google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday, May 3, 2015 Gail Grabowski

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May 3, 2015

Sunday, May 3, 2015 Gail Grabowski

Theme: "From Beginning to End" - The beginning prefix of each compound word is moved to the end.

27A. Outstanding building manager? : STAR SUPER. Superstar.

29A. Truck at the end of the convoy? : FINAL SEMI. Semifinal.
 
43A. Ordinary hero? : STANDARD SUB. Substandard.

67A. One auditing highway department supplies? : SIGN COUNTER. Countersign.

87A. Golfer with an array of trick shots? : CREATIVE PRO. Procreative. And 37D. Two-time Masters champ Ballesteros : SEVE. Super creative around the green.
 
103A. Rate goose feathers? : GRADE DOWN. Downgrade.

105A. Well-rehearsed swindle? : FLUENT CON. Confluent.

39D. Spock's memoir? : LOGICAL BIO. Biological.

47D. Chess champion's blog entry? : MASTER POST. Postmaster.

Lots of compound words in English, so Gail has a deep well. However, she needs the second words to be nouns & the transformed phrases conveying enough surface sense.

Once again, Gail starts her theme entry in Row 4 rather than Row 3 to accommodate the two Down 10's.

Across:  

1. It puts the blue in blue cheese : MOLD

5. Lit up : AGLOW

10. High muck-a-muck : MR BIG

15. Shell occupant : CLAM

19. Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Estelle Parsons in 2014 : OBIE. Did you try TONY?

20. Took turns? : DROVE. Great clue.

21. Lawrence partner : GORME (Eydie). Steve Lawrence.

22. Fast-moving mammal : HARE

23. Bedsheet material : PIMA. I'm often surprised buy the mount of money people spend on those designer T-shirts. It's just cotton.

24. Bored by it all : JADED

25. Puff up : BLOAT

26. Composer Stravinsky : IGOR

31. Source of inspiration : MUSE

32. Scatter : DISPEL

36. Ridicule : JEER AT

37. Like some partners : SILENT. Nailed it.

40. Big name in small trucks : TONKA. Founded here in MN. Lots of beat-up Tonka toys at our flea markets.

41. Nursery supply : SOIL

42. Genre of the band Jawbreaker : EMO

47. Co. leaders : MGT. Oh, Management. I was thinking ??S.

50. Hazy : VAGUE

53. Tiered snack : OREO

54. French bean? : TETE

55. It may be blank : STARE

57. It's a turnoff : EXIT RAMP. Simple and elegant clue.

59. How many vacations are taken : BY CAR

60. Hapless sort : LOSER

61. Shut down : CEASE

62. Pressure line : ISOBAR

64. Sacher creations : TORTES. Have you tried Egg Tarts before? You can find them in those dim sum places or Jayce's home. Much lighter than tortes.


65. All-in-one printer option : SCAN

70. Jazzman Fountain : PETE

71. Prepared : ALL SET

73. Least available : RAREST

74. More respectable : NICER

76. 1940 DC Comics debut : ROBIN. Here is the magazine. Probably costs hundreds nowadays.


77. Bogged down : MIRED

78. Held firm : STOOD PAT

81. Literary __ : GUILD. I only know Writer's Guild.

82. Flow with force : SPEW

83. Northern terminus of I-79 : ERIE. New clue!

85. Spots for dips : POOLS

86. WWII venue : ETO (European Theater of Operations)

90. Routine letters : SOP. I googled. It stands for Standard Operating Procedure.

91. Brandy letters : VSOP. Consecutive "letters" clue echo.

93. Black cats, perhaps : OMENS

94. Conservative portfolio investments : T-NOTES

97. Not so demanding : EASIER

100. Banish : DEPORT

102. In : CHIC

110. Get to : RILE

111. Begins : OPENS

113. Prime minister between two Ehuds : ARIEL (Sharon). One of the Ehuds is in serious trouble right now. Convicted of bribery.

114. With two exceptions, NFL Pro Bowl locale since 1980 : OAHU. Wiki said the exceptions are in 2010 and 2015.  What happened?

115. Canadian gas brand : ESSO

116. Contradict : BELIE

117. Distress : PERIL

118. Lowly laborer : PEON

119. They're often in hot water : TEAS. Indeed. I seldom drink iced tea.

120. Sanction : ALLOW

121. Game of chance : BEANO. I've yet to see Rich uses the "gas prevention" angle.

122. Calligrapher's supplies : INKS

Down:

1. Challenging locks : MOPS. I don't get the "Challenging" part. Difficult to maintain or difficult to sport the style?
 
 2. Departure notice? : OBIT

3. Succotash bean : LIMA. Never had succotash. Boomer loves lima beans.

4. "Goodness!" : DEAR ME

5. Fiddles with : ADJUSTS

6. Wine, with "the" : GRAPE

7. Valuable vein : LODE

8. Like some soap opera plot elements : OVERDONE

9. Abandon bachelorhood : WED. Like George Clooney, who finally found the perfect girl.  So, be patient, Splynter, you'll find your Amal!

10. '60s-'80s Brit. sports car : MGB

11. Pocahontas' spouse : ROLFE

12. Range setting : BROIL

13. "Project Runway Canada" host : IMAN. Gimme. It was canceled after 2 seasons.

14. Find work : GET A JOB

15. Carpentry tool : CHISEL. My first boyfriend is a great carpenter. I had the cutest bookshelf in my college years.

16. Pub order : LAGER

17. Pizzeria attraction : AROMA

18. Reason for a raise : MERIT

28. Daily power source : SUN

30. Molokai memento : LEI

33. Chinese leader? : INDO. Indo-Chinese. I thought of SINO first.

34. 2 Tone revival music genre : SKA

35. Wedding day rental : PARTY BUS

38. It gives you the big picture : IMAX

40. Protective covering : TARP

41. Litigant : SUER

44. "Love Is Strange" actress : TOMEI. Never saw the film. About a same-sex couple.

45. Prepare to serve, as wine : DECANT

46. Kick off : START

48. Extend a hand to : GREET

49. Short : TERSE. Argyle will be nervous if he gets long ones from me.
 
51. Whisk, for one : UTENSIL

52. Notable time : ERA

55. __-pitch : SLO

56. Quiznos offering : TORPEDO. My boss (an ex-Marine) introduced torpedoes to me. Also Snickers bars and Long Island Iced Tea.  He speaks fluent Chinese.

58. Part of TA: Abbr. : ASST

59. Reacted to a bad call : BOOED

62. How homes may be measured : IN AREA. Does this fill sound awkward to you?

63. Cork alternative : SCREWTOP

64. The Magi, e.g. : TRIO

65. Military nickname : SARGE

66. Pull : CLOUT

68. Curmudgeonly comment : GRIPE

69. Keypad key : ENTER

72. Objective : END

75. Rights reader : COP

77. Auto ad no. : MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price)

78. Samples, in a way : SIPS

79. Water-storing plant : ALOE

80. An oz. has six : TSPS

83. "Did you __?" : EVER

84. Cheap way to live : RENT-FREE. I was just talking to my brother that every family in our factory had an apartment pre-1990. Often jammed, as three or  four families shared one kitchen and one toilet room. But it was free. Hospital visit was almost free (Less than $1 dollar for the visit).

87. City on the Guadalquivir River : CORDOBA. Spain.

88. "If you ask me," to texters : IMO

89. Cassio's commander : OTHELLO
 
91. They may be seen in streams : VIDEOS

92. Go out with : SEE

95. Diarist Anaïs : NIN

96. Well-armed swimmers? : OCTOPI. Well-armed indeed. Delicious too. 

97. Blue heron kin : EGRET

98. Originate : ARISE

99. Dip with zip : SALSA. I like it mild.

100. "Fain would I __ on form": Juliet : DWELL

101. Film composer Morricone : ENNIO. He scored The Untouchables.

102. Update : CUE IN

104. German auto : OPEL

106. Former Italian capital : LIRA

107. Battle of Normandy city : CAEN

108. "Hmm ... I guess that's all right" : OH OK

109. Sisters : NUNS

112. Seam, say : SEW. I did not know "Seam" can be a verb.

113. BOLO equivalent : APB.  BOLO = "Be On the Lookout"


In case you missed yesterday, Barry G linked this wonderful piano recital of his 10-year-old son Joshua, who's about 5 years old in our blog archive picture. Hello, Joshua, you're so talented!


C.C.

33 comments:

OwenKL said...

A spy was so flat, he'd a knack
For exchanging his front with his back!
To face in reverse
He'd but to invert,
And to hide, he'd just slip through a crack!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Thanks for all the kind words yesterday. And yes, I'm generally very proud of him but still wish he would work harder...

Got the theme early on today at FINAL SEMI and really enjoyed sussing out the rest of the theme answers. TORPEDO is the only complete unknown that I can recall, but there was enough VAGUE cluing throughout to keep me on my toes.

Lots and lots of write-overs today. Thank heavens I wasn't doing it in pen! I think the worst section was in the West, where I initially went with SEND instead of SCAN, EXERT instead of CLOUT and GENRE instead of GUILD. I was sure ROBIN had to be right, by I eventually even took than out when I couldn't get anything else to work.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

This one went pretty fast. The gimmick was obvious, but some of my for-sure answers were wrong, causing stumbles in spots: CLOSE/CEASE, SCREW CAP/TOP and blank SLATE/STARE to name the major culprits.

In my ute a TORPEDO was a sherbet treat (or was it sorbet?). The sherbet was in a cardboard tube with a push-up bottom.

C.C., MOPS are challenging, because they're difficult to manage -- the hair goes where it wants to go. And, yes, IN AREA is aUUkUUard, but probably necessary to make the puzzle work.

desper-otto said...

Forgot to mention...I watched the piano recital video yesterday afternoon. I was impressed! As a kid I refused to participate in the piano teacher's recitals. After four years she insisted that I play in the recital or she'd no longer be my teacher. "Well, I guess this'll be my last lesson." And it was.

Unknown said...

The Week in Review: M 6:05 T 6:50 W 7:56 T 12:24 F FIUU S 17:17 S 28:05

Friday: The extra "U's" were confusing even after I got the reveal (well, I got it but I didn't "get it"). In some theme fills there was only one extra "U". In others there were more than two. Then I noticed that there was a "W" next to each "U", sometimes before and sometimes after. But that didn't help. I finally turned on the red letters at the 60-minute mark and 12 W's lit up. D'oh!

Sunday: A fun theme (though I struggled to makes sense of LOGIC ALBIO until the V8 can hit me). And I must confess to a final keyboard run to get the crossing "O" in ALOE and SOP. No idea why ALOE eluded me.

See y'all next weekend.

Big Easy said...

C.C.s write-up I found more interesting than the puzzle. Not that I didn't like it but it was just blah. I caught the theme at FINAL SEMI. a A few WAGS- TOMEI, ROBIN and IMAN and perps- CORDOBA, TORPEDO, OBIE, BEANO,SKA, EMO, APB, SOP. SKA and EMO show up so often but I have no clue as to how their music sounds.

I finished guessing APB and BEANO. Never heard of BOLO or BEANO ( other than an anti-flatulent). I've heard CLUE me IN thousands of time, but never CUE me IN. CUE- either a stick to play pool or an actor's notice or my scalp ( CUE ball).

HeartRx said...

I got the theme at the first entry, but didn't really "get" that they were all compound words until I reached the STANDARD SUB.

Thanks for linking Joshua's piano recital again, C.C. I had missed it yesterday. We are in the final push to get ready for the countertop that gets installed tomorrow. I will be so happy to get my kitchen back!!

Big Easy said...

Barry- Impressive Scott Joplin rag and future wedding music. My mother was a piano teacher, and let me tell you that I was forced to attend many rehearsals and recitals. Grand piano keys are tougher to push than the ones on spinets or uprights.

Questions- Was his piano bench back too far on the first one? And was the use of the pedal supposed to be in the second? He pushed it so much I thought he might have been tapping his foot.

maripro said...

Thanks for including Joshua's piano recital, C.C. He's very talented. And congratulations to Barry G. for fostering that talent.
I found this puzzle both challenging and rewarding. I must confess that I felt quite smug when I wrote in "chin" for "Chinese leader" - I was thinking of sticking one's chin out. However I soon had to rethink that!

Rainman said...

Barry G,

Great pic and enjoyed the recital. If you want Joshua to work harder, you should read Láng Lǎng's autobiography... it's terrific...like a survival story!!! Get it from the library, and Joshua will no doubt also want to read it. You must do this, trust me.

My teacher introduced me to Canon in D but there were other Pachelbel works I liked better.

Thanks CC for the pzl yesterday and the write-up today. Enjoyed both.

Thanks to Gail for another great effort. Enjoyed the solve... got the theme about a third through and it helped solve stuff like FINALSEMI. Ha!

For lunch I'll go find a substandard hero, or maybe a torte. ("Don't call me substandard." --Ed.)

That's my muse and editor interrupting again... disregard. Have a nice relaxing Sunday.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I always enjoy Gail's work and today's fit the bill very nicely. Caught the theme early on and that helped with the solve. I, too, had slate before stare, also nabob before Mr. Big and aim before end.

Thanks, Gail and CC, for a rewarding Sunday stroll. CC, Literary Guild is (was?) a book club, like Book of the Month. I belonged to both for years.

Barry, I enjoyed Joshua's performance very much. He is quite poised for a 10 year old. Is he as serious-natured as he appears, or was that just nervousness?

Have a great day everyone!

billocohoes said...

Big Easy: "put out a BOLO" is cop show speak for "Be On Look-Out", sent to LEOs (law enforcement orgs.) when a suspect's car is on the run.

Bill G. said...

For whatever reason I didn't enjoy this puzzle as much as I was expecting to. Nothing really wrong. Gail's cluing and my brain were not on the same wavelength.

I got up to go pee about 4 am, just when a small earthquake occurred. There was a jolt and then the floor began to wobble side-to-side. I held onto the door jamb. Then it was over and I went back to bed. So long as it didn't get any bigger, no big deal. It was about magnitude 3.9 and centered about eight miles away.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! I'm doing better than I used to with Gail's puzzles, but I'm never happy to see her name. My first guesses on the majority of her clues turns red. I also thought the theme answers were a little contrived or forced. I did get the theme early and it helped with a couple of the others.

FLUENT evaded me the longest. Then I sat and ruminated to see why this was considered correct. I accepted it finally.

The NE central bloc was the last to fill. I had GET A JOB & MGB (thanks to the blog members who were talking about owning the car a few days ago). Couldn't remember GORME or ROLFE although I was thinking Eydie & John. I finally WAGd the "R" in MR then it all came together.

I've never known anyone who hired a PARTY BUS for a wedding. I wanted Limosine. My daughter hired old fashioned trolley cars to ferry guests back and forth between the parking lot at the church and an old mansion where her reception was held. There wasn't much parking at the mansion. Her frugal mother & father were aghast, but didn't have to pay for them.

Husker Gary said...

I got the whole thing done and was clueless about the theme until SEMI FINAL smacked me in the head.

Musings
-In CB lingo, the last truck in a convoy has “the back door”
-I guess in the school world, I’m a STANDARD SUB
-JEER and BOO him all you like, he’ll still collect over 20 million in annual salary
-In our vacation to Minneapolis BY CAR I DROVE all the way. Stupid!
-I use this instead of a SCANNER
-My neighbor is putting in a POOL this summer and has used string and stakes to test every possible configuration.
-Dictating text into my iPhone is much EASIER than typing
-Remember all these ADJUSTMENTS?
-MERIT has NO affect on your teacher salary
-Except for being on my feet for hours, I would love to do this GREET job!
-ER’s get lots of business from SLO-pitch softball games
-Old “pre-Miranda Rights for COPS” Perry Masons are interesting to watch
-Friday and Gannon carried cards to read rights when the concept was new
-Streaming VIDEOS are dicey two rooms from the router

inanehiker said...

Worked my way through, but the NE was the last to fall, mostly because I resolutely didn't want to give up Blank "SLATE". When I get stuck, finally have to give up on my "right answers" and look anew. This gave me STARE and everything else fell in place.
BG - every parent wishes their kid would work harder to learn an instrument, but they're kids and so none of them do :).....except for parents like one of my office partners - his mom would hover over him at the piano and rap his hands with a ruler if he was goofing around. He's glad she didn't let him give it up even though he hated it at the time - but chuckles that these days that kind of parenting would warrant a call to DCFS!

Spitzboov said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Another nice puzzle from Gail. Ducked the NW initially but finished up there by backing in from the center. Good crossings of unknowns and known perps so progress was steady. ISOBAR clue was fair but TERSE. I think of it more as a contour line of constant pressure. Liked theme fill cluing; MASTER POST was a favorite.

Barry G. said...

@Big Easy:

I have no idea if his bench was too far forward or back. There were a lot of different kids playing of all different ages and heights, and they didn't bother adjusting the bench in between performances.

And yes, he was using the pedal for the Pachelbel piece. I think he just get's a bit carried away with it sometimes.

With regard to hard work, his "problem" is that he actually learns the music very quickly and wants to rush through everything instead of taking the time to learn and practice the nuances. Some pieces, like the Maple Leaf Rag, he actually enjoys playing and will spend the time to actually make music, but most of the rest of the pieces are just basically homework to him that he wants to get through as soon as possible so he can move onto the next piece. I really had to work hard to convince him that Pachelbe's Canon was not supposed to be played at the same speed as The Maple Leaf Rag...

Barry G. said...

@Irish Miss:

He's generally a very silly, hyperactive kid. But he does know the correct way to behave during a performance. At least when he's doing the performing. Trying to get him to settle down and be serious when everybody else is performing is another thing entirely!

Unknown said...

Ennio Morricone composed for over 500 motion pictures including the Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns. Simply amazing.

And yes, measured in area sounds awkward.
Measured by area sounds better.

Nice puzzle.

Link Guy said...

Click here for Ennio Moricone's classic theme for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Link Guy said...

Sorry, Morricone.

Spitzboov said...

The Norwegian King's Guard plays Morricone starting at time 04:00 here.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Afternoon, C.C., and friends. I found this puzzle to be a bit of a challenge, but I figured out the theme early on with STAR SUPER. Not sure I understand the Oh, the Ordinary Hero is a sandwich, not a person!

Barry G: Congrats to your son on his recital. Is a concert pianist in his future?

The Age of Adaline is a very slow movie. It probably didn't help that the two women next to us talked throughout. Apparently, they didn't understand the concept of never aging.

QOD: Old age is like flying a plane through a storm. Once you’re aboard, there’s nothing you can do. ~ Golda Meir (May 3, 1898 ~ Dec. 8, 1978)

Lucina said...

Hello, friends!

Late to the party, again! My 5 year old granddaughter spent the night and after she awoke I was distracted. Before that I had almost half finished and was AGLOW with it

I entered Gail's wave length pretty quickly. No problem with OBIE as PIMA and MOPS were in place. My daughter's hair is very challenging; it's long and tightly curled. She learned early on that using large quantities of conditioner and immediately combing through it was a good solution. Now there are good anti-frizz products available.

CORDOVA is a large ancient city with a gorgeous church which was once a mosque, abandoned because it wasn't facing east.

I'm having trouble with my keyboard so I'll have to stop.

Have a peaceful Sunday, everyone!

Lucina said...

Wonderful funny poem, Owen.

Lime Rickey said...

I don't get it. What did Owen's "wonderful poem" have to do with this puzzle in particular or crossword puzzles in general? I must be missing something here.

Anonymous T said...

LR-
"For exchanging his front with his back!
To face in reverse" makes it apropos theme wise (at least to me).

Sorry, just lurking... I'm taking the 7th day to rest. Cheers, -T

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Great puzzle, Gail! Swell recap, CC!
Gail also had a puzzle in NetWord. Much easier. I general, I seem to be on her wavelength.

Stubbornly refused to give up "aim" for END. So was stuck for awhile. But figured it out and finished w/o cheats.

My dad would have been 111 today. Still miss him a lot. He would have loved all of the new technology.

Cheers!

Lime Rickey said...

- T

Okay, I'll buy that.

Thanks.

Though I wish OwenKL would say a little bit more about the puzzle. Especially if he insists on being the first to comment.

SwampCat said...

Owen KL , glad to have your back! Great, funny poem today.

AnonT, thanks for explaining it for those who don't "get" it!

Good Sunday,

OwenKL said...

Limey: Give me a chance, I'm just getting back into it after being away from the Corner for awhile. As for being first, I worked graveyard shift my entire working life, and even though I've retired a decade past, my circadian rhythm is permanently out of whack. By 4:30 am (when this is posted in my time zone), I'm usually starting to get tired, and want to get it posted so I can get to sleep! My comments would rarely be anything other than WEES anyway. Today, all I'd say different was that I had Blank CHECK before Blank SLATE!

Lucina said...

I went to see the movie, The Clouds of Sils Maria with Juliette Binoche and the background music was Pachelbel's Canon.

Owen, I loved your poem and thought it concisely summarized the theme!