google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, July 29, 2014 Pawel Fludzinski

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Jul 29, 2014

Tuesday, July 29, 2014 Pawel Fludzinski

Theme: Batteries Included - Eight(8!) entries with four A's and only A's plus the reveal clued as the tiny battery.

18A. Undoubtedly : FAR AND AWAY. Link

23A. Lawn option in warm climates : BAHAMA GRASS. Link

33A. Straw topper first made in Ecuador, surprisingly : PANAMA HAT. Link

46A. Twin-hulled vessel : CATAMARAN. Link

51A. Sleepover with more giggling than sleeping : PAJAMA PARTY. Link

64A. Island off Africa's southeast coast : MADAGASCAR. Link

4D. Picnic staple : PASTA SALAD. Link

29D. Missed the bus, forgot lunch, argued with the boss, etc. : HAD A BAD DAY. Link

59D. Battery found, in a way, in eight puzzle answers : AAAA. Link

Argyle here. By my count(entries with A's only), there two triple A's and ten double A's; 49 in total. All those entries but the fill didn't suffer. The theme took up 79 squares. The grid doesn't look like a Tuesday but the solve was. Very good, Pawel.

Across:

1. File attachment icon : CLIP. A paper clip.

5. Caviar, e.g. : ROE

8. Inbox fillers : EMAILS

14. Turkish currency : LIRA

15. Train station abbr. : ARR. (arrival)

16. Update the factory equipment : RETOOL

17. Long-billed wader : IBIS

                         ibis in the myst

20. Computer adventure game : MYST

21. Not any : NONE

22. Ordered : BADE

27. Heavy drinker : SOT who might 36D. 27-Across sound : [HIC!]

28. South Seas resort island : TAHITI

39. Crimson Tide coach Nick : SABAN. Current head football coach of the University of Alabama.

40. Inland Asian sea : ARAL

41. Backless sofa : DIVAN

43. Woodworking groove : DADO. More information than you probably care to know. Link

44. Competitor : RIVAL

48. Obeyed a doctor holding a tongue depressor : SAID "AH"

50. Have a good cry : SOB

58. Olympic sprinter Devers : GAIL. ESPN Where Are They Now? Link

62. Still-life object : VASE

63. Be bold enough : DARE

67. Key of Beethoven's Ninth: Abbr. : D MINor

68. __ Islands, south of Cuba : CAYMAN

69. Suffix with pay : OLA

70. Fence the loot for, say : ABET

71. Lipton alternative : SALADA

72. Recipe amt. : TSP

73. "Star Wars" guru : YODA

Down:

1. Scale, as a wall : CLIMB

2. Egypt neighbor : LIBYA

3. Notre Dame's Fighting __ : IRISH

5. Battle of Britain fliers: Abbr. : RAF. (Royal Air Force)

6. Endangered ape : ORANGutan

7. Proofreader's find : ERROR

8. One of the Gallos : ERNEST. His brother was Julio.

9. __ school : MED

10. Run __: pay later at the bar : A TAB

11. Hawkeye State : IOWA

12. Put ammo into : LOAD

13. Roy Rogers' birth name : SLYE. Leonard Franklin Slye doesn't sound like a cowboy, eh?

19. Santa __ winds : ANA

24. May honoree : MOM

25. Just barely : A TAD

26. Carrier to Copenhagen : SAS


30. Construction beam : I-BAR

31. "Look what I did!" : "TADA!

32. Advised about : IN ON

33. Golf scorecard numbers : PARS

34. Operatic solo : ARIA

35. "Avatar" race : NA'VI. From the movie.

37. Actress Gardner : AVA

38. Bit of body art, briefly : TAT

42. Voyager-launching org. : NASA

45. Napkin holder : LAP

47. Floor-washing aid : MOP

49. Cuban capital : HAVANA

52. Madison or Monroe, for short : JAS. (James)


53. Fancy tie : ASCOT

54. Brunch and lunch : MEALS

55. Stallone role : RAMBO. Rocky was on TV so I stuck that in first.

56. Took a crack at : TRIED

57. Busybody : YENTA

58. Safari and Yukon : GMCs. General Motors Company van and SUV.

60. Pastoral verse : IDYL

61. Tibetan monk : LAMA

65. Meander : GAD. Roam.

66. Jay Z's genre : RAP


Argyle


49 comments:

OwenKL said...

Want to recharge your BATTERY on a holiday?
Is Club MED a bit too FAR AND AWAY?
Well take off your sox,
Grab the cat's litter box,
At least feel the sand on your toes anyway!

Sailing from MADAGASCAR across the South Seas
In TAHITI were shanghied twin brothers, Siamese.
Four hands on the sails
Were useful in gales,
And the captain liked hearing "AYE AYE AYE AYE" BATTERIES!

~~~~~~~~~~~

A Cryptic clue for something in today's puzzle.

Pillager turned around to switch equipment (6)

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

I got off to a bit of a rough start on this one, wondering what the heck a CLIP (sans paper) was and whether PASTA SALAD was really a "staple" of picnics. But then things settled down and the rest of the puzzle was smooth sailing. I didn't notice the theme until I got to the reveal. I balked a bit at AAAA, but Argyle found a picture so they must exist. Never seen one at the battery display at the supermarket, however....

TTP said...

Good morning all.

I'm grading this puzzle A+. Thank you Dr Fludzinski. After BAHAMA, TAHITI, and PANAMA, I thought we were going tropical.


Thanks Argyle ! Especially liked the DADO link.

Argyle said...

Barry, check this link out. You've seen a lot of AAAA batteries and not known it.
Link

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Nice easy puzzle. I even got the theme before the reveal. That doesn't happen often.

Argyle, thanks for the info on the 9-V battery. I always wondered how they managed to get 9 volts out of 'em.

I don't consider PASTA SALAD a picnic staple. I've been to lots of picnics, and there was usually potato salad.

In these parts you never hear BAHAMA GRASS -- we call it Bermuda grass down here.

Time to march....

Yellowrocks said...

TTP, hand up for thinking of going tropical at first.
Among our family, friends, and social groups we almost always have pasta salad at picnics along with potato salad. It's usually elbow macaroni or sea shell pasta, sometimes combined with tuna.
When there is a large enough crowd I make a Greek pasta salad with roasted zucchini and bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives and feta cheese dressed with olive oil. With all those ingredients, it's impossible to make a small amount.
Off to the gym.

CanadianEh! said...

Fun solve for a Tuesday morning.

Thought of the song for 29D
Had a Bad Day

Alternate for LIPTON and Salada in Canada is Red Rose!

Canadian embassy in LIBYA has been evacuated due to unrest there.

Cool weather here for July. Enjoy the day!!
(YR the Greek pasta salad sounds delicious!)

Mari said...

Good morning everybody.

I did pretty well today, but I didn't know SABAN, DADO or GAIL Devers.

A couple of nice shout outs to our old friend Tinbeni (27A and 36A).

My old camera took AAAA batteries (before everything was rechargeable and digital).

Have a great day!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Good summary of Pawel's puzzle, Argyle.
Another RPI grad.

Saw there were lots of A's, especially in the long (theme) acrosses. Realized there were consistently 4 of them so was not surprised at the unifier clue. Other multi-A fill as well; ARIA, ARAL, SABAN, SALADA.
Sorry, Abejo, no Earl Grey today.
Nice Tuesday romp.

Have a great day.

thehondohurricane said...

Hello everyone,

Got through this fairly easily with only a couple of minor hold ups. I always thought it was ERNESTo & Julio so ERNEST turns out to be a learning moment. Another issue was thinking Turkey's monetary units were Euro's, and 3D IRISH seemed to confirm it. Took a minute to two to unravel, but LIBYA got me back on track.

Did not realize there was a BAHAMA GRASS. Must be some difference between it and Bermuda Grass.
Bermuda I got to know well, and disliked a lot when I played golf.

Lovely weather today. Our little corner has lucked out quite well this July. No complaints at all. HH & H were only occasional visitors. Hoping the trend continues into August.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Didn't get the theme until the reveal and, again, completely missed that there were no other vowels. Only write-over was Tetley/Lipton.

Nice job, Mr. Fludzinski, and spot-on expo, Argyle.

More t-storms yesterday but today is picture perfect: cooler, sunny, and no humidity. Should continue for a few days.

Have a great day.

SwampCat said...

I, also, have never heard of Bahama Grass but the perps were indisputable. Bermuda grass looks similar to the link so I guess that's the same thing.

Other than that, a fun, easy romp. And a great expo, Argyle. Thanks.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

AAAA battery = learning moment.

Stumbled through and had a few ERRORs. Not one of my better efforts.

Good puzzle. My brain HAD A BAD DAY.

IMBO.

Cool regards!
JzB

Anonymous said...

Pasta salad is not a staple at picnics

HeartRx said...

Good morning everyone!

I was looking for the theme as I solved, and it finally dawned on me at PAJAMA PARTY. (OK, so I'm not so quick on the uptake without my second cup of coffee...) But I totally missed the reveal until coming here, since it was filled by the across answers.

So thanks for the write-up and filling in the blank for me, Argyle! I just knew the PAJAMA PARTY link would be Anette, since that's what popped into my head when I wrote in the answer. But I thought for sure you'd use this link for MADAGASCAR...2:29

I learn something every day - all these years I have been using 9v batteries, only to find out they are just itty bitty AAAA's in disguise!

Have a great day, everyone!

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Pawel Fludzinski, for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, argyle, for the fine review.

Wow! What a puzzle! Great.

Spitz: Yes, no Earl Grey in the puzzle. However, I have had several cups today at home and will have several more. As far as I know, neither Lipton nor Salada make an Earl Grey tea. However, Red Rose does! As well as many others. I drink Teavana at home and I carry Twinings and Bigelow when I travel. I always carry tea bags to restaurants, just in case they do not have earl Grey.

IRISH and LIBYA got me started in the NW.

The entire puzzle was quite easy. The theme having 8 answers all with 4 A's was amazing.

TADA took me a couple perps.

Liked SAID AH. Good one.

NAVI was unknown to me. Perps.

Have lots to do. See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(337)

Misty said...

Fun Tuesday speed run--many thanks, Pawel, and of course, you too, Argyle, for your always fun expo.

Almost messed up by spelling LIBYA as LYBIA--no excuse, given how much it's been in the news these last couple years.

"Got" JAS but didn't "get" it as an abbreviated first name until the blog. See, that's why it's so useful to check in here every morning.

Have a great day, everybody!

Jazzbumpa said...

So, if you quickly attacked and solved this puzzle, was that a FORAY?

JzB the inquisitive trombonist

Nice Cuppa said...

Thanks Pavel and Argyle

I suppose this one might have been cheekily titled "NO USE" as it has every vowel (A-plenty) except U.

I thought things were steaming up a bit when I saw Tahiti (Gauguin and all that), body art and DIVAN, but the latter solved my T-T dilemma, and the blood pressure dropped.

DIVAN always reminds me of the one decent pop-punk song to come out of France in the 80s. "Ça plane pour moi" by Plastic Bertrand. Its title is a little obscure, but the line "I am the king of the divan" is clear enough. Check it out on YouTube.

The only (meh!) crosswordese I noted were "Orang". No-one I know does not use its full name Orang Utan. Orang = "forest" or "jungle" I think, Utan = Man. So it's pretty meaningless in condensed form. Maybe the inspiration for FORREST GUMP?

I always think that American Tea never recovered from the Boston Tea Party; universally insipid, and most restaurants don't realize that BOILING WATER must be applied to a PREHEATED vessel (such as a TEAPOT, for example) to extract the full flavor. Recommend going to a BRIT or INDIAN store and buying YORKSHIRE GOLD or PG TIPS.

By contrast, American Beer took only 70 years to recover from Prohibition - the "Craft Brews" are still a little over-hopped for my taste, but they at least have TASTE….

NC

OwenGL

Straight Turnaround. Nice one.

Here's one for you:

Strike briskly and flip softened fish (4)

NC

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Fun & fast. Thanks, Pawel! Thanks, Argyle, you outdid yourself with links today! I thought this puzzle was easier than yesterday.

I got the theme early. All those "A's" sort of smacked me in the face. Didn't hesitate when I came to the unifier to put in four of those babies. As the Fonz always said, "Aaaa!"

The link said another name for BAHAMA grass is Bermuda. I've had it and loved it except it was relentless in taking over my flower beds.

Didn't know SALADA or NAVI but perped okay. I saw the movie "Avatar", but didn't remember this.

"Couch" before DIVAN. Hand up for Rocky before RAMBO. The GMCS were a gimmee.

Owen: I ain't puttin' my feet in no cat litter box, no matter how poetic you get! Just sayin'. You done gone too far, bucko.

Lucina said...

Hello there. (I'm still in Monday mode.)

This is FAR AND AWAY one of the best puzzles with so many A's. Nice job, Pawl Fludzinski, thank you.

Agree about BAHAMA GRASS, which I've never heard of, looking like Bermuda.

Natick at SAS/SABAN. I didn't know the latter and since the shoe company is SAS, thought I was confused, which would be nothing new.

Hondo:
In March when I was in Istanbul both the Euro and the Lira were used interchangeably. Apparently the transition isn't quite complete.

I know we've seen SALADA before but it did not readily come to mind. Good perps there.

Have a MADCAP Tuesday, everyone!

Nice Cuppa said...

ERRATUM (N.B., pl. = ERRATA).

In re Continental Punk:

My apologies to all those FAMOUS BELGIANS out there. PLastic Bertrand is in fact, Belgian, not French, and it was written in 1977.

"Plus ça change…..", peut-être, Monsieur Poirot?

NC

Nice Cuppa said...

Owen et. al.

Here's an easy one:

Irate at choice of vehicular propulsion in Indian Ocean (10)

NC

Tinbeni said...

Pawel: Thank you FOUR-A FUN Tuesday puzzle.
Argyle: Excellent write-up & numerous links.

Never like to "Run A-TAB" at the bar.
Just curious, does a TAB really taste like Coke???

Have to admit I prefer the Jamaican Grass over the BAHAMA GRASS.
(Smoke'em if you got'em) ...

Faves today, of course, SOT & HIC ... go figure ...
Cheers!!!

Nice Cuppa said...

Last one, I promise:

English chemist refuses to enter so easily (10)

Anonymous T said...

Hl from Calgary* the city with all "A's" :-)

Fun puzzle, but a DNF where GAD meets SALADA. Oh, well.

Fav - PASTA SALAD at picnics!

Cheers, -T
*if I don't count Y as a vowel this time...

OwenKL said...

Pillager | turned around | to switch equipment (6)
[LOOTER] [reversed] = [RETOOL]

I recalled an urban legend about lantern batteries being composed of AA's (Apparently one cheapo brand does pack in AA's, but most don't), so did some research checking several sites. What I found was that usually (though not always) they do have 6 cells similar to AAAA inside them, but they don't have the contact nipples, so can't be easily used like a real AAAA.

N.Cuppa: got all three of your Cryptics, but probably wouldn't have gotten any if I didn't have such a tiny pool of possible answers. Those were HARD, in more ways than one!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Late to the party this afternoon. Impressive AAAA construction today!

CrossEyedDave said...

9 volt batteries are really 6 AAAA's? Who knew? At least it explains why they die so fast.

Fun with batteries (Don't try this at home...)

Lemonade714 said...

In Connecticut, I grew up with Salada tead. That lasted until Lipton introduced the "flow-thru" tea bag.

Dudley said...

CED - good thing those batteries are expensive. Otherwise some idiot would surely try that at home.

thehondohurricane said...


SALADA was a "no brainer" for me because SALADA issued coin sets of baseball players in the 1962/1963 time frame. 221 players in the '62 set. Other sets were much smaller and today are pretty scarce, thus very expensive.

Lucina, thank you for the Euro/Lira explanation for Turkey.

Pasts SALAD shows up at all the barbecues up here. Give the ladies comfort in thinking they are protecting themselves from expanding waistlines.

Time to ignite the grill, first step in my saying "the Hell with my waistline."

PK said...

You could hear a female & child talking in the background of that guy playing with the batteries on the lovely dining room table. Next you see the guy in the garage. I'm betting he cut out the part where his wife blew up because he'd charred her table and evicted him.

Manac said...

About to have a bad day

Her too

But some people have All the luck

Lemon, from yest. I appreciate the concern. I tend to get real busy during the summer months which leaves little time and energy left except for lurking once and a while.

Manac said...

I think its time for a dirty joke....

After nearly 50 years of marriage, a couple was lying in bed one evening, when the wife felt her husband, begin to massage her in ways he hadn't in quite some time. It almost tickled as his fingers started at her neck, and then began moving down past the small of her back. He then caressed her shoulders and neck, slowly worked his hand down, stopping just over her stomach. He then proceeded to place his hand on her left inner arm, working down her side, passing gently over her buttock and down her leg to her calf. Then, he proceeded up her thigh, stopping just at the uppermost portion of her leg. He continued in the same manner on her right side, then suddenly stopped, rolled over and became silent.
As she had become quite aroused by this caressing, she asked in a loving voice, ‘Honey that was wonderful. Why did you stop?' To which he responded: 'I found the remote.'...

CrossEyedDave said...

Re: 5D RAF

I have posted about this game before, IL2 CLiffs of Dover, & do not really expect any response from this crowd.

But if you are into flying, & ever wanted to get into the cockpit of a Spitfire, you must check this out:

This is actual gameplay footage, the realism is amazing & the scenery is stunning.

If you do not watch the whole thing (30:00) at least watch 3 minutes at 20:00 in full screen. RAF Hawkinge emergency scramble while under attack is recreated by gamers. Each plane is manned by a real person while they talk to each other over "teamspeak."

Now, if you will excuse me, I have the urge to fly....

Bill G. said...

Manac, nice to see you back. I LOVED your dirty joke!

Big problem: There is a 30-inch water main rupture on the UCLA campus. Water is gushing into the air, flowing down into the bottom levels of a parking structure, etc. Kids are wading through knee-deep water to get to classes. No fix yet.

Small problem: I had a haircut today. The hairs on my neck are itching more than usual, probably exacerbated by the hot, humid weather. Fix: Second shower of the day.

OwenKL said...

Since Nice Cuppa hasn't gotten back to us, here's what I came up with as solutions to their Cryptic clues. For those of you who think my Cryptic clues are bad, these would all probably be at home in a British newspaper, but are way more obscure than anything I'd write!

Strike briskly | and | flip | softened | fish (4)
[CLIP] [=] [reverse] [subtract HARD] [PILCHARD]

Irate at | choice of vehicular propulsion | in Indian Ocean (10)
[MAD] [A GAS CAR] = [MADAGASCAR]

English chemist | refuses | to enter | so easily (10)
[FARADAY] [NAW] [inside] = [FAR AND AWAY]

JD said...

Good afternoon all,
Good puzzle, good write up and fun links. Liked Marti's link to Madagascar...haven't seen that 1st one. Great perps for the few I did not know:salad a,Slye,myst and Lira. Had Jim before Jas.

I agreed about pasta salad, but I had not thought of macaroni salad as pasta.d'oh! I don't think anyone refers to it as a pasta salad.

Enjoying the cooler weather in Kauai this week. We left the humid 90's behind us.

Bill G. said...

CED, I am only partway through the Spitfire movie. I am loving it. I think that is my favorite historical era. Great airplanes, wonderful scenery.

CrossEyedDave said...

Just finished an amazing mission, & stuck the landing. Wish I knew how to show the the gun camera footage!

Took off from Hawkinge in a Hurricane with 10 other planes to intercept 10 Me109s, lost track of my 1st target, but chased the 2nd 109 all over the sky! I must have used up half my gun magazine of 8 .303 caliber just missing him twisting & turning. He finally got away from me in a screaming dive. Thinking he lost me he attacked a group of Hurricanes attempting to land. I wish i could say i got him fair & square, but he turned right into me, climbing nose up into my dive he could not have seen me around is big engine. After all that ammo I wasted, a quick 1 second burst head on set him on fire.

The smoke was gray, not black like you would expect from an oil fire. I must have severed & ignited a fuel line...

Oh well, he jumped into the drink,,, & I think I will join Tinbeni in another...

Neat, if you pls...

Note: you could do this too, all you need to do is learn how to fly...)

Anonymous T said...

Back from CAnAdA...

On Cryptics - the papers on the plane had them. I got one lousy clue. That's better than last time I tried, so thanks Owen and Cuppa.

TTP - from the other day; I know Steve & Cuppa are 2 different folks. The Lois Lane clue just made me do it...

Manac - funny stuff.

CED - cool. Graphics in games amaze me every time I see the next gen. I did CG in college and it looked like Luxor Jr. but not animated.

For learning to fly I've got Tom Petty or Pink Floyd.

Cheers, -T

Bluehen said...

CED, I watched that link twice. Amazing. That's a game? Wow! I'm beginning to understand why my adult children like computer games. Do you really have to be a pilot to participate in that? If so, a shame. I was in the Air Force in Nam, but I never got off the tarmac. It seems that there is a lot of the digital age passing me by. Oh, well.

Blue Iris said...

I'm late, of course but thought I would add my two-cents.
Thanks Lemony for checking in on me.

I'm working very hard with Physical Therapist in a pool so I can possibly walk better. My husband has been remodeling the basement (as his retirement project) and I haven't been able to see his work in person. He takes pictures for me.

Learned the difference between DIVAN and sofa today.

It was VASE not ewer today.

A PAJAMA PARTY was a Slumber Party at our house.

I love when "the girls" get together for a salad luncheon, including PASTA SALAD. Our guy were never crazy about salads.

Is whether or not you like TATs, a political subject? I see the air force is still sticking to their no TATs policy.

HAD A BAD DAY reminded me of children's books that we enjoyed around here,i.e. Alexander and the Terrible, No Good,Very Bad Day. Also " Could Be Worse?"
MY twins (27 yrs old) were telling me today that they didn't know any of the cartoons their peers mention because they were reading, doing chores, or playing outside on their bicycles. I'll take that as a compliment, thank you.

Blue Iris said...

Bluehen, my son got his degree in Airframe Mechanics and Avionic. He never got his pilot's license, but he and his friends play all the time with airplane simulators and such. He had to have another attachment at one time to participate on computer/TV set.
My kids just laugh at me when I am amazed by such things.

Blue Iris said...

CED, just watched flight simulator video finally and must say WOW!!
It gave me the same chills I received watching 30-50 WWII era planes start they engines up one by one and take to the skies at Osh Kosh fly in a few years back.

Bill G. said...

Blue Iris: I agree about slumber party. Also, I much prefer potato salad to macaroni/pasta salad though I'll eat some if there is no potato salad.

I can imagine tats would not be looked upon favorably if one is applying for a job as a kindergarten teacher. Personally, a little tasteful tattoo doesn't bother me much anymore. Sleeves, where most of the skin is inked in, seems a bit much to me still.

I agree about WWII planes and such but I've said that before. Music too.

Blue Iris said...

OOPs...they should be "their"

Blue Iris said...

BillG, my favorite salad is Bird Seed Salad with coleslaw green onions, almonds sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, ramen noodle, etc. I'll give my recipe if anyones is interested.

My son served in the air force, in Iraq, but always says he would have rather fought in a war where the enemy wore swastikas.

Last post. Good night.