google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, May 11, 2015 C.C. Burnikel

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May 11, 2015

Monday, May 11, 2015 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: This could be awhile - How long is awhile? Einstein wants to know.

18A. Place for legislative debate : HOUSE FLOOR. HOUR

24A. Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance baseball event : DOUBLE PLAY. DAY

40A. Fairies and pixies, e.g. : WEE FOLK. WEEK

51A. Work on casually, as an engine : MONKEY WITH. MONTH

61A. Durations ... and what this puzzle's circles literally represent : TIME FRAMES

Argyle here. This is a C.C. book end puzzle. Obvious if you have the circles but still doable if you don't. Neat progression of the time frames, too. I felt it could have worked as a Tuesday puzzle also. An alternate reveal could have been SPLIT TIMES but I'm not sure how large a segment of our solvers are familiar with the term.

Baseball's Sad Lexicon. Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance were baseball players for the 1910 Chicago Cubs and excelled at the double play. Shortstop to second baseman and on to the first baseman. Two outs.

Across:

1. Hardy's "__ of the D'Urbervilles" : TESS. She gets her full billing today.

5. Diva delivery : ARIA

9. Conform as needed : ADAPT

14. Ancient mystical letter : RUNE

15. Put on staff : HIRE

16. Like the '80s look, now : RETRO. The metro look started in the 90's.

17. Kirkuk's country : IRAQ

20. Infield fly : POP UP

22. Online ha-ha : LOL

23. Firing range purchase : AMMO

28. Arctic deer : CARIBOU. New studies show that Caribou and Reindeer are actually two different animals. I knew that.

30. Make corrections to : EMEND

33. Bracketology org. : NCAA. The famous college basketball playoffs.

34. Clobber : DRUB

37. Dump emanations : ODORS. I gotta bite my tongue.

39. Computer program glitch : BUG

42. Pirouette point : TOE

43. "Operator" singer Jim : CROCE



45. Fair to middling : SO-SO

46. Scourge : BANE

47. Battery current entry point : ANODE

49. Played the siren : SEDUCED

54. How-to segment : STEP

57. Snaky swimmer : EEL

58. Look daggers (at) : GLARE

65. Irish New Age singer : ENYA. Enya's manager said that she is working on a new album but that was 2011.

66. Get together : UNITE

67. Furniture hardwood : TEAK

68. Some flat-screen TVs : RCAs

69. Exposed : BARED

70. Miss from Mex. : SRTA. (señorita)

71. Email folder : SENT

Down:

1. Lose one's footing : TRIP

2. 100 cents, in Germany : EURO

3. Spring bloom named for its resemblance to a mythical creature : SNAPDRAGON

4. Giant redwood : SEQUOIA

5. "That feels good!" : "AHH!"

6. __ Grande : RIO

7. "Good for me!" : "I RULE!"

8. Greek fable writer : AESOP

9. Kennel cry : [ARF!]

10. Postponed : DELAYED

11. Tiny bit of matter : ATOM

12. School year-end dance : PROM

13. Snowblower brand : TORO. Company Web Site.

19. Vogue rival : ELLE

21. Pint server : PUB

25. Foreshadow : BODE

26. Fishing decoys : LURES

27. Wild way to run : AMOK

28. ''Fast Money'' channel : CNBC

29. Integra automaker : ACURA. A division of Honda.

31. "Forget about it!" : "NOT A CHANCE!"

32. Unmanned spy plane : DRONE

35. Blurry craft in tabloid pics : UFO

36. Given to micromanaging : BOSSY

38. Papaya discard : SEED

40. "The Things __ for Love" : WE DO



41. MGM co-founder : LOEW. Founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures.

44. Vie : COMPETE

46. "Downton Abbey" servers : BUTLERS

48. Cabinet dept. concerned with power : ENER.

50. Archaeologist's project : DIG

52. Shelley contemporary : KEATS

53. Hunter Fudd : ELMER. "Shhh! Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits".

54. Concert re-entry request : STUB

55. Singer Turner : TINA



56. Arab League bigwig : EMIR

59. Seacrest of "American Idol" : RYAN

60. Los Angeles-to-Atlanta direction : EAST

62. Prepared dinner for : FED

63. Have dinner : EAT

64. Calypso cousin : SKA


Argyle


42 comments:

  1. Morning, all!

    Very smooth Monday solve. But, yeah -- I really wish I had seen the circles and could've figured out the theme. Didn't need them to solve it, but it sure would have made it more interesting.

    Minor glitches down south today. Went with SPAM before SEND, LCDS before RCAS, YEATS before KEATS, etc. Also hesitated at BUTLERS because (a) I've never seen the show and (b) I didn't think that BUTLERS acted as "servers". Of course, I'm not sure exactly what I thought they did, other than opening doors and showing people inside...

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  2. Heinz was a bigamist who divided his time
    Between Peggy west, in the east Adaline.
    When they uncovered his duplicity,
    With Solomonic complicity,
    They took up their cleavers and divided poor Heinz!

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  3. Good morning!

    I had the circles, but didn't look at 'em until the whole thing was done, so they were no help with the solve. No problems, no over-writes. Nicely done, C.C. Also nicely done to our resident tongue-biter.

    RCA, the "real" RCA, hasn't been around for almost 30 years. Now it's just a licensing brand for stuff made by other folks, mainly Sony.

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  4. Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Fun puzzle to ease into the work week. I never read a handful of clues as the perps had already filled in the spaces.

    Jim Croce (1943 ~ 1973) died in a plane crash in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

    QOD: Have no fear of perfection ~ you’ll never reach it. ~ Salvador Dalí (May 11, 1904 ~ Jan. 23, 1989)

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  5. What a wonderful Monday, continued congratulations C.C. on your product and your productivity.

    Argyle thanks for the musical links down memory lane and the "SAD?" baseball link which distracted me for at least 10 minutes as I followed the links. The more you know, the more you realize how much you do not know.

    Hope you all had a great Mother's Day.

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  6. Good morning,

    No circles either, but it did not matter. Had a couple self inflicted wounds, but they were quickly EMENDed. Sat before FED & Iran before IRAQ.

    Casey and I survived the weekend without a major incident. He is redecorating though...two lampshades, had to relocate all Lucy's CD's & the mantle over the fireplace is overcrowded!

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  7. Fun speed run, thanks CC and for the write-up Argyle. Enjoyed the morning musical interlude - Jim Croce was a wonderful songwriter. I never realized quite how sad those song lyrics were.

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  8. Thanks for a fun Monday morning, C.C. and Argyle. I did have the circles, but would have enjoyed the puzzle just as much without them.

    Thanks for linking the Jim CROCE song – all I could think of was “Smooth Operator” sung by Sade, which didn’t fit.

    I did a double take when I did the NYT today – it also had DRUB. That’s a word I hear rarely, and then it pops up twice in one day.

    My TORO snowblower got one heck of a workout last winter. Now my TORO lawnmower is trying to catch up!

    Have a nice day, everyone.

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  9. Argyle: Nice write-up & links, especially the Jim CROCE Operator.

    C.C. Thank you for a FUN Monday puzzle and "timely" theme.

    Fave today, of course, was PUB ... which I will be hitting after giving blood at 11:00 am.
    Boy is someone, having an "Operation" on Wednesday, in the Tampa Bay Area, really lucky!

    Cheers!

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  10. Great Monday, CC and Argyle! I loved Monkey With for work on casually. I'm usually a disaster when I Monkey With anything!

    And when I first saw Bracketology I thought, "that can't be a Monday word!" Then the V8 can hit and I loved it!

    The Jim Croce nostalgia was good, too.

    Thanks!

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  11. Good morning everyone.

    I had the circles so all is right with the world. Top to bottom solve so by about 3/4's down the theme was apparent. It actually helped me get the M in MONKEY WITH. Yea!
    Good start to the week. Thanks C.C. and Argyle for a good intro, as always.

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  12. Good morning, folks. Thank you, C.C., for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.

    Got through this puzzle easily.

    Liked the theme. Very Clever.

    Nice to see the Croce song, Argyle.

    I own a TORO rototiller. My snow blower is me with a shovel. My lawn mower is a Snapper.

    I saw the SEQUOIA's while in California. Beautiful place. I used to camp at Camp Sequoia in Pennsylvania as a Boy Scout. Since then the Council sold it. It was a beautiful place right on the banks of Lake Erie.

    Anyhow, I have onions to sell today. See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    ( )

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  13. A fun Monday offering from C.C. that took some effort

    Musings
    -Tinker and Evers (ee’ vers) didn’t speak for years after a fight but played exceptional baseball
    -A rare 5-2-3 DOUBLE PLAY helped KC beat the Tigers last night after rain DELAYED the game for over an hour
    -I’ll bet our constructors MONKEY WITH their grids before submitting
    -These items of my ute look RETRO to me but are très chic to teenage girls today.
    -I’ll bet C.C. knows the Infield Fly Rule by heart
    -Casino claims a computer BUG exempts them from owing a grandmother $41M
    -Many of us here prefer Manhattan Transfer’s fabulous Operator
    -How did this beautiful woman in this 1964 PROM picture choose me?
    -A fascinating/sad 3 minute DRONE flight over flooded Lincoln last week
    -Hondo, Lily cost us a lamp too!
    -Toughie - What cheesy 1961 Disney film had the song Let’s Get Together?

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  14. Husker
    Hmmm, The Parent Trap ???

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  15. Good Morning:

    A delightful start to the week, no pun intended. I, also, didn't connect the circles until the reveal. Thanks, CC and Argyle for brightening our day.

    Johnny Evers was from my hometown and left a long line of descendents who were gifted athletes. On a completely different note, if anyone watched 60 Minutes last night, the ex-Soviet spy, "Jack Barsky," lives 10-15 from me. Truth IS stranger than fiction.

    Lovely photo, HG. You and Joann are very lucky to have chosen each other!

    Have a great day.

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  16. good morning,

    fun puzzle, C.C., and nice write up Argyle. I had more write overs than usual for a Monday. For a bit I had timed games as I was sure this had to do with baseball.

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  17. When the time comes that one can enjoy solving crosswords again, how wonderful to find the Monday puzzle is by CC and reviewed by Argyle. I did have circles and got the theme fairly quickly. I also missed reading many of the ‘down’ clues because the grid was already filled in.

    Signing in again, however, has been interesting. I got an immediate email from Google telling me someone signed into my account from a new device and used Safari. Was it me? I guess it is good that our security is being watched.

    The legal amount of time to settle my son’s estate was last week. When a young, single person passes away with no will, it can be a nightmare. I sold his pickup, his car, found a tiny life insurance policy, and just closed on his house. A ranch widow bought it as she is selling her place to her son. The house was still full of many items-she said she would sell them online. That is a ton of pressure off me. We found enough income to pay all my son’s debts in full. Left over is a $40,000 college fund for his niece and some Boeing shares for me. Also two huge tubs of baseball cards which I am shipping to 12 and 14 year old grandsons to go through. They are from the early 90s so not valuable. Most are still shrink-wrapped.

    Have a great day, everybody. We have great weather here.

    Montana

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  18. Late start for me today. Thanks, C.C. for the clever puzzle. Gotta love that sacrifice fly rule. Thanks Argyle for the interesting comments and links. Great start to the week from both of you. I loved MONKEY WITH. Since I've retired I seem to do a lot of that. ;)

    Hope all of you in Tornado Alley are safe.

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  19. A good Monday to all.

    I was so afraid after seeing C.C. was involved, that there was going to be sports. Thankfully I was able to get the DOUBLEPLAY because I already had the D and the AY at the end.

    I had the circles, so no problem with the theme.

    Jim Croce was a talented singer. My personal favorite was "Time in a Bottle". So sad that his time was cut short.

    The prom picture was beautiful. A very handsome couple. I never went to my H.S. prom. I graduated early, and was in college when the event took place for seniors of Lincoln H.S.in Brooklyn, class of 1964.

    Did any of you watch the tv show "DIG"? The finale was, IMO, a let down. Any opinions? And what about "MAD MEN" going off... THAT I'm going to miss. I'm a child of the '60's and it brought me home again.

    Time to go, enough with the memories. The present awaits.. 'til tomorrow...G-d Willing.

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  20. Seems the San Francisco Chronicle skipped ahead today with a Kevin Christian puzzle beginning with charms as the clue for 1a. I'm not seeing a record of that crossword here, so I'm guessing it'll appear here and in the LA times webspace later this week.

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  21. I love a C.C. speed run on a Monday morning, and this may be one of my favorite puzzles of all time. A total delight--doable, varied, interesting, with a cool theme set up in a cool structure. Wonderful!

    My dad began working for RCA in 1954, right around the time it was developing color TV, I think.

    The number of singers who died in plane crashes makes me so sad: Tim Croce, Buddy Holly, John Denver, Ricky Nelson, the Big Bopper, maybe others. At least Harrison Ford (not a singer, I know) survived. Wonder how he's doing?

    Thanks again, C.C., and have a great week, everybody!

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  22. Hello, friends.

    It's always a delight seeing a C.C. puzzle. I expect to find clever clues and did. Even DOUBLE PLAY didn't faze me.

    I was amused to see ODORS above TOE and then BANE!

    Like others I had to retrace the downs as most were filled and the only write over was CLUB then DRUB.

    BUTLERS are servers in the sense that they are at the beck and call of their employers.

    Thanks for all the musical links, Argyle and thank you, C.C. for Monday fun.

    Have a stupendous day, everyone!

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  23. ACK!!!

    30A/19D!

    I didn't realize until I came to the Blog that I put Amend instead of Emend!
    (What Ella is not a Womens Magazine?)

    *&^%#$#*

    I was sure 50D was Dig, but did not ink it in because I also thought 58A was Stare, which could be supported with the T if 46D was waiter... It took some time but "monkey with" made me change Glare to Stare...

    Also, my curiosity made me look for a pic of this mythical snapdragon. I didn't find any, but what I did find was rather macabre...

    Operator was a no brainer, I have loved the song for years & always wanted to play it. For the past two weeks I have been struggling with the Intricate picking. For the curious Guitarists out there www.jerrysguitarbar.com (see link in video) has the complete fingerpicking tab that you can download for free.

    Of course part of the beauty of the song is the Counter Melody & singing harmonies, for which I have yet to find a Tab.

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  24. Misty:
    Richie Valens accompanied Buddy Holly and Reba McIntire lost an entire group of her musicians in a plane crash. At least, I believe it was Reba. It is sad.

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  25. Hi All!

    Right on Argyle - this felt more Tuesday to me too.

    slIP before TRIP, I tried to squeeze squeeze and triple PLAYs into 24a before the DOUBLE. The theme helped me stop 'toying WITH' and finally MONKEY WITH my engine (wait, that sounds wrong...). Small DELAYS but I got 'er done in a reasonable TIME FRAME.

    Loved seeing CROCE back in the puzzle. Thanks for the song Argyle and thanks for the puzzle C.C. Seeing C.C. on a Monday BODEs well.

    AMMO and NOT A CHANCH in the same clip (@32s and @ 2:47 - Carson w/ Williams and Winters UNITED).

    HG - My PROM date is still w/ me too. I don't know why...

    Montana - Keep those cards in the shrink-wrap. The 90's had some great ball players (*). So sorry you had to deal with your loss.


    (Re: DIG - SPOILER FOLLOWS - skip the rest of my comments)

    Coneyro - I saw DIG's finale. I found it interesting the pious leaders ignore their own supposed beliefs (marred red, Joshua on the ground, etc.) and stage armageddon. The cow, the boy, the breast-plate - nothing but the destruction of the other and riches for the self... I wasn't disappointed.

    Cheers, -T

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  26. That was a pleasant Monday puzzle. I didn't have circles on the Mensa site so I just cruised over to Cruciverb and looked at the grid. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Thanks CC and Argyle.

    Gary, as I sure you knew, you can count me in as a big fan of Manhattan Transfer's "Operator." BTW, great prom photo of two good-looking and happy people.

    Barbara's sick with some sort of a urinary infection. No fun.

    Yes, I enjoyed "60 Minutes" about Jack Barsky and Misty Copeland.

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  27. Just an afterthought...

    For those of you out there reading the Blog on the now obsolete IPAD1.

    My DW's Ipad refused to play YouTube videos right in the middle of learning Operator. It took me a week of trying to fix it to learn that YouTube just changed to HTML5 which is not supported by the early IPADS. (they say you can't upgrade the IOS, but I am still checking on that.)

    YouTube claims you can still watch their videos by viewing through Safari, but when I do that I get sound and a blank screen!

    In the meantime, I am using DWs IPAD1 as an expensive door stop...

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  28. CED - Grandpa would point at the microwave and say...

    That's an expensive &$%@ clock .

    C, -T

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  29. Hello everybody. Cool puzzle today. I always like a puzzle by C.C.

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  30. Misty, Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline belong on that list.

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  31. Would love to have heard the music Stevie Ray Vaugh should still be making.

    Here is a list.

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  32. I thought this was going to be a speed run but a couple crosses put the kibosh on that. Great puzzle anyway, C.C. I enjoyed the expo, Argyle

    I have circles in the paper so I was able to see the theme today.

    55D: Singer Turner/TINA Proud Mary This is a Tina Turner-ish performance, starts at 1:41

    Hondo--cute addition to the family.

    Montana: I have tried to get my single daughter to get at least durable power of attorney with her boyfriend for each other so that someone can help out if they are incapacitated. She refuses to listen to me. Get a will? After they get married, but who knows what year that will be. It concerns me, but there's nothing I can do. They think nothing will happen to them. I'm sorry for your experience.

    The week is off to a great start. Happy Monday.

    Pat

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  33. Well I RULE today. LOL! Fun puzzle and when I saw that it was CC's creation, I knew there would be some baseball.

    I had the circles and saw the theme (I looked for year at the end). Good Monday level fun. Thanks CC and Argyle.

    Still beautiful weather here. I'm off to enjoy it while it lasts.

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  34. Barry G. (& others with circle problems):

    I got to thinking how you might get circles so I looked around and found that L A Times online site has them here:

    L A Times online

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  35. Thanks, C.C. for a fun puzzle. What Lemonade said about your product and productivity. Amazing!

    Argyle, nice write-up. Love your geography pics all the time.

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  36. Hi Y'all! This was more of a challenge than I was expecting from C.C. on a Monday, but I enjoyed it. Thanks, C.C. & Argyle! No circles so couldn't guess the theme after trying to do so. Knew it had to have one.

    Biggest stumper for me was STUB. If you leave a concert around here, I think they ink stamp the back of your hand. Of course, I haven't been to a concert in years so how would I know?

    My condolences, Montana. Settling any estate is heart-wrenching, but for one's son has to be particularly bad! Hang in there, girl!PK

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  37. Montana, my condolences at this most difficult time.
    Yellowrocks to you.

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  38. Greetings!

    Thanks, CC and Santa!

    No circles, no problems.

    Montana: hang in there. Again, so sorry.

    Cheers!

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  39. Tom Brady, Bill Bellicheat, and AROID. Birds of a feather...

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  40. Owen KL, did I forget to mention your poetic offering was spot on. Poor Heinz. He should have known better. Heheheheheee

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  41. Hey OwenKL:

    But how is it pro-noun-ced? :-) If you have 40min or so... from '75.

    Cheers, -T

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