google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, July 10, 2014 Steve Blais

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Jul 10, 2014

Thursday, July 10, 2014 Steve Blais

Theme: "What Are You Wearing?"

17. Like him or her : THIRD PERSON.

30. Reagan/Carter debate catchphrase : THERE YOU GO AGAIN.

44. Fail completely : TAKE IT ON THE CHIN.

57. Weakening, in a way, or what 17-, 30- and 44-Across are literally doing : WEARING THIN. Each of the theme entries is "wrapped" in the word THIN.  The word is broken in three different ways, which is a good thing. Let's see what else Steve has thrown at us this week.

Across:

1. Limo rider : CELEB.rity. Short limosine, short VIP.

6. Skilled : ADEPT.

11. Old map letters : SSR.

14. Smetana's "The Bartered Bride," e.g. : OPERA. "Aida" would have been too easy for a Thursday. But this comic opera is one of the Czech Republic's most famous.  Although I personally enjoy the overture, Act II features lovely Czech folk music. 4:14

15. Super Mario World dinosaur : YOSHI. No clue.

16. Own, to Burns : HA'E.

19. Morticia's cousin : ITT. "The Addam's Family."

20. Roman sun god : SOL.

21. Bon __ : MOT. French for "witty remark."

22. Years in Madrid : ANOS.

23. Campfire remains : ASH.

26. Cleaning tool : MOP.

28. Easily perturbed : ORNERY. I think of ORNERY as mean-tempered or stubborn.

34. Disney film based on Chinese folklore : MULAN.

35. Steed's partner : MRS. PEEL. Great misdirection for "The Avengers."

36. Giant thing in a kids' game : STEP. Complete instructions for "Mother May I?" here.

37. Problem with pictures : REBUS. Another great misdirection.  Literally, a problem, that uses pictures. Narragansett beer put out a series of coasters with rebus puzzles on them. See how many you can figure out here. (***Answers, below.)

38. Neeson of "Taken" : LIAM.

41. "Dead Souls" novelist Gogol : NIKOLAI.

43. Summation symbol in math : SIGMA.


47. Mobster's code of honor : OMERTA.

48. Bart, to Homer : SON. Man, will I ever sort out all these characters?


49. __-Mex : TEX. Burritos and tacos and chili (Oh my!)

50. "Alice" diner : MEL'S.

51. Nonetheless, briefly : THO.

54. "Oedipus __" : REX.

56. Completely : ALL.

62. Inconclusive result : TIE.

63. Edmonton skater : OILER. Do you follow hockey, CanadianEh! ?

64. Gladiator's venue : ARENA.

65. Row : OAR.

66. First name on a historic B-29 : ENOLA.

67. Long and lean : LANKY.


Down:

1. Base bed : COT. Aha!  Here's the COT I was looking for at 1-A on Tuesday!

2. Bk. before Philippians : EPH.esians.

3. Hawaiian ring : LEI.

4. Messes up : ERRS.

5. 13, to many : BAD OMEN.

6. Sailor's agreement : AYE.

7. Temporary quarters : DORM.

8. Canadian gas brand : ESSO. It's Exxon in the US of A.

9. Occasions for shooting stars? : PHOTO OPS. Cute clue.

10. Its chemical symbol is Sn : TIN.

11. Illuminate, with "on" : SHINE A LIGHT.

12. Zen enlightenment : SATORI.

13. Certs ingredient : RETSYN. Remember these ads?

18. Sneaky tactic : PLOY.

22. Like cherubs : ANGELIC.

23. Alternatives to tellers, briefly : ATMs.

24. Close : SHUT.

25. "Light in My Darkness" author : HELEN KELLER.

27. Grapefruit cousin : POMELO. Have you ever had Pomelo wine? Very fresh and zingy.

29. Singer Carly __ Jepsen : RAE. "Call Me Maybe."

31. Slender swords : RAPIERS.

32. Like some legends : URBAN.

33. Columbia garb : G SUITS. The space shuttle Columbia, not the school in NY. Not to be confused with G Strings.

37. Add gradually to a cycle : ROTATE IN.

39. Gallic girlfriend : AMIE.

40. Tailless feline : MANX.

42. Young fox : KIT.

43. Dakar is its capital : SENEGAL.

44. __ paste : TOMATO. I used to always end up with half a can of tomato paste that would just turn moldy and eventually get thrown out.  Now I take a piece of saran wrap, plop tablespoons of paste onto it, cover with another piece of saran wrap,  and stick it in the freezer. Once frozen, I put it into a freezer bag - whenever I need a tbsp of paste, I just cut one of the blobs off the saran warp and put the rest back in the freezer.

45. Bloomer of bloomers fame : AMELIA.

46. __ of plenty : HORN. I always have one of these on my Thanksgiving table.

52. Radiant ring : HALO.

53. Hershiser of ESPN : OREL.

55. Ad come-on word : XTRA.

57. Angst : WOE.

58. Portfolio holding, briefly : IRA.

59. Egg layer : HEN.

60. Octopus' defense : INK.

61. Bit of Senate dissension : NAY.

***Click here for the answers to the Narragansett rebus puzzles.

'Til next week!
Marti

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Don G, who turns 60 years old today! I was so lucky and privileged to be mentored by Don.


Don & his wife Barbie

58 comments:

OwenKL said...

The gruel today was too THIN.
Soon I'll be just bones and skin.
This will be my plight
For the rest of my life;
But it's how runway models begin!

An epic may fill books of rhymes,
An edda may run many lines.
Even a sonnet
Has a lot in its bonnet,
But a limerick must fit THIN confines!

THIN limerick protests
And yet it is effusive
Compared to haiku.

OwenKL said...

I had to go to red letters today for the center and NE. Old map letters I was thinking of really old maps, and started with HBD (Here Be Dragons). I know Bobby Burns better than most, but couldn't connect "own" with HAE. Didn't figure out ORNERY until red letter told me the -LY ending I had was wrong, and didn't see SATORI until the L was changed to R. Young fox started out as CUB, so I wagged NICOLAS instead of NIKOLAI, and Columbia garb I was trying for some synonym for graduation gown (univ.) or serape (country). The only unknowns for me were YOSHI, OMERTA, & POMELO.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
So many good possibilities today! I considered "A bomber returned alone (5)" and "Question switch from Greyhound to Trailways (5)" first, but decided those were both too easy. So today's Cryptic clue is:

An agency for the specially-abled (5)

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Got off to a bit of a bad start when I confidently entered BAD LUCK instead of BAD OMEN at 5D, but that didn't last too long and things got much smoother after that. Struggled a bit with HELEN KELLER until I got enough perps to see the light, as it were. Didn't know NIKOLAI, but was able to guess it once a few letters were in place. Oh -- and I always thought Certs had RETSIN, so that caused another brief stumble.

Barry G. said...

Oh -- and we miss you greatly, Don!

Lemonade714 said...

Very happy birthday wishes for Don and we all appreciate your puzzles and your taking C.C. under your wing and unleashing her on the constructor world.

I enjoyed this Thursday and the 3, 2, 1 countdown from THI to T as well as some fun cluing with Occasions for shooting stars: PHOTO OPS

Marti thanks for being you, and Steve B. Thanks for the puzzle,and for keeping Tin in the solution

Mari said...

Good morning everybody.

I solved the theme clues, but didn't get the THIN connection.

I've never heard of Amelia and her bloomers or YOSHI the dinosaur. I guess I'm too young and too old at the same time.

My favorite clue was 37A: Problem with pictures: REBUS.

Have a great day!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Late again. No, it wasn't Harold. It was Marti and her darned REBUS puzzles. I got side-tracked and then it was already time for the 3-mile march. Marti, are you inferring that Don Hard-G is inciteful? Cute! HBD, Don G, wherever you are.

We're pretty sure our rumpy MANX cat, Tadpole, is dead. He went outside a week ago Saturday, and we haven't seen him since. He was never one to miss a meal.

Hand up for RETSIN until ORNERY showed up.

OwenKL, I think I got all three of those cryptic clues today.

Lemonade714 said...

BTW YOSHI is a great character in all the Super Mario Brothers games which were a big part of my sons childhood and my introduction to gaming. Not sure if he was a softer ripoff of YODA or just a happy little dinosaur...

OwenKL said...

Hey, if you got those first two ultra-easy ones, go ahead and share the answers!

HeartRx said...

Happy Birthday Don G.!! I feel privileged to have had the chance to collaborate with you as well. Your patience and insight gave me invaluable lessons in the art of constructing. I hope you and Barbara have a wonderful day!
¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫

Thanks d-otto for spotting the error. Wish I could blame autocorrect, but sometimes my fingers just type faster than my brain.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Wow, am I glad that Cruciverb is back in action.

Really enjoyed today's theme. I didn't get it until the reveal, but was impressed with the big theme phrases thereafter.

Morning, Marti, your Avengers picture reminded me that I never saw the modern film. Apparently it was a massive flop. Sure liked the original series, though.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Happy Birthday to Don G.

Challenging solve today. Couple new learnings: REBUS and POMELO. Perps very helpful. Sorta 'got' the theme but thanks Marti for pointing out the nuances. Liked the long downs, too.
G SUITS was last to fall.
OPERA - I like Smetana's music, too. Thanks for the link.

Have a good day.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! This was easier than some Thursdays, but I had to make three red-letter runs including the Y in RETSYN. But kept me interested, Steve. I didn't understand the theme until Marti 'splained it. Thanks. Now I'll go back and try the REBUS.

I had to look up SENEGAL. Africa remains the dark continent in my brain.

Happy Birthday, Don G.!

My sons came and took me to see my brother yesterday so I didn't get to that puzzle until this morning. The brain angiogram showed one basilar artery branch is missing entirely and the second branch is completely blocked by a clot. They can't surgically remove or stint it. However, the restorative faculties of the body have started making new blood vessel by-passes. He is coherent and enjoys company which they limit. He is still in ICU. He is receiving medications. It's a wait and pray case. His few little stroke impairments have disappeared, such as facial droop. He has always lived a charmed life. I feel better after seeing him, but know the continuing
risk. He was so glad to see me.

JJM said...

I solved w/o help but only because i knew the perps. Explain to me SSR, REBUS & HA'E.Thanks

Lastly, as a kid my favorite show was the Avengers.There will only be one Mrs. Peel-- Diana Rigg

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Almost a DNF. Center fell slowly, and only after after I recalled Reagan's condescending phrase.

Fav clue was "Occasion for shooting stars."

REBUS was last to fall.

POMELO? Live and learn.

Well done puzzle with excellent long fill and no nits.

Cool regards!
JzB

Jazzbumpa said...

Owen regales us
with his clever words of wit
In a small package

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I thought this was pretty tame for a Thursday and didn't really have any hang-ups so I was surprised when I didn't get the TADA. Went back and checked for typos but didn't find any. Turned out I had minx/Manx, sigmi/sigma, so FIW for me.

Got the theme with the reveal, including the progression of thi, th, t. Very clever with some fresh cluing and fill. Nice job, Steve, and great review, Marti.

Happy Birthday, Don G. Hope your day is special.

PK, I hope your brother continues to improve each day. So glad you were able to visit him.

We had two different rounds of t-storms late yesterday with ferocious winds. Trees were toppled and there were several flooded areas. No damage where I live. Today is sunny, 80's, low humidity.

Have a great day.

HeartRx said...

JJM:
SSR is Soviet Socialist Republic. There were 15 of them before the dissolution in 1991.

REBUS is a type of puzzle that uses pictures or words that must be decoded - if you click on the link I supplied, it will bring you to several examples.

HA'E is short for "have" in Gaelic. A famous poem of Robert Burns ends with:
Ilka lassie has her laddie,
Nane, they say, ha’e I
Yet all the lads they smile on me,
When comin' thro' the rye.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Steve Blais, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for a fine review.

JJM: SSR is Soviet Socialist Republic. Ha'E is Have in Scottish. Rebus I cannot answer.

Got started with OPERA, COT, EPH, LEI, ERRS. Had UNLUCKY for 5D. Finely saw the light and entered BAD OMEN. Now I had CELEB. Phew!

One of the toughest for me was ADEPT. I had three of the letters and still could not see it for a while.

MOT was unknown. Perped.

MRS PEEL was easy. Would love to see that show again.

Theme worked out. I remember Ronald Reagan saying THERE YOU GO AGAIN.

Remembered OMERTA for some unknown reason.

Our old favorite ENOLA.

Liked HELEN KELLER. What an amazing person she was.

No idea about YOSHI. Perps.

Don G: Happy Birthday!

See you tomorrow. Have to finish cutting my grass.

Abejo

(3203)

Chairman Moe said...

Hi Marti - I just recently found this blogger when I googled "LA Times Crossword Puzzle" - our paper features the LATCP every day and I religiously complete it each day, hoping not to have to cheat!

I'm not familiar with all of your crossword jargon as yet, but I suspect if I hang around here I'll learn as I go.

As for today's puzzle, I no look-ups or "cheats", but had a few corrections. I usually start the harder puzzles at the bottom and work up (north), so today's revealed to me the theme (57A) before I filled in 17, 30, and 44A. I tried "unlucky" and "bad luck" for 5D before filling "sol" and "mop" which led then to "bad omen". Also, in 44D I started with "cut and", since I had 56A as "all". Tomato came into view as I got oar, tie and Mel's.

Several words I didn't know: omerta, satori, and Mulan. Rebus was my last fill (after getting Rotate In), and I admit I had to look it up as I knew about it, but didn't know the word.

At any rate, thanks again for all of your clever comments and answers. I look forward to occasionally stopping by and participating in your "forum".

Lucina said...

Good day, puzzle friends! Thank you to Steve and Marti. Today was fun. Yea, COT, finally!

Happy birthday, Don G!

One STEP at a time brought this to a quick conclusion. I like seeing CELEB and PHOTO OPS as well as HELEN KELLER. What an absolutely amazing person she was.

MULAN is one of both my granddaughters' favorites. It's an exceptionally good story.

Couldn't recall the exact spelling of OMERTA so went with MUERTA (SP.)first, then TOMATO rattled my memory.

Marti, thank you so much for the tip on storing TOMATO paste! I've wasted so much of it because usually only one or two tablespoons are needed at one time

Good news about your brother, PK.

Have a truly peaceful, joyful day, everyone!

Chairman Moe said...

Owen - as I mentioned in my reply to Marti, I am a newbie to this forum. Love your limericks! I like that you use the puzzle's theme or answers. Very creative!

I, too, enjoy limericks, and today's puzzle had me come up with:

A comely young actress named Deb;
Hollywood's favorite red-head CELEB,
Took off her top in a LIMO
On a Drive called Rodeo,
Soon, You-Tube videos streamed on the web!

Kind regards,

Chairman Moe

kazie said...

PK, So glad to hear of your brother's progress. Let's hope it continues.

I completely failed to guess any of the unknown names correctly today--MULAN, HELEN KELLER (tried Henry Miller but when that changed to Killer, I figured I was on the wrong path), couldn't remember OMERTA--had all the wrong vowels, don't know NIKOLAI or AMELIA, although perps helped get her, and ROTATE IN never occurred to me, since I was looking for a name for OILER, thinking of the Edmonton Commonwealth games of years ago--I definitely never thought of hockey.

Shows what happens when you don't know what you need to, and are thrown by what little you do know.

Misty said...

Steve, I loved this Thursday puzzle--many thanks! Not a speed run, but very doable and a lot of fun. The trip down memory lane was a delight: Diana Rigg as MRS. PEEL (was there a MR. PEEL?), MEL'S diner, the amazing HELEN KELLER, and the Russian writer GOGOL. But it was Cousin ITT who saved the day. I was determined to have it be TURN ON LIGHT, but the ITT wouldn't let me so I had to keep experimenting--thank goodness. Anyway, a delightful puzzle and delightful write-up, Marti.

I too don't see how ORNERY means perturbed, however.

Kept thinking Latina America and so expected Columbia's garb to be a native costume or something. Thought G SUIT was a little odd for that.

Lovely photo, Don G.

PK, I'll continue to keep your brother in my prayers.

Welcome, Chairman Moe.

Have a great Thursday, everybody!

Blog reader said...

Marti, thanks for your effervescent blog for a very nice puzzle. Loved your rebus page, and probably will be solving them for the rest of the day.

Loved 'Shooting Stars ?' as a clue. Knew it was a pun because of the '?' mark. I thought of meteors, meteoroids and meteorites, and also of 'knocked up' toons in the comics. Then, as I got PHO- i thought of Photons. When I finally got the answer, it took me some time to parse it.

I have often heard, perhaps here, of 'rebus' puzzles, which Mr. Rich Norris doesn't allow in his crosswords, and where one square may have more than one letter or a character. If you have the time, could you give us one example ?

All the best.

Lemonade714 said...

The June 5, 2014 NY Times puzzle by the skilled Ed Sessa which runs today in syndication is an example of a Rebus crossword puzzle

Lemonade714 said...

I was trying not to give marti a hard time about the blasphemy of showing Uma as Mrs. Peel, but reallllllllllllllllllly.

Bill G. said...

Very pleasant puzzle. Thanks Steve and Marti!

Happy birthday Don! I always enjoy your puzzles.

PK, I hope your brother continues to improve.

My first experience with those puzzles was from Games Magazine, maybe from Will Shortz? They were called Wordies. I always thought a rebus was a difference kind of puzzles where pictures are used to represent words, parts of words or letters.

Tinbeni said...

Marti: Nice write-up. Enjoyed the REBUS link and answers.

Happy Birthday Don G. ... miss seeing your puzzles here.

OMG YOSHI & SATORI (both, ALL perps!) were correct.

I thought my chemical symbol was "Scotch"...
Cheers!!!

john28man said...

I have to declare a DNF because I had MINX instead of MANX. Especially bad for me who spent a lot of time in UK.

HeartRx said...

Welcome Chairman Moe. We have a whole team of bloggers who do the write up on different days. C.C., who started this blog, always does the write up on Sundays. I did the write up today, and post comments here as "HeartRx." If you go to the main page and scroll down to the heading called "Olio," you will see a link to "Comments Section Abbreviations." It lists most of the slang and abbr. we use here. But let me know if there are any that are missing.

Blog reader, welcome, too. The NYT occasionally publishes rebus-type puzzles on Thursdays. You can see an example here.

HeartRx said...

But Lemony @ 11:53. It won several awards:
Razzie for Worst Remake or Sequel
Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst Director
and
Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst Resurrection of a TV Show

So how could I have gone wrong??

Dudley said...

I'm sorry for the lovely Uma that she was in such a turkey of a film. I presume the actors usually can't tell during the shoot whether a film is turning out well or poorly.

That said, I'm with JJM 9:54: there is only one Emma Peel, and that's Diana Rigg.

PK said...

Thank you all for your warm wishes. You all are great people!

Bill G. said...

Lemon, I recently subscribed to the NYT crosswords. I find them a little harder and a little less enjoyable than the LAT CWs. Today's puzzle that I found was one by John Guzzetta, not Ed Sessa. No rebuses. What am I missing?

I am wondering if there are some new really good TV shows that I don't know about. Ones that I like are: The Good Wife, Major Crimes, Person of Interest (though I miss Detective Carter), NCIS (both versions), Modern Family, TBBT, Dirty Jobs reruns, Rizzoli and Isles and Masterpiece Mystery. What have I overlooked?

OwenKL said...

Jazz: Very nice haiku, and thanks for the shout-out!
Moe: welcome to the Corner! Sounds like you'll be an asset to join us! Do you know how to go blue?
Avengers Movie: not up to the TV show, but not that bad. Now for a bad movie, there was Get Smart! Why won't producers realize that some shows are just showcases for their stars, and the show premise was just window dressing? Though the TV show did continue to succeed (if not quite as well) when Mrs. Peel's husband was IIRC found still alive in the jungle where he'd been lost, and replaced by Tara King. Hmm, just looked it up, and surprised to find Macnee had more than just those two costars!

Cryptics: I expected someone would have claimed those two easy ones by now, ENOLA (ALONE backwards) and REBUS (RE-BUS). Still a little early for the more difficult one.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Swell puzzle, Steve B. and great expo, Marti!

Did not take time to get the theme.

Happy Birthday, Don G!

Cheers!

fermatprime said...

PK--continued good wishes for you brother!

PICC.TRY said...

Ad---

I got the other 2 too, but reluctant to post because of all the sniping from complainers.

Chairman Moe said...

To Marti, Misty and Owen:

Thanks for the greetings and to a few of the navigation areas around this blog.

Owen, I am assuming by asking me if I "know how to go blue?" refers to linking to my profile? If not, then I have no idea! Please enlighten. If it does mean establishing a profile, I hope this post will answer that! I figured out if I sign onto the blogger with my Google account I can establish a "stage name" . . .

I will update my profile soon.

Chairman Moe

Bill G. said...

I really enjoyed the following puzzle because I was able to figure it out myself when I first saw it, about forty years ago. It doesn't take any complicated math; just multiplication and addition (plus some logical reasoning). I hope you'll try it.

Humphrey has gotten a summer job as a census taker. He goes to his first house and knocks on the door. A woman answers. He politely introduces himself and asks her how many children she has. She politely tells him she has three children. He asks her how old they are. She says she won’t tell him, but she will give him some hints. She says that the product of their ages is 36 and the sum of their ages is one more than the number of the tall house at the end of the block (pointing to the house). Humphrey thinks to himself, “She is not being very cooperative. This sounds like one of those puzzles I used to see on Crossword Corner. But I should be able to figure this out.” So he thanks the woman and leaves.
He comes back an hour later, apologizes for bothering her again, and tells her that he still can’t figure out the ages of her three children. She is very apologetic and says, “I’m really sorry. I forgot to tell you that the oldest child likes peanut butter and anchovy sandwiches.”
Humphrey says, “Great! Now I know the ages of your kids.” If Humphrey can figure this out, so can you! No guesses, all logic.

Please don't post the answer until later. Instead, please e-mail me with your clever insight.

Unknown said...

I liked this puzzle a lot. Although I solved it with no write-overs, after seeing the reveal, I didn't even look at the answers to figure out the theme. I've got to stop doing that.

There were a few answers that were solved by perps: SATORI, YOSHI, REBUS, SIGMA, AMELIA, POMELO, and SENEGAL.

Glad to hear your brother is improving, PK.

Repeat problem by Bill G. said...

Bill G.
When you first posted this problem here on January 15, 2013 this was the solution you posted on January 16, 2013:

"First, make a list of all the possible combinations of three ages that have a product of 36. Next compute the sum for each of them. That’s what the census taker would have done. Then he would have walked across the street, looked at the house number and the ages of her children would have been obvious. For example, if the house number across the street was 13, then the sum of their ages must be one more than that, or 14. Therefore, the ages must have been one, four and nine. So why did he come back and tell her that he couldn’t figure it out? It must have been because two or more of the combinations of three ages have the same sum.

1 x 6 x 6 = 36; sum = 13
2 x 2 x 9 = 36; sum = 13

The number of the house across the street must have been 12 and therefore, there were two combinations of possible ages. When told that the oldest liked peanut butter and anchovy sandwiches, that eliminated the first combination since there was no oldest. So, the ages of her children must have been two, two and nine."

Always like it when you come up with something new.

CrossEyedDave said...

Another DNF, 11A old map letters did me in. I never heard of SSR, & SYR still exists, so I went with Serbia as a WAG (SER) which gave me 12D Zen Enlightenment = Eatori?

( Maybe I was thinking Zen Delightenment as in some kind of Japanese Deli...)

HBD Don G. Here's the cake! (Pls fill in the clues & Answers & get back to us ASAP...)

Misty @ 11:29, there was a Mr. Peel! Season 7 Episode 1 Titled "The-Forget-Me-Not" Emmas long missing husband (lost in deep dark Africa ALA LivingstonI presume) returns & she is replaced with Tara King.

Abejo, I tape the Avengers daily at 1:00pm to watch later from a cable TV station called Cozi, channel 109 here in the NorthEast. (Nuts! I had the link right at todays episode, but it reverts right back. Go to 109 & see if you recognize the station logo on your cable provider. They play a lot of oldies.)
I used to watch it on IMDB for free, but now they want $1.99 via Amazon...

Bill G, @2:43, your list does not include BBCs SHERLOCK. (Must see TV!)

Oh yes, the puzzle, now what kind of visual would good ol' CED come up with for wearing thin?

(I better get outta here before I wear thin my welcome...)

Chickie said...

Hola everyone, With several errors today, my eraser had a good workout. I had USR for SSR, Unlucky, then Bad luck and finally Bad Omen for the number 13. I also had to erase Cut and/paste before tomato paste was finally sussed out. All in all a struggle for me today.

Thanks, Marti for a great writeup and also for the tip on saving the tomato paste. I've put small dabs into those little Tupperware containers, but it is never quite the right amount or I don't have enough little containers, etc. etc. Your idea is one of those, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Did anyone else think of the Olympic skater Brian Orser? I didn't even think about hockey. It is one sport that we don't watch, even though the Sharks are really big here in San Jose.

Have a great day everyone.

Chickie said...

PK, Good news about your brother.

Don G. Happy Birthday, and many, many more.

Welcome, Chairman Moe. We do have a good time here at the Corner. Many of us have made face to face friends with people who are on the blog. Amazing when you think about the fact that our "new" friends were living within a few miles of each other and we never would have met except for this Crossword blog.

HeartRx said...

Chairman Moe, congrats on "going blue." We hope to see you around the Corner often.

Bill G., I agree with CED about "Sherlock." Great show!

Jayce said...

Chickie, yes. Having O---R immediately made me think of Mr. Orser.

Bill G, LW and I also very much enjoy the Scandinavian mysteries such as "Unit One" and "The Eagle" on the MHz Worldwide network at 9:00 in the evening. They also used to have some nice Italian mysteries, too, but not recently. They can be seen in the Los Angeles area on KLCS, channel 58.4.

OwenKL said...

Here's the solution to today's Cryptic clue.

An agency | for | the specially-abled (5)
[A DEPartmenT] [=] [ADEPT]

TV: The medium has changed. When I was young, episodes were self-contained. I didn't matter what order you saw them in. Beaver was still just as naive, Della was still Perry's secretary, the Rat Patrol was still foiling Rommel. Even changes didn't matter much; Festus replaced Chester, Goober replaced Gomer, Adam Cartwright moved on without a mention. Then subplots came in. See them out of order, and the background might not be as clear, but the main story was still understandable. Then subplots began to dominate. That's when I started to be bothered. And now we have main stories that run the whole season, like The Bridge or Murder in the First. I watched the first series of The Bridge, and did enjoy the main detectives, but there were no weekly rewards of any climax or resolution. No Ta-Da! I'm not going to watch this season. I waste too much time on TV anyway to spend time on something that will leave me frustrated for months.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

I thought Columbia referred to the elegant woman holding the torch, symbol of Columbia pictures. Her garb consists of a gown and stole. An ancient dowager queen grandmother on "Game of Thrones" looked familiar when I realized it was the actress Diana Rigg who as Emma Peel in black leather jump started my teenage male hormones. That's how old I am.

HeartRx said...

BTW, Bill G., if snarky anon hadn't posted the solution, I am sure I would have tried (again!) to solve it. And I am sure there are many newcomers who did not see your original post. Why do people have to be so rude?

One of my favorite puzzles that you posted had something to do with color, nationality, drink, cigars and pets. It was completely a logic puzzle that I spent several hours figuring out. Do you remember it? I would love to see that one again!

Bill G. said...

For those of you who tried the census-taker puzzle before, I'm sorry for the repeat. Since it's a personal favorite, I wasn't sure if I had shared it before. I should have checked. If you're newer here and haven't seen it before, fiddle with it a bit unless our snarky anon has spoiled it for you. (Marti, thanks.) I think I know which logic puzzle you mean. I'll go look it up. Remind me again if I forget. If our snarky anon didn't get to be rude, he would lose his Raison d'être.

Thanks for the TV input. I see where The Good Wife was shut out of the Emmy nominations.

Owen, I agree about TV shows that don't get resolved. Very frustrating. I would much prefer it if cliff-hangers were outlawed.

Bill G. said...

While I look for Marti's favorite (very hard) logic puzzle, here's an easier version that should be new to everyone.

Police Department Vacations

Gardner, Plunkett, Maloney, Phelps and Lopez work for the Manhattan Beach Police Department. Each gets two weeks of vacation a year. Last year, each took the first week in the first five months of the year and his second week in the last five months. If each officer took each of his weeks in a different month from the other men, in which months did each man take the first and second week? Clues follow.
a) Plunkett took the first week before Gardner, who took his before Phelps; for their second week, the order was reversed.
b) The officer who vacationed in March also vacationed in September.
c) Lopez did not take the first week in March or April.
d) Neither Lopez nor the officer who took the first week in January took the second week in August or December.
e) Maloney took the second week before Plunkett but after Lopez.

Husker Gary said...

What fun puzzle but 36 holes interceded. Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number thirteen. I don’t suffer from that but Apollo 13 that had to abort the mission and barely made it back to earth took off at 13:13 Houston time to arrive at the Moon on April 13. So…

Anonymous T said...

Hi all!

Late to the corner today - DW and I went to the cantina after work and now she's out with the eldest (they're going to an 10:25p showing of lucky stars or something).

Arggg! Two DNFs before Friday! 12d __TORI. and 47a OZEDDA??? (AzELIA for 45d - did I mention I can't spell :-)).

Oh well, it was a fun slog (thanks Steve!) and Marti's write up explained REBUS - I was still thinking along the lines of F-STOP and thought REBUS was a setting I never used. I forgot about those silly puzzles in the Sunday Parade.

Big issue with THERE he GOe(s) AGAIN. Finally remembered YOSHI, which led to PHOTOOPS and THERE YOU GO AGAIN. I was 10, but I remember the debates.

NIKOLAI was a wag from N-K----. Columbia didn't misdirect me but for a second - '81 Young & Crippen! If no one objects before I find Manhattan Project from Rush, I'll link ENOLA Gay song.

Fav today - ORNERY. Mom always said I was so, but I took it as impish.

PK - Glad to hear prognosis is looking up. Our thoughts our with you.

Hand up w/ Owen - 1st thought Here Be Dragons (HBD) - too much Tolkien in my ute. Speaking of HBD...

HBD Don G!

WEES - Welcome C. Moe. Like Marti said, C.C.'s Olio helps for a newbie (I'm just one year old!)

And my link: Two fans talking about LIAM Neesons [sic].

Cheers, -T

Anonymous T said...

OK - I found it - the NPR Political Junkie montage with THERE HE GOES AGAIN. Don't listen beyond 30 seconds or it gets political.

And since there were no objections (You didn't give us enough time to hide*) Manhattan Project. @2:53 "The pilot of ENOLA Gay coming out of the shockwave..." (saw this in HS in Shreveport, LA).

Cheers, -T
*Python - Life of Brian when the Romans were looking for the People Front of Judea, er, the People's Judean Front. Splitter! :-)

Anonymous T said...

And I messed up THERE YOU GO AGAIN again. Oops. C, -T

Misty said...

CrossEyedDave, many thanks for the word on MR. PEEL. I clearly missed that episode, but am glad to now know the scoop on him!