google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, December 30, 2014 Greg Johnson

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Dec 30, 2014

Tuesday, December 30, 2014 Greg Johnson

Theme: Pack it in - Four containers that can be packed.

17A. Stunt pilot stunt : BARREL ROLL

24A. Quaint dating-and-dining event : BOX SOCIAL. Was there one in "Music Man"?

49A. Man cave celebration : CHEST BUMP

59A. Social agency employee : CASE WORKER

Reveal entry:

38A. Moving company service, and what the starts of 17-, 24-, 49- and 59-Across may be used for : STORAGE

Argyle here. Time to pack up another year. Solid Tuesday.

Across:

1. Heavy book : TOME

5. High-end Honda : ACURA

10. Roof edge : EAVE

14. Shepard who hit golf balls on the moon : ALAN

15. In a huff : UPSET

16. Headed for overtime : TIED

19. __ d'oeuvre : HORS

20. Still in the store : UNSOLD

21. Kanga's creator : A.A. MILNE

23. Cuba libre liquor : RUM with coke and some lime.

26. Quite a few : A LOT

28. Buddhist sect : ZEN

29. Singing syllable : TRA La La

30. Like a stage performance : LIVE

31. Eye-roller's reply : "I BET"

33. Mess makers : SLOBS

37. Microbrewery brew : ALE

40. Japanese carp : KOI

41. Remove insulation from : STRIP. From wires.

43. __ stick : POGO

44. You can see Lincoln on one : CENT

45. Aunt, en español : TIA

47. No longer burning : OUT

48. Bailiff's cry : "OYEZ"

53. Cease : END

54. Hold : POSSESS

55. Obtain via threats : EXTORT

58. Actress Kudrow : LISA

62. "Fly-Fight-Win" org. : USAF

63. Tequila plant : AGAVE

64. Winery prefix : OENO

65. Eyelid problem : STYE

66. Videos that go viral, e.g. : MEMEs

67. Rhône-Alpes city : LYON

Down:

1. "Forbidden" perfume : "TABU"

2. "The Good Earth" mother : OLAN

3. NASA's Curiosity, e.g. : MARS ROVER

4. Along the way : ENROUTE

5. "__ Lang Syne" : AULD

6. EMT procedure : CPR

7. Troupe for the troops: Abbr. : USO

8. Enjoy some downtime : RELAX

9. "Finally!" : "AT LAST!"

10. Guided by good : ETHICAL

11. Garlicky mayo : AIOLI. Mayo with attitude.

12. Actress Bloom of "High Plains Drifter" : VERNA. And of "Animal House".


13. Eponymous Ford : EDSEL. Eponymous is something or someone that gives its name to something else.

18. Shade source : ELM

22. Code creator : MORSE

24. Charlie Parker jazz genre : BEBOP

25. Like old-time schoolhouses : ONE-ROOM

26. Cry of dismay : "ALAS!"

27. Happy tune : LILT

28. Skin blemish : ZIT

32. Prepare to advance after a fly ball : TAG UP

34. "Roger that!" : "OKEY-DOKEY!"

35. Femur, e.g. : BONE

36. __ bath: therapeutic soak : SITZ

38. Rancor : SPITE

39. Picked up : GOT

42. "You can come out now" : "IT'S SAFE"

44. Word before group or freak : CONTROL

46. '70s-'80s scandal that inspired "American Hustle" : ABSCAM

49. Academically above average : C-PLUS

50. Raise, as a flag : HOIST

51. College application part : ESSAY

52. Meter reading : USAGE

53. Prefix with skeleton : EXO

55. Meadow females : EWEs

56. Gambling town near Tahoe : RENO

57. 1982 Disney sci-fi flick : "TRON"

60. "Casablanca" piano man : SAM

61. Night before : EVE. Hoist the party flag. We have a barrel of rum and case of ale. Also, some Tia Maria, tequila and find some wine for the oenophiles. Don't forget the hors d'oeuvres. Do the Hustle. Maybe strip later(nothing tabu) and sing some lilts. Tra La La. Play it, Sam. Play "Auld Lang Syne".




Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Here is a picture of Dudley and his wife from their Nantucket voyage last Saturday. He said "It was taken for us by a passing airport employee, a kind hearted fellow, at sunset when we were preparing to leave. Marti helped me edit the frame a bit (she’s clever like that)."



41 comments:

  1. An artifact ancient lived in a CASE
    Art lovers thought it exquisite good taste.
    "Stunning", "superb"
    "A beaut", ran the blurb
    For a vase once a humble basket for waste!

    There once was a mouse who lived in a CHEST
    He thought of all houses that his was the best.
    A regular armoire
    With many a drawer,
    Sad he had to move out at the pussy's behest!

    There once was a tramp who lived in a shoe BOX,
    (He'd got his degree from the school of hard knocks).
    You may have heard of his sister, too,
    She was the lady who lived in the shoe.
    But their brother was poorest, he lived in some socks!

    There once was a monkey who lived in a BARREL
    She wasn't domestic or tame; she was feral.
    But she had so much fun
    In her wooden-staved drum
    With her boyfriend, Ape Errol, sans apparel!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The classic speed run with OLAN the only fill I didn't recall but it was gone with the perps. It is getting us ready with AULD and EVE.

    Who has exciting NYE plans?

    Nice pick Dudley.

    Thanks Argyle and Greg.

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  3. Morning, all!

    Perfectly delightful Tuesday-level solve today. VERNA was unknown, but the perps were solid, and I also needed most of the perps before I could guess LYON, but nothing held me up. I did have one moment of panic when I had ___O for 43A and was afraid it would end up being OLEO stick, but fortunately it turned out to be POGO instead. OK, so maybe "panic" isn't the best word for what I felt, but you know what I mean...

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  4. Good morning!

    I was going to wax esoteric and wish everyone a fabulous antepenultimate day of 2014. But, dang, that was yesterday!

    I got the theme with the reveal (big whoo!), but didn't need it for the solve. In fact, reading Argyle's writeup I see that I missed a lot of across clues in the south, because they were already filled.

    Nice pic, Dudley. And perhaps you can explain why it's called a BARRELL ROLL. What does a barrell have to do with it?

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  5. And why did I put two Ls in BARREL?

    Argyle, I think it was an "ice cream sociable" in The Music Man.

    This past weekend there was an article about pets in the Barnacle -- about two dogs named Lulu and Izzy. My avatar is a pic of two of our cats named Lulu and Izzy. I wonder what the odds must be for someone else to pick those identical, not-too-common pet names?

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  6. EAVE- Queen Anne's hangover

    ABSCAM- "Drink all you want and get rid of that beer belly in five days!"

    "Juliet, did you sleep with Othello?"

    "Just once in ONE ROOM with the ONE MOOR"

    "Anyone else?"

    "NO, ROMEO"

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  7. Hello Puzzlers -

    Hand up for not knowing Verna, but steady going today. Box Social was remembered from Oklahoma - if I recall right, Curly was determined to go with Laurie, even though he had to sell every possession to become highest bidder.

    D Otto - I don't know where the name came from, but I speculate it's because of the shape of the path flown by the airplane, as if tracing the circumference of a large barrel laid sideways in the sky.

    Morning Argyle! Thanks, C.C. for putting up our photo, a memento of a truly nice birthday.

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  8. Good morning.

    Plain vanilla theme today. OKEY DOKEY, so it's probably just right for a Tuesday.

    I loved that pic, Dudley. Your wife is a charmer, and it is really nice to finally "meet" her.

    Lemony, I will be attending a gala on New Year's eve, complete with a live trio, hors d'oeuvres and a meal, lots of champagne and wine, and a toast to all at midnight. Fortunately, it is within walking distance - so, no driving for us! Now all I have to do is find something to wear to this formal shindig.

    Jerome, funny!

    d-otto and everyone: Have a happy "penultimate" day of 2014! (^0^)

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  9. Better make that some high-fashion flannel if you plan on walking New Year's Eve.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Greg Johnson, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.

    Breezed through today's puzzle for the most part.

    Wonder if Dudley has done a BARREL ROLL in that Cessna we saw today. Nice photo Dudley.

    Thank goodness for perps, or AIOLI would be blank. We have had that before, but not baked in my head yet.

    I wanted BOX LUNCH for 24A, but letter count prohibited that. So, BOX SOCIAL was it.

    Never heard of a SITZ before.

    9 degrees on my thermometer this morning when I got up.

    Cannot remember what ABSCAM was all about. I remember the word.

    Off to my day. see you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    ()

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very straightforward offering today. Couldn't remember Olan for sure, didn't know Verna and hadn't heard of a Box Social, but all perps were solid. Did have one erasure when I tried to start Tia with an N. No clue why. Maybe Nina was bouncing around in my head. Otherwise, it was uncomplicated and enjoyable.

    It's -2F here this morning. This cold front has legs, but it's not supposed to last very long, thankfully.

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  12. Musings
    -The thermometer is reading south of zero today and so this was a nice diversion
    -Hoarding is not usually just due to a lack of STORAGE space
    -The musical box social I remember was was part of their courtship
    -Could alcohol consumption preceded this CHEST BUMP? (:05)
    -I went through every STORAGE container we have to find something yesterday but failed. Joann found it in 20 seconds.
    -ALAN was offered big money to say what brand of golf ball he hit on the Moon. He never did.
    -The soccer shootout to resolve a TIED game seems blind luck to me
    -A lot of EDSEL’s went UNSOLD
    -The fabulous Rockettes were LIVE but the music wasn’t
    -“Go ahead and change, I won’t look”. “I BET!”
    -Good luck with that C+ in your Master’s Program
    -Working for a CONTROL FREAK administrator ain’t fun
    -Nice picture of you and the two females in your life, Dudley!

    ReplyDelete
  13. AT LAST, we can RELAX after a weekend of celebrating daughter's wedding! HORS D'OEVRES included.

    I must be out of practice as I was defeated by the SW of this fun puzzle. I wanted a FIST BUMP and my academic was gifted with an A PLUS!

    I noted lots of Zeds today. That's Zees for you Americans. LOL! And I remembered the spelling for AIOLI.

    There is a Canadian connection to Winnie the Pooh.
    AAMilne

    Have a good day before New Year's EVE!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you Greg and Argyle.


    All was good except for the intersection of Bailiff and Bath.

    -25 wind chill forecast here today, doesn't feel like it yet. When my morning cigar gets truncated, THEN I know it's cold.

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  15. Marti, you will need to bring some walking shoes for the trip home as Jimmy Choo stilettos will never make it!

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  16. Hi gang -

    False start down the A PLUS - A FIST BUMP path.

    BOX SOCIAL and VERNA - OKEY DOKEY, if you say so.

    Here's some Bird BEBOP.

    Cool regards!
    JzB

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  17. marti sounds great, love walking distance even when walking is not so easy.

    Canadian Eh, you have to know marti has at least one pair of THESE

    ReplyDelete
  18. "Puzzling thoughts":

    If this crossword were akin to a visit to the dentist, I could exclaim: "look ma, no cavities!!" My ink-filled answers on newsprint look pristine today; not a write-over in sight! For me, I just kept plucking the "low-hanging fruit" and pretty soon the puzzle was solved ... Guess I was a bit better than C-PLUS!

    Nice theme; a few tougher clues/solves but definitely a puzzle that fits Monday or Tuesday

    Lots of choices today for a limerick; I chose the "Friends" actor:

    There was once a young actress from Pisa,
    Who was here on a one-year long visa;
    Her talent, she boasts,
    Is portraying ghosts;
    That's how she got the name: Moan-a LISA!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hello, puzzler friends!

    Thanks to Greg Johnson and Argyle for today's speed run and review.

    In the convent a friend of mine would announce, time for the BOX SOCIAL when going to confession.

    Thanks to crosswords, OYEZ and AIOLI are firmly stored in my brain though I have cooked with the latter.

    Mr. & Mrs. Dudley strike a nice pose. Wonderful photo.

    Have a lovely Tuesday, everyone!

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  20. Good Morning:

    This was a fun solve as it had a little bit of something for everyone, as Argyle parsed so skillfully and wittily. The theme and answers hit home with yours truly who moved 17 times in 27 years. I know my way around packing boxes!

    Thanks, Greg, for a delightful Tuesday offering and thanks, Argyle, for the charming summation.

    Dudley, that is a great photo of you and your lovely wife. Glad you got to spend your birthday doing something you enjoy so much.

    Owen and Chairman Moe - You are both in rare form today.

    No plans for New Year's Eve, so, Marti, have some bubbly for me. (Maybe an hors d'oeuvre or two, also! 😉)
    Have a great day.325

    ReplyDelete
  21. Abejo 8:47 -

    No Siree, I haven't done any acrobatic maneuvers with my 172. The risk of doing something incorrectly is too great. At the worst, it's possible to over stress the structure and break off something important like the wings.

    Proper acrobatic machines are quite reinforced, and can thus withstand the increased stress of fancy flight.

    A barrel roll, while acrobatic in nature, has an interesting property: there is a constant 1g load on the airplane throughout the maneuver. You could set a glass of water on the floor, perform the barrel roll, and not spill a drop. If there were passengers, and if their eyes were closed, they could not tell they were in the maneuver.

    The legendary Bob Hoover demonstrated this on film by pouring a glass of tea with one hand while piloting a Shrike through the barrel roll with the other. Mind you, he was really good at this! You can watch a clip of Bob Hoover here

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  22. Good day to everyone,

    Pretty easy solve today with only one trouble spot. The crossing Z for 48A & 36D was a double wag. I thought oyer for 48A but sitr made no sense. Plain lucky guess.

    Dudley...good to see you and your Mrs. Nantucket nice any time of year.

    Really dragging today.... ESPN decided the UConn ladies should wait until 9:00PM to slay the lady Devils last night. TV is (IMHO) screwing up televised sports big time.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Argyle @ 8:08, LOL! I plan to wear a full-length dress, so that I can wear long johns underneath!!!

    Lemony @ 9:41, No, I don't have that style - but thanks for the great idea! Now I have to go shopping...

    Dudley - If someone did a barrel roll with me in the plane, you can be sure there would be iced tea and coffee all over the place as I threw them down in panic while trying to find something to grab onto.

    Irish Miss, I promise I will have some bubbly for you...and some for C.C., and some for Argyle, and some for Jazzbumpa, and Steve, Lemonade, Splynter, Jerome, Dudley, thehondohurricane, Husker Gary, desper-otto, Spitzboov, Tinbeni, Barry G, Crosseyed Dave, Abejo, Avg Joe, Lucina, Misty, Montana, Yellowrocks, OwenKL, Chairman Moe, Bill G., Manac, Rainman, Bluehen, Jayce, Blue Iris, fermatprime...Oh, heck. I guess I'll just have to drink the whole bottle myself!

    ReplyDelete
  24. As if that would be a hardship or the first time miss m.

    Like I said, enjoy

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  25. Totally delightful Tuesday speed run--many thanks, Greg! Never heard of VERNA Bloom, so thanks for the photo, Argyle. Also, never heard of MEMES as referring to popular videos.

    Like CanadianEh, I had A PLUS before C Plus. Think the clue should have been "barely" above average.

    Owen and Moe, fun limericks this morning!

    Lovely photo, Dudley.

    Have a wonderful day, everybody!

    ReplyDelete
  26. As usual, I finished OK (no red letters) and enjoyed the process. Thanks to Greg and Argyle. And thanks to all the rest of you who make blogging about crosswords a warm, social experience. Thanks for the doggerel too!

    Dudley, thanks for the flying insights. Great photo!

    Will you all be watching the Rose Parade on television? If things run as they usually do, most of you will be envious of clear skies and pleasant weather. We have gone to Pasadena once to view the floats; not the parade itself but the floats after they were all parked. Crowded, had to park and walk a long way, beautiful and surrounded by a great aroma.

    I'm not complaining about the clue but C+ was not above average in my teaching experience. We have a good school district and most kids were above average on a state-wide scale. A grade of B- took some explaining. A grade of C meant the student was not doing well and was in over his/her head taking algebra in middle school.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hola Everyone, A speed run today. I finished the puzzle while waiting for my husband to finish his treatment. He has four more early get ups and he will have finished his 29th radiation treatment. He's doing ok., but is quite tired and naps in the afternoons. He's looking forward to the last day with great anticipation.

    I had one blip as I could not remember ABSCAM and I had put in A plus for above average student--C plus is just barely above average in my book. The perps finally straightened me out in the SW area. Thanks Argyle for a great writeup today.

    Lucina, your convent friend had quite a sense of humor. Were all the nuns so witty?

    Dudley, a great picture of you and your wife.

    Heart RX, Wear a long velveteen skirt and a really pretty WARM sweater so you can at least stay warm on your walk to and from the party. long Johns are a good plan, too. Sounds like a great evening. We'll watch the ball drop in NYC on TV. That is the extent of our celebrating this year.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Dunno why this is occurring to me right now but ... I used to record and watch The View on a somewhat regular basis. Seeing mostly intelligent and reasonable women discuss current events seemed interesting. I came across it again several times lately while having my mid-morning coffee and half an English muffin. Whoopi Goldberg has always struck me as humorous, talented and smart. But she has an surprising propensity for 'fart' humor which doesn't appeal to me at all. It seems surprisingly tasteless and inappropriate, especially on national daytime TV.

    That reminds me of one of the English teachers at our school, almost universally liked and respected. I have no problem with dirty jokes. However, his jokes were filthy and, more to the point, not funny. It's as if the filthy situation was reason enough for the 'joke' even though it otherwise wasn't remotely funny (to me). It got so that when I could tell he was beginning to tell a joke, I would try to find a reason to politely excuse myself.

    Rant over...

    ReplyDelete
  29. Sorry I'm late to the party, everyone. Did the puzzle today in DW's hospital room using a pen. Darn near a speed run, with one major hiccup. I was gaining so much confidence with this puzzle that when I came to the reveal, and having "reloed" several times in my career and never requiring STORAGE, I didn't peek at the perps and entered "packing" without a second thought. At least not until I did the downs. Major inkblot, but the only one.
    Dudley, great photo. You and I both did well in the spousal dept.
    Marti, thanks for the offer, but with DW coming home tomorrow afternoon I don't think I'll need any extra celebratory help.

    ReplyDelete
  30. WEES, re the puzzle. Nice speed run today, thanks to all involved.

    Dudley, Good explanation on the barrel roll. As a fellow Skyhawk owner (I sold it not long ago, and mine had a 180 Air Plains mod), I totally agree... doing aerobatics, even if they are done legally, do not enhance the reason many of us fly. Or flew.


    But, if you want to view something exciting, watch Robert Johnston, Boeing test pilot, do a roll in a 707 over Seattle. You can easily find it on Youtube, I'm sure, and I would link it here but am not sure how to do it. HG, I like the way you link stuff. How are those done? Thanks.

    Just noticed Lemony's photo. Whether that's new, doesn't matter, very nice indeed !!! You're a lucky man.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Rainman - interesting coincidence there. Mine has an Air Plains mod too, a very worthy enhancement.

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  32. The barrel roll that Rainman talks about is This one.

    Very cool! I'd never heard about it. Keep in mind as you watch that the 707, despite its age, is a large aircraft.

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  33. When I was a kid back in the Bronx one of our class trips was to Idlewild Airport (now JFK). We saw Eero Saarinen's new (1962) TWA terminal and got to walk through a Boeing 707.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Greetings!

    Fun puzzle, Greg! Swell review, Santa!

    Never heard of VELMA, but not hard to suss out.

    Heater conked out. Have small one in here now. Doesn't quite cut it. Will have to find manual here, as one for this model is not online.

    For us, it's coooold.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Congratulations, Lemonade! Does the Mrs. do xwords?

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  36. I was beginning to take a little nap when I got jolted by a small earthquake. It was 3.9, about 10 miles away; enough to rattle the windows but that's all.

    Then I began to hear some strange sounds on my skylights. I went out for coffee and was accosted by little things gently pelting me. It looked like water drops but what was it doing coming from the sky instead of out of a shower head where it belongs? I've heard of something like this mentioned in my family's oral lore so I guess it's happened before around here but not in my recent memory...

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  37. Bill G.... please keep that wet stuff at your house.... I cannot tell you how many years it took for me to get rid of the webs between my toes.... :)

    Wishing you all a Happy New Year filled with Love, Prosperity and Peace....

    thelma :)

    ReplyDelete
  38. does this work?

    Nantucket Polise Blotter

    if it does, then how about that dudley? was that you?

    if it doesn't then just delete me.

    ReplyDelete
  39. It seems as if crime on Nantucket lacks the excitement of the real world.

    Post-season must be pretty boring, huh?

    ReplyDelete
  40. As pointed out by others,

    Loop De Loop”
    (originally by Ted Vann)

    Here we go loop de loop
    Here we go loop de li
    Here we go loop de loop
    On a Saturday night

    We’re having a party
    Ev’rybody’s havin’ a great time
    All the gang’s here and a-dancin’
    Yeah I’m loopin’ with a baby of mine

    Here we go loop de loop
    Here we go loop de li
    Here we go loop de loop
    On a Saturday night

    Darling are you ready
    To loop a loop loop with me
    Start right there
    Wait just a minute until I count to three

    (one, two, three)
    Here we go loop de loop
    Here we go loop de li
    Here we go loop de loop
    On a Saturday night

    ReplyDelete

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