was new to me. Perps.

ROLODEX was a surprise. Liked it. I still have a couple around here.

I think Jerry Brown was governor when I lived in California in the early 80's.

LOUIS was easy. The II was not easy.

TSA was a good one. Very clever.

FLICKER was excellent. Goofed me up for most of the puzzle.

This puzzle took me about 2 1/2 hours to finish.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(189)

HeartRx said...

Good morning all!

Well, this was a heck of a way to finish the week. I struggled to complete the puzzle, but finally managed it without any help, in twice my typical Saturday time. But I got 'er done.

I stared at the circles for a loooong time, because I totally missed the unifier - those two entries had filled in with perps, so I never even saw them. I finally realized that the four words in circles were all types of STAND. Well, that wasn't very cool. So thanks for shedding the light, Lemony. Much better!

Oh, and Al Cyone pre-empted my Printing 101 lesson. (Thanks, Al, for getting me off the hook!)

TGIF - have a great weekend!

Chairman Moe said...

Owen: the only 5 liner I could come up with for today's puzzle was:

We all know 'bout Little Jack Horner
The steward who sat in the CORNER;
Well today he STOOD,
He truly was good;
And refuted all of his scorners!

Of course I had to like 17A as my moniker is partly in jest to the former leader of the Chinese Communist Party . . .

Moe

Lucina said...

Hello, puzzle people. It's always great to see you, Lemonade, and learn something.

Yowza! This was a hair puller nearly every step of the way. Yet, the eastern front filled quickly and once I had DISPLAY and WITNESS I knew what to look for in the other CORNERs.

Not being a King fan made Dr. SLEEP a slow perp fill and once I erased EMANATE and replaced it with RADIATE, that section was complete. Same as PK, when I saw GR_ GRENADE immediately came to mind.

The north central gave me fits until I recalled ABRAHAM. My first god was OSIRIS but that changed quickly. ROGAINE made me laugh as a "growth industry brand."

Thank you, Jacob Stulberg, for this challenge which definitely charged up my brain cells.

Have a fine Friday, everyone!

Lucina said...

BigEasy:
I'm glad you cleared up your last remark as I was going to offer some sympathy as well. As PK said, it's not always that way.

JJM said...

Put me down as one who never got the theme. I had a hard enough time solving it (one RED letter).

Chairman Moe said...

Two things about me:

1) I work the puzzles from the newspaper
2) I use an ink pen

A bit of a rant:

Why is it that Friday puzzles (LATCW and Sudoku) in the newspaper are both equally difficult? It would seem to me that one or the other should be tough so your brain can relax a bit! Maybe start the week with a tough Sudoku and easy LATCW, and end the week with the opposite.

Anyway, I digress . . .

I started all over the "map" today; finished the SW CORNER first, then NW CORNER (loved 17A - I HAD to get that one right!). I had some random words filled in the top center and bottom center, (PETES and AMON RA which later had to be corrected). I finally looked up 51A as I am not much of a reader, and don't know all of Stephen King's works. That clue sort of kicked-start the second half of today's solve for me.

Some other random thoughts:

6D - my first guesses were either an herbicide or an ED medication(!)
64A - back in college when rushing a frat, one of our hazing duties as a pledge was to recite the Greek Alphabet 5 times while holding a lit match. Obviously it behooved you to finish before the match burned your fingers or you'd have to restart! My fingers are intact, thank you, and I DID learn their alphabet as a result. Mu, Nu, Xi and Pi were the only answers. Oh, and if you ever want to be a wise-a$$, whenever someone asks you, "What's new?", simply reply, "The 13th letter of the Greek Alphabet!"
62A - first thought was "retread"
44D - all perps; perhaps I needed A PRIORI to know all the answers!
42D - thought diapers but 42A revealed GONE MAD first, so no erasure necessary

Chairman MOE (not 17A)

PK said...

Big Easy, I'm so thrilled for you. I was afraid that was a cry of pain. LOL! You had to know we weren't going to leave that "joke" unremarked!

I liked the "growth industry brand" = ROGAINE which was my first try. Viagra was one letter too short.

Kazie, glad to hear everything is just "ducky" with Lea again. Such a cutie!

I never stood in the corner. My 8th grade teacher was a coach and drill sarge wannabee (aka big bully). Two days in a row he told me he was tired of looking at me and go stand in the hall. Then he found out I was having fun out there chatting with the people passing by. Never sent me out again.

Misty said...

Oh boy, what a toughie! I got both the NW and the NE corner so quickly that I was really hopeful for a Friday TADA. 'Twas not to be, alas. Like Owen, I had GONE APE and TRICEPT which created SE problems. (I still think the clue for the latter should have been ARM STRAIGHTENERS plural).

But some of my difficulties were my problem: I could picture that ROLODEX but just couldn't think of the name even though I knew it started with RO. I think that's what we call a SENIOR MOMENT. And I thought FOR GOODNESS SAKE, FOR GOD'S SAKE, but for some stupid reason couldn't remember FOR PETE'S SAKE.

Oh well, you do what you can do. I then went on to comfort myself with a Sudoku which of course was "Diabolical" on a Friday. I agree with Chairman Moe that the LA Times ought to give us easy ones on Friday and Saturday to give us a break.

But the sun is shining, husband and dogs are in good shape, so what's there to grouch about.

Have a great Friday, everybody!

Anonymous said...

Yes a clever puzzle, but largely un-enjoyable.
Really wish my newspaper would switch to another crossword.

Nice Cuppa said...

OwenKL

In re cryptomania

The patriarch is Abraham, presumably, from the crossword. "Not kosher" suggests removing "ham", leaving "A bra", which is an abbr. of "brassiere", a support for a matriarch certainly, but too many letters.

I have seen "brasier" and even the much hotter "brazier" used as dubious alternative spellings.

Does my answer hold promise?

NC

Tinbeni said...

Lemon: Nice write-up ... but I'm at a loss trying to understand why you (or anyone else) would be "excited" by the remake/release today of "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes."

DNF ... ran out-of-time on my "Mug-of-Java" time limit.

Not impressed with the "non-symetrical" theme circles.

At Villa Incognito, what is "Often served with spaghetti" is Pinch Scotch ... not REDS. (Though that was my fave today).

Cheers!!!

Nice Cuppa said...

OwenKl

Whoops! I got the logic correct but the answer backwards.

A BRA (Matriarch's support) HAM (not kosher)=

ABRAHAM (Patriarch)

Well that's enough filler for now...

NC

Jazzbumpa said...

Lemon. -

Yes, strings

Cheers
Jz B

HeartRx said...

Nice Cuppa @ 12:47, that's what I came up with! (I hope it's correct?)

Jazzbumpa said...

Commenting from my phone. V clbsy. Had to look up Dr. Sleep. Got the rest. Great tough puzzle. Not fond of the fragmentation.

Be is the only halogen that fit.

Cool regards
JzB

Ol' Man Keith said...

Not so bad - about 92% solved. For me the toughest by far was the two-parter at 21A and 55A.
I liked seeing one of my fave words--ANODYNE. When I write reviews of students' work, this is my killer adjective.
~ Kf

CanadianEh! said...

Didn't get here in time to post yesterday but I did finish that CW. Enjoyed the Canadian clues of OILER and Carly RAE Jepsen. And yes, I follow hockey - hope springs eternal for the Toronto Maple Leafs!

Welcome Chairman Moe.
Glad to hear the promising report about your brother PK.

I may not get today's puzzle finished before I am off for Bday celebrations. And we have more partying tomorrow! I'll have to catch up later.

Enjoy this beautiful weekend.

Spitzboov said...

Good afternoon everyone.

What most others said (WMOS?). A toughie. Slowly it gave itself up; finished in the SW. . Had 'pests' before BRATS; finally settled on BROMINE for the halogen. Tried to connect the circled squares together, but they were to stand alone. Also read clockwise. Sigh.
Favorite clue was for ROLODEX.
Agree with Lemon about all the 7 ltr fill.

Welcome aboard Chairman Moe.

Lucina said...

Let's please remember that Monday through Wednesday puzzles are easy! We should have those challenging ones on the weekend lest our brains atrophy.

Nice Cuppa said...

HeartRx

We are unanimous! No more support needed!

NC

OwenKL and HeartRx

Here is one for you (and anyone else):

REDUCED BY AN EIGHTH? INDEED! (7)

NC

OwenKL said...

Yes, Nice Cuppa got it more or less correct. I'd think of the A as a separate piece of the charade, but it also works with A BRA as a unit.

A | matriarch's support | that's not kosher | for | patriarch (7)
[A] [BRA] [HAM] [=] [ABRAHAM]

Cuppa, don't recall seeing you before, so welcome to the Corner! Glad you at least waited till past noon to post. Etiquette is to leave the actual answers unstated so as not to spoil the fun for others who may still want more time to figure them out, but announcing that you have figured it out is encouraged! It helps Bill or me or any other poser judge if the riddles are too easy or difficult.

Big Easy said...

Lucina & PK

Just dropped my wife off at the airport and she is going to Sweden & Denmark for 2 weeks. SEXLESS it is, at least for a couple of weeks.

OwenKL said...

NC: got your Cryptic. A nice one, you've accounted yourself well.

PK said...

Big Easy, it sounds like you intend to behave yourself by remaining SEXLESS. Good for you! You are a good example for posterity. LOL!

Old Friend said...

Great Blog Lemonade ! Nice puzzle. I found it much easier than normal.

To one who thought all Halogens were gases; only Chlorine is a gas at room temperature, Bromine is a volatile liquid, Iodine is a solid which sublimes ( solid becomes a gas without going thru a liquid phase) and Astatine is assumed to very solid.

Since Astatine is highly radioactive and very unstable, and does not occur (normally ), in nature, it been observed in very minute concentrations. There is less than twenty grams of At in the entire world at any time. And less than ten grams of Francium. So these 2 elements exist, mostly in the minds of man (and woman).


Nice Cuppa - how nice to see you. I remember you, from a couple of years ago, when you were so prolific and we all looked forward to your posts.

But, I know, things change, jobs change, we change, and life moves on.

I think your cryptic answer is FLATTAX because the tax rate was supposed to be set at 12.5% according to Jerry Brown and many others. Probably wrong.

The answer, that is, not the concept.

ABRAHAM is a cute answer. I never would have figured it out. Owen I think the answers or attempts should be revealed by triers by 1 pm. Its too late to wait till 5 pm EDT. Just an opinion.

CrossEyedDave said...

A hard puzzle requires a really bad pun...

Punishment in Music Class.


I wonder what he did wrong?

Nice Cuppa said...

Old Friend,

Yes so nice to return and be remembered. I am happy to follow etiquette, once established.

Re halogens: Accurate account except that you forgot Fluorine - at the top of the table - a very nasty toxic gas.

FLATTAX is a very inventive answer, but maybe inadmissible here on political grounds.

I will admit to you that for one word in the clue I used a British cryptic technique that allows you to re-parse a single words into 2 words, or vice versa.

NC

OwenKL

Thanks. I will try to visit more often.

NC

Spitzboov said...

Old friend - Isn't Fluorine a gas also?

Nice Cuppa said...

Old Friend

……and also you should be wary of punctuation, which is often used to deliberately mislead…

(And yes the answer is one of the answers in today's crossword).

NC

Tinbeni said...

Nice Cuppa @12:47 (which is 1:47 EDT) said:

"A BRA (Matriarch's support) HAM (not kosher)= ABRAHAM (Patriarch)"

Then OwenKL @2:48 said:
"Yes, Nice Cuppa got it more or less correct."

I'd say she got it EXACTLY correct.

but then again OwenKL said in his opening limerick:
"I really don't like to grandSTAND,"

Yeah, OwenKL ... you really do!!!

Nice Cuppa, It's great to see you and your "Don't Panic / Drink Tea" Avatar.

Tonight's "First-Toast" is to you, Nice Cuppa.
Cheers!!!

Anonymous T said...

Hi all!

And welcome back Nice Cuppa - I wasn't blue then, so I doubt you "know" me.

Arggg- 3 DNFs in a row - and this one was bad - too much white in the south and 1/2 of the INK is wrong! You guys are on your own tomorrow :-)

D-O Ape is also not primate. I eventually got it.

Other errors - clOrINE before BROMINE. I wanted SALT or ICBM for 4d. It eventually fell.

FINE___ wine? W/ Pasta - Roma (garden is pop'n!)?

I won't bemoan the rest of my misery.

LEM - I've heard and like that song tho I don't consider it EMO - EMO is depressing - like Morissy (sp?).

Owen - Love Adams' books and I have that on the shelf. Do you like Pratchett too? Good Omens was my fav.

Kazie - glad to hear about Lea!

Cheers, -T

HeartRx said...

NC @ 2:25, I'm afraid I DO still need a little support...

BTW, Tin seems to think you are a "she." In my mind, you are a MR. So which is it? Good to see you back, whatever your SEXLESS state...

Unknown said...

I'm posting pretty late today because I spent the morning at the dentist's office, and then a friend dropped by the house for a visit.

I found this puzzle to be quite difficult. Didn't know BROMINE ANODYNE, A PRIORI, or PAPI. I did get all the answers correct except for the P in PAPI and A PRIORI. My favorite answer was ROGAINE.

Owen, once again I liked your limericks.

Nancy

Avg Joe said...

Hey Tin, I finally figured it out!

Owen is really Alexander Haig.

Jayce said...

Nice Cuppa, welcome back!

Lucina said...

NiceCuppa:
Welcome back! I have missed your posts and hope you intend to stay with us again.

Avg Joe@5:21:
LOL!

Anonymous T said...

Ave Joe & Lucina:

Like today's puzzle - woosh! - right over my head. I only know the name Alexander Haig, Sec. of State, from the Reagan administration (IIRC). What's the joke?

Don't say if its a DIS. Cheers, -T

thehondohurricane said...

Ave Joe,

He can't be Haig because CC's in charge here!

The rest of my thoughts shall remain not so polite, but private.

Tin, sunset has come and gone in the Nutmeg ST.

Hic!

HeartRx said...

Hondo, to finish your last comment:
haec...hoc...(Latin is a joke!)

Tinbeni said...

HeartRx:
I don't really know if "Nice Cuppa" is a HE or a SHE.
Just remembered the "Nice" comments made here in the past by Him (or Her).

Just thought it was kinda funny that OwenKL at 2:48 said:
"Cuppa, don't recall seeing you before, so welcome to the Corner!"

Seems to me that HE has been here less than a year. lol

Hondo:
It has clouded over ... so I'm not waiting for Sunset.
Hic!

Anonymous T said...

Al Cyone - Thank you.

I recall Reagan shot and his joke about the Dr.'s political persuasion, but not that briefing (hey, I was only 11 for PETE'S sake!) I did not see that press conf. Was Jay Carney even alive then?

Is Cuppa a she or he? A Brother (or sister) (warning Python!). I don't care one way or the other as I recall insights into puzzling s/he gave years back.

Cheers, -T
(and Owen - I'm sure its all in fun - you really are part of the corner now :-) - no one hates on me nor pays me in gum... )

Nice Cuppa said...

Dear All

Thank you for all of your kind comments. I will try to visit (with) you much more often.

As to my gender, it seems I may disappoint some of you if I reveal it. So I will leave myself "non-aligned" for now.

Best wishes

NC

P.S. I had ONE more cryptic clue for you based on today's crossword.

WORLD CUP KICK-BACKS DETECTED IN POPULAR COMMERCIAL BREAKS AND BORDER CONTROL EQUIPMENT (7).

Talk to you soon

NC

OwenKL said...

Cuppa, if you're considering "World-cup" as a single phrase, I get the cryptic part of your clue, but unless I'm missing something I don't understand the direct.

OwenKL said...

Flutter of leaflet describing kick-back (7)

Anonymous said...

OwenKL, that's 6 posts.

Avg Joe said...

Well then.... I guess it's time for some tuneagement before bedtime.

How about THIS

Nighty night.

Lemonade714 said...

Nice Cuppa, welcome back. If you read the last two years of Friday blogs you will see you are mentioned more than once. You can keep Steve happy as well. Selfishly I enjoy hearing from our old regulars to know they are all right