google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, November 3, 2014 David W. Cromer

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Nov 3, 2014

Monday, November 3, 2014 David W. Cromer

Theme: Where you hang your hat - Three movies that include a type of home in the title.

18A. 2001 Redford/Gandolfini film, with "The" : "LAST CASTLE". A home for criminals.

28A. 1990 Connery/Pfeiffer spy film : "THE RUSSIA HOUSE". A section of MI6 is called the "Russia House". (not an actual house)

50A. 2003 Eddie Murphy film, with "The" : "HAUNTED MANSION". A movie based on a Disney attraction.

64A. Nostalgic films for family gatherings ... and what 18-, 28- and 50-Across are? : HOME MOVIES. A bit of a stretch calling these movies about homes.

Argyle here. A movie set in a prison, a spy section name, and a tourist attraction. At least "Mansion" has a back story about a family living there. Otherwise, I liked the play.

Across:

1. Spill the beans : BLAB

5. Hindu deity : RAMA

9. Spore-producing plants : FERNS

14. Subtle emanation : AURA

15. Put out : EMIT

16. How food is often sautéed : IN OIL. Or stir fried.

17. Sheepish smile : GRIN

20. Rap session? : SEANCE

22. Aunts in la familia : TIAs. 36A. Barcelona's nación : ESPAÑA. 33D. Año starter : ENERO. (January)

23. Cut down : HEW

24. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT

26. Letters on a Soviet uniform : CCCP. It is the Russian abbreviation of Союз Советских Социалистических Республик, meaning the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR prior to 1992. 25D. Russian ruler until 1917 : TSAR

34. Charged particle : ION

35. Unable or unwilling to hear : DEAF

38. Frame of mind : MOOD

40. "The Twilight Zone" creator Serling : ROD

42. Sought damages : SUED

43. Mercedes-Benz model series : E CLASS

46. More than a few : LOTS

49. Dr. who has co-produced many Eminem tracks : DRE

53. __ weevil : BOLL

54. PayPal parent company : E-BAY

55. Pan Am rival : TWA

58. Garden nuisance : WEED

60. Saw eye to eye : AGREED

67. Wrist-to-elbow bone : ULNA

68. Kitchen attraction : AROMA

69. Brush fire op : EVAC. (operation/evacuation)

70. Garden area : PLOT

71. Varnish ingredient : RESIN

72. Fiddle-playing emperor : NERO

73. Postage-paid encl. : SASE. (self-addressed stamped envelope) A thing of the past?

Down:

1. Airport carousel riders : BAGS

2. Fish attractor : LURE

3. Solo for a diva : ARIA

4. Welcome sign hung over a street, e.g. : BANNER

5. Prisoner's goal : RELEASE

6. Doc bloc : AMA

7. Waterfall phenomenon : MIST

8. 1971 prison riot site : ATTICA

9. Debacles : FIASCOs

10. USN rank : ENS. (ensign)

11. Senator for whom an IRA is named : ROTH. U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Delaware.

12. River of Egypt : NILE

13. Did in, as a dragon : SLEW

19. Secret supply : CACHE

21. Gunk : CRUD

27. Litter yippers : PUPS. and little nippers.

28. Iconic news magazine : TIME

29. Liquor, in slang : HOOCH

30. First name on a 1945 bomber : ENOLA

31. Poker player's "Too rich for my blood" : "I FOLD"

32. Riyadh resident : SAUDI. Call him Sandy.

37. Port in Yemen : ADEN

39. Apply crudely : DAUB

41. Stephen King's "Under the __" : DOME. Anyone still watching it?

44. Frosty, notably : SNOWMAN. Soon, oh so soon.



45. Canonized fifth-cen. pope : ST. LEO

47. Cajun condiment : TABASCO

48. Unexpected obstacle : SNAG

51. Gridiron quota : ELEVEN

52. IHOP array : SYRUPS

55. "__ she blows!" : THAR

56. Had on : WORE

57. "Famous" cookie maker : AMOS

59. Seedy joint : DIVE

61. First lady of scat, familiarly : ELLA

62. Grandson of Adam : ENOS

63. Dinner and a movie, say : DATE

65. Brit. record label : EMI. Electric and Musical Industries Ltd was formed in March 1931.

66. Musician's asset : EAR


Argyle


50 comments:

  1. There once was a fellow who lived in a MANSION
    Minding the garden and grounds was his passion.
    The roses he'd thin
    With the weed-trimmer's spin.
    He's oft found in the garden, whacking off in a fashion!

    There was an old woman who kept a bawd HOUSE
    Where just $10 an hour would rent a fine spouse!
    She rented out navvies
    To all sorts of ladies
    To do dishes and laundry dressed in skimpy breech-clouts!

    There once was a queen who lived in a CASTLE,
    And there met her lovers, she had a whole passel.
    At times she would chafe
    From affairs of the state;
    But that's when she'd use Vaseline on her vassal!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Morning, all!

    Very quick Monday solve for me. I knew all the theme answers and could get them easily off the clues. No real snags, except that I really wanted MOST instead of LOTS for "ore than a few".

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well Owen, you left me speechless this morning.

    The choice of movies was interesting with the Redford/Gandolfini movie a very odd story and none of the three successful. Disney thought they would have another Pirates of the Caribbean franchise with Eddie Murphy, but he is no Johnny Depp.

    No politics but it will be great to have the election advertising off the tv.


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  4. Good morning!

    This was a quick romp, and from Argyle's writeup I see there are several answers I totally missed because they were already filled in.

    That haboob photo could just as easily have been taken in Phoenix. They had several big boobs this year.

    Owen, I think you meant "laddies."

    I'm up early. Apparently I haven't quite succeeded in reaching my fall-back position.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good day,

    No nits, complaints or gripes today. Pretty straight forward solve without any SNAGs.

    Tried reading THE RUSSIA HOUSE years ago, but never could get into it. le Carre never was a favorite author. The only thing I liked about the movie was Michelle Pfeiffer, number 1B for best looking women in existence. I'm married to 1A.

    Had another 4 letter word in mind for "put out",
    but decided it wasn't appropriate. Oh well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nope, navvies I said, and navvies I wanted. (Note the double v v, and take it for your word of the day.)

    ReplyDelete
  7. D.O.,
    navvy = laborer employed in excavating etc. as per OED.

    No problems here today, other than having to squint to see the answer numbers in the newspaper. Eye doctor says it's only dry eye, but I'm sure getting sick of it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good morning all,
    I lied; it is still dark, but waking up at 4:30 may be the problem.
    I had not heard of those 3 movies, so I was happy to hear that they were not hits. easily filled in home movies, and guessed the theme. Has anyone put your old super 8's on CD's? I should have spliced out the ugly footage when I had one of those viewers. Now I'm afraid I'll pay for all the unnecessary scenery.

    Thanks for the write up Argyle. Mondays may be easy, but there are ALWAYS things I don't know.

    Kazie, I have the same problem with reading the numbers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Musings
    -I like movies but had never heard of any of these
    -Does anyone else remember Aunt BLABby?
    -When America SLEW the CCCP athletic dragon
    -Selective deafness?
    -A new subdivision is opening next to us and they have LOTS of LOTS available
    -When will we have the courage to say RAP “music” is a horrible part of our culture?
    -SHATTERCANE is a cornfield weed that looks like it belongs
    -I’ll have a hundred 8th graders find a chicken’s ULNA on Thursday
    -Can’t beat family, football and those AROMA’s on Thanksgiving Day
    -The only airport where our BAGS didn’t arrive with us was in Berlin
    -My competitive fisherman friend said he used a LURE that was a “Bottom Bouncer with a Variable sinker” to win a tournament. Huh?
    -I was tired of TIME but this cover sealed the cancellation deal. Yeah, I know they had Hitler and Stalin too but I was on the cusp and using that phrase for that creep pushed me over the edge. Hmmm… can you be pushed over the edge of a cusp?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Argyle: Nice write-up & links. Monday & Tuesday puzzles are so easy they don't always give you enough to work with ... but you always come through. Good Job!!!

    Of course I had two favorites, HOOCH & DIVE.
    Probably the most enjoyable places to have Hooch is in a Dive (Bar or Pub).

    Also liked "THAR she blows!" ... but for other reasons.

    Best part of Standard TIME is my Sunset is earlier ... along with it's Toast!
    Cheers!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good morning, folks. Thank you, David Cromer, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.

    Up at 5:30 today, no alarm. My body is still on DST.

    First I finished Sunday's puzzle. Then I did today's.

    A few not-obvious ones. But perps fixed them all.

    Theme was fine. I have not seen any of those movies. Not a big movie person. I do want to see Gone Girl. I read the book and really enjoyed it. Lots of twists and turns.

    Our friend NERO again.

    As well as ULNA. I like a few gimmies.

    I got a SASE the other day, and used it.

    I participated in our Chili Cookoff yesterday at church. I did not win, but had fun. If I had used some TABASCO, I may have won. Maybe next year.

    Have to run. Have to report in on Sunday's puzzle, then heading to church to count the offering.

    See you tomorrow, from the Polling Place I am working at, which happens to be my church.

    Abejo

    (281)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good morning everyone.

    WEES. No SNAGs today.
    As a North-Easterner, always do a double take with the Pan-Am clues. The successor railroad to the old Boston and Maine is called Pan Am. Trackage mainly in Maine, Massachusetts and in NY over the Hudson to Schenectady.
    DAUB - Always think of Dauber, Coach's assistant in "Coach".

    Have a good day.

    ReplyDelete
  13. We go to a local casino and there is a Moby Dick machine that loudly proclaims, "Thar She Blows" just before you get free games. An ear worm for sure.

    ReplyDelete

  14. No complaints, but I felt this to be more of a Tuesday-level offering. Didn’t know any of the movies. Got hung with the jumble of FIASCOS, CASTLE (I thought it was HUSTLE) TIAS, HOUSE, and ESPANA. Eventually I righted my errors and rewarded myself with something from the trick or treat bowl.

    Thanks Argyle and David W. Cromer.

    ReplyDelete
  15. My "puzzling thoughts" for today:

    Just a couple of write-overs; notably, SLAY before SLEW (must not have figured the correct tense!); ELLE before TIME (must have thought that fashion is news!); RAMA was slow to form as I had HMO before AMA

    Owen, I know I asked you for some more limericks ...

    Thanks Argyle for the write up and also for the map showing the location of ATTICA. Forgot it was in W NY. I'm always thinking of the other prison, along the Hudson, Sing Sing.

    My "non-themed" limerick of the day:

    The young track star received a contusion,
    When he fell at the race's conclusion;
    He seemed very distraught,
    As he probably thought
    The last hurdle was an obstacle illusion!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Good Morning:

    I agree with Ergo that this was a tad crunchy for a Monday. I had a vague recollection of The Russia House but never heard of the other two movies. Liked the proximity of aura and seance.

    Nice job, David, and good expo, Argyle.

    One more day of mind-numbing political ads, then peace, at least for a while.

    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  17. From MASH:


    Henry Blake: Captain Sloan here is with supply.
    Captain Sloan: More accurately, I'm with the 375th Q. M. H. Q., COMSEAPAC, SEOULSEC REPDEP.
    Hawkeye: Maybe I'll have that drink.
    Captain Sloan: Now, the business at hand is an incubator, that is if my lieutenant understood what your colonel said you captains want.
    Hawkeye: Right.
    Trapper: And we need one as soon as possible.
    Captain Sloan: Well, let's see what the good book says.
    Hawkeye: The good book?
    Captain Sloan: The Manual of Supply and Requisition.
    Hawkeye: MANSUPREQ.
    Captain Sloan: Um, "inhalator, indicator, innoculator, infusilator - " Here it is: 437 - stroke - R2, incubator.
    Henry Blake: Thar she blows!
    Captain Sloan: "Device for developing bacterial cultures at constant suitable temperatures." Uh-huh. I see. That certainly makes sense. You can't have one.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Greetings, friends.

    AURA and SEANCE in the same puzzle with HAUNTED MANSION sounds like it had been intended for Halloween.

    I'm also glad to know these were not wildly popular MOVIES because I didn't see any of them though I love both Sean Connery and Michelle Pfieffer.

    Didn't know that PayPal belonged to EBAY. Learning moment.

    Abejo:
    Gone Girl is excellent. I actually saw it twice because a friend wanted to see it and I accompanied her.

    At least three friends that I know still mail their remittances and write letters. I often send notes and cards by U.S. post.

    Have a delightful Monday, everyone!

    ReplyDelete

  19. Tin,

    "..for other reasons." Now that I've thought it over............... ME TOO!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Well, this was no Monday speed run, but it did work out in the end, thank goodness. After my Saturday triumph I really wanted a good start to the new week to continue the good feeling.

    No literary figures in this puzzle, I think, and I've never heard of any of the movies. But a couple of interesting rhymes: MOOD and SUED in the same line, and WEED and AGREED. And AURA and EMIT also went together, sort of.

    Loved the limerick, Moe.

    Have a great week, everybody!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I remembered recently hearing about this, and per Wikipedia, "On September 30, 2014, it was announced that eBay would spin off PayPal into a separate publicly traded company."

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi Y'all! This puzzle was over too fast. Good one, David. Thanks, Argyle!

    Didn't know any of those movies. All perps.

    Got a small chuckle out of RESIN next to NERO, thinking of him using RESIN on the bow he was fiddling with. Then the AROMA must have been bad because next we had EVACuate. Well, it's easier to giggle at such things at 2 a.m. when I was doing this puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
  23. The haunted Mansion at Disney World is notoriously difficult place to take videos, however here is what looks like 4 trips through edited into one so you can hear some of the different audio at particular locations.

    Haunted Mansion (15:17)

    I tinkered with the URL to create a full screen link (which doesn't seem to work on an Ipad), & I would be interested to know if you get one of those pre-video advertisments.

    ReplyDelete
  24. No ads on my PC desk top. (Windows)

    ReplyDelete
  25. OKL@5:37: "ladies"

    d-o@6:15: "I think you meant 'laddies'".

    OKL@7:02: "Nope, 'navvies' I said, and 'navvies' I wanted".

    ReplyDelete
  26. Good afternoon everyone.

    A crunchy one for a Monday. But DH helped with ELEVEN since I know nothing about football. And the movies were perps and WAGs.

    Husker: as a teacher you must know that it's AROMAs with no apostrophe.
    Tinbeni: along with its toast. It's means it is! You both usually write so well.
    Oh well, and old English teacher never dies. Maybe I'll just fade away.

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  27. HG:
    Aunt Blabby, i.e., Jonathan Winters, I believe.

    CED:
    No ads on my PC.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hello everybody.
    Nice puzzle.
    Never heard of any of those movies either.
    Got eyes checked today. Cataracts have advanced to the "think about getting IOLs" stage. I'm gonna go 2 more years and check again.
    Vaseline on her vassal made me laugh.
    No more political ads! A local congressional representative shocked me by revealing in a recent ad what a mean-spirited, lying hypocrite he is. And all these years everybody has thought of him as a nice guy. Fortunately he represents a neighboring district so I don't have make the choice to vote for or against him.
    Best wishes to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  29. A pretty straight forward Monday. Misspelled tObasco, but that was quickly fixed. Didn't know the movies either.

    Dave. No adds on PC or iPad. No subtractions either.

    Yup, ready for the political ads to cease ad desist. I should feel lucky though. Locally, the attack ads on TV have been diminishing over the last couple of weeks. Not so with the direct mail ads.

    ReplyDelete
  30. A fittingly easy Monday. Had tell/BLAB, BLeach/BLUING, but those were the only problems. Thanks, David and Argyle.

    CED--no problems on PC.

    Sunny, 61* after a windy, snowy 27* Saturday morning and a sunny but cold Sunday. DH has a gas blower, getting rid of the leaves. I used to do it with my little electric blower and it took considerably longer. He has my OK to take over.

    Have a nice Monday.

    Pat

    ReplyDelete
  31. The ridiculous political ads here were charging things anyone would know weren't true. I'd like to see a law to limit political ads to the politician's resume. I'd also like to see an retirement age limit of 67 at the end of a politician's term. We've got one old cranky pol who is afraid of losing after 47 years in Congress. His ads and those of his party have gone beyond offensive. He used to be good.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Avg Joe @ 2:05 - Were you able to download Dave's Haunted Mansion link of 2:07 on your iPad? I can't get it.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Irish Miss @ 3:13

    I can post an Ipad compatible link to the Haunted House if you want one, but it is easily found on a YouTube search under Disney World Haunted Mansion (15:17). I also found a clip of how they created the ballroom illusion. (7:05)

    ReplyDelete
  34. Musings 2
    -Dave, I have been on that ride many times and I really enjoyed the wonderful video!
    -Sallie, you’re right of course, but I was sort of, kind of, treating AROMA as a stand alone entity and adding the ‘s to make it plural. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. ;-)
    -Sorry, Lucina, Aunt BLABBY was played by this former Husker. Jonathan’s similar character was Maude Frickert
    -Those mind-numbing political ads are aimed at LIV’s (see Sallie ☺) – Low Information Voters and will be gone tomorrow!!

    ReplyDelete
  35. The mute button on my remote is almost worn down but, yay, as of tomorrow I can listen without having to mute the outrageous political ads.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Greetings!

    Thanks, David and Santa!

    Puzzle went swiftly.

    Hardware malfunction yesterday. Puzzle was fun. No problems.

    I will watch another season of Under the Dome, because I am hooked. The Big Jim character has sure gotten away with a lot of murders. Really hate the character. Am hoping for an ending. (How long can they drag this on?)
    Anyone read the book?

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Tom Magliozzi, popular co-host of NPR's 'Car Talk,' dies At 77 from Alzheimer's disease. He was 77 years old. RIP

    ReplyDelete
  38. Sallie
    Just enjoyed my West Coast Sunset (@5:45pm) and its First-Toast was to you!

    Cheers!!!

    ReplyDelete

  39. Bill G. - actually he was 74 years old. NPR never realized that for the past 3 years his car had been talking to itself ....

    ... good programming coupled with a sympathetic Siri.

    ReplyDelete


  40. fermatprime --- I read "Under the Dome" but haven't watched any of the TV series. The ending to the book was rather sophomoric in nature, so I suspect they're trying to craft a more meaningful conclusion for the screen. Until then, life goes on, Under the Dome.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Fermatprime. I read Under the Dome.... very long book :) and have not watch the tv show. I understand that there is an Under the Dome 2.... :) don't know what that will do to the show.... and don't know if I will read the second one... :) as others have mentioned, print for me of any size is getting smaller and smaller...

    Enjoyed the puzzle and of course Argyle's always enjoyable write up..

    Hope everyone has a good evening

    thelma :)

    ReplyDelete
  42. that should be "watched"........ told ya I couldn't see :)

    thelma :)

    ReplyDelete
  43. HI All!

    A speedy Monday offering from David; and informative write-up (didn't know MI6) from Argyle puts me in a good MOOD. LOTS to love; thanks guys.

    RAMA needed ESP; 19d - I had my HOOCH stash before CACHE.

    I haven't seen any of the movies but I do recall the trailer for HAUNTED MANSION. I figured it was going to be 90m of this routine. (MA only)

    Bill G. - I will enjoy Car Talk re-runs with a tear in my eye. To hear that Tom is gone hurts a bit. I heard his brother Ray wants to keep the show on the air - Good, it's the best way to start a Saturday morning.

    Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  44. Alex Trebek's MustacheNovember 3, 2014 at 7:10 PM

    Is it just me or were today's Jeopardy contestants somewhat sub-par? I was thinking maybe the questions were tougher than normal but when none of the three could identify Leon Panetta even after his picture was shown, it was clear to me that they were...um...not coming back for tournament of champions week. They missed ENTIRE categories and, of course, botched the Final Jeopardy question. Well at least the two that made it there got it wrong and the palsy sum of $4000.00 was enough to win the game. I think Wheel Of Fortune had three contestant wander from it's set and into the Jeopardy studios.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Sorry about Tom Magliozzi. Sorry he had to suffer with Alzheimer's. (Alzheimer's scares the s**t out of me.) He and his brother were a good team. I enjoy reading their Click and Clack column every Sunday in our local newspaper, no matter how long ago each one was written.

    Cheers to you all with a glass of Hahn GMS red wine blend.

    Super best wishes to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  46. For anyone with Sat Radio, Car Talk is on Ch121 right now. C, -T

    ReplyDelete
  47. Damn, I was hoping to see an answer to my question here this morning. What say you, lemony? To vote or not to vote?

    ReplyDelete

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