google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday July 13, 2015 Gail Grabowski & Bruce Venzke

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Jul 13, 2015

Monday July 13, 2015 Gail Grabowski & Bruce Venzke

Theme: >      <

20A. Place for a brewski : WATERING HOLE

35A. No longer valid : NULL AND VOID

42A. Imbalance of income distribution : ECONOMIC GAP

59A. Introductory remarks ... and, in a different sense, what the ends of 20-, 35- and 42-Across are : OPENING WORDS. Like many platitudes, there's really nothing there.

Argyle was here.

Across:

1. Crossword hint : CLUE. 78 in this puzzle.

5. Three-sided sails : JIBS

9. Crook : THIEF

14. Home plate crossings : RUNS. And 50. Crosses home plate : SCOREs

15. Middle layer of the eye : UVEA

16. Main blood vessel : AORTA

17. "Put a lid __!" : ON IT

18. Pickle containers : JARS

19. "No bid," in bridge : I PASS

23. Wood decay : DRY ROT

24. Keep in reserve : SAVE

25. Scientist Wernher __ Braun : VON

28. Ms. enclosure : SASE. Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope.

30. Affluent Los Angeles district : ENCINO

32. Bygone intl. carrier : TWA

38. "The __ of the Ancient Mariner" : RIME

40. Linden or Holbrook : HAL

41. Opening for a coin : SLOT

47. "That's __-brainer" : A NO

48. Credit card ID : ACCT NO

49. Feels poorly : AILS

51. Confucian "path" : TAO

52. Northern Nevada county or its seat : ELKO

55. Launched capsule : ROCKET

61. Insurance giant : AETNA

64. Baseball family name : ALOU

65. "The Scarlet Letter" letter : RED 'A'

66. '70s New York congresswoman Bella : ABZUG


67. Ore layer : VEIN

68. Qatari bigwig : EMIR

69. Rough up : ABUSE

70. Plays the wrong golf ball, say : ERRs

71. Witnesses : SEEs

Down:

1. Two : company :: three : __ : CROWD

2. __ Module: moon lander : LUNAR

3. Togetherness : UNITY

4. Fragrant compounds : ESTERS

5. Japanese self-defense method : JUJITSU.  Literally, Soft Technique.

6. Netman Lendl : IVAN

7. Antarctic floaters : BERGs

8. Youngest Obama : SASHA

9. Caboose's place : TAIL END

10. Cross one's fingers : HOPE

11. Golden-yrs. income source : IRA

12. "Mars Attacks!" enemies, for short : ETs

13. Notes before sols : FAs

21. Reddish equine : ROAN

22. Where baguettes bake : OVEN

25. String quartet member : VIOLA

26. Vidalia veggie : ONION

27. Acknowledge with a head gesture : NOD TO

29. Pre-college, for short : EL-HI. Elementary- High.

31. Walgreens rival : CVS

32. Reward for a pet trick : TREAT

33. Modern witch's religion : WICCA

34. BP merger partner : AMOCO

36. Fond du __, Wisconsin : LAC

37. Pond organism : ALGA

39. Tonsillitis-treating MD : ENT

43. Recommended résumé length : ONE PAGE

44. Burrowing animal : MOLE

45. Pellet shooters : AIR GUNS

46. Work the fields : PLOW

53. Jack in a deck : KNAVE

54. Crude carrier : OILER

56. Krispy __: doughnut chain : KREME

57. Actor Redmayne of "The Theory of Everything" : EDDIE

58. Old Russian rulers : TSARs

59. Burden : ONUS

60. Gritty film genre : NOIR

61. Duracell size : AAA

62. Flow back : EBB

63. Shih __: Tibetan dog : TZU


Argyle


37 comments:

OwenKL said...

Easy peasy Monday cheesy! My main stumble was accidentally reading the reveal clue "Introductory remarks" as being for the crossing 57down, and filled in EMPTY. Instead, they were all words for openings!

The clue for ROCKET was bilge, but I'll let others pontificate on that.

I'll bet, as a kid, when bored and annoyed
With pencil or pen and worksheet you toyed.
You filled in O's and P's
And two blips in the B's,
And didn't avoid the tiny A VOID!

If you ever should catch a croc in a trap,
And look down his maw to his internal tract,
It would be a mistake
For too long to gape
Or where your head should be, will just be a GAP!

There once was an enterprising young MOLE
Who decided to make getting wealthy his goal.
His excavations
For subway stations
Made so much he exclaimed, "I'm in the HOLE!"

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Blew through this one pretty easily. Minor hesitations at KNAVE, EDDIE and JUJITSU (which I misspelled as JUJITSO for some reason), but that was really it. I understood the theme when I got to the theme reveal, but didn't notice it while solving the theme answers.

Thanks again, GAB!

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Very easy Monday puzzle to ease into the work week.

JIBS reminded me of Jeannie, because she taught us all a lot about sailing.

Interesting to have Werhner VON Braun (1912 ~ 1977) and ROCKET in the same puzzle.

EDDIE Redmayne and Prince William were classmates at Eton.

Bella ABZUG (1920 ~ 1998) was known for wearing big hats.

Stay hydrated and cool, everyone. It hit 95F here yesterday and today promised to be the same.

QOD: You know you’re getting old when all the names in your black book have M.D. after them. ~ Harrison Ford (b. July 13, 1942)

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Nice easy lope to start the week. I even noticed the theme once HOLE and VOID had appeared. Reading Argyle's writeup, I saw several clues I'd totally missed, because they were already filled in.

Tom Lehrer wrote:
Don't say that he's hypocritical,
Say rather that he's apolitical.
"Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?
That's not my department," says Wernher von Braun.

Lemonade714 said...

A fine Monday from Gail and Bruce, I did not recall Eddie Redmayne but it was already filled.

Our leader has the NYT today if you did this one too quickly.

Happy week all

Anonymous said...

Relieved to see Bruce back with Gail after we saw him stepping out with Donna.

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts":

A Monday speed run following two sluggish weekend puzzles was refreshing! Too much to do today to be wrapped up in a tough solve

WICCA was a wag solved by perps - I may Google it or wait for someone else to explain. Other than that, it was a "top to bottom, left to right" solving puzzle.

Was unaware that ENCINO was an affluent district, so I wonder if the following is true:

In L.A., police force is medieval
When it comes to addressing upheaval.
Seems the cops are resigned,
And the judges are blind;
It is like they "ENCINO" evil.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Easy as others have said. Straight solve, top to bottom. Wanted El Cino before the perp augured for ELCINO.
Favorite clue was for RED A.

oc4beach said...


Filled in easily with one trip through the across clues and one trip through the down clues and the stray letter fill-in. It was a nice Monday trip in record time.

Most clues were straight forward, but I did try MALIBU before ENCINO became evident from the perps. Wikipedia agrees that Encino is an affluent neighborhood in the San Fernando region of LA, but I still think Malibu with it's median income of $133,869 is a bit more affluent than Encino with it's median income of $78,529.

Also, a ROCKET is the launch vehicle for a capsule or payload.

Another beautiful day for Central PA again. Hope everyone has a great day

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning;

Typical Monday romp; easy and fun. Didn't see the theme until the reveal.

Reference to The Theory of Everything a coincidence as the DVD is sitting on my desk waiting to be watched.

Very hot again today with more showers expected later on.

Thanks GAB and Argyle for starting the week off so enjoyably.

Have a great day.

Tinbeni said...

Gail & Bruce: Thank You for a FUN Monday puzzle.

Argyle: As always, you're the best!

Fave today (of course) was the theme answer WATERING HOLE. Go figure ... lol

Hmmm, that gives me an idea ...
Cheers!

VirginiaSycamore said...

It was a fun, easy solve today.
Does anyone know of a way to get today's NYT puzzle for cheap or free? I would like to see CC's puzzle.
Here is a link to Tom Lehrer singing the Werner VON Braun song that desper-otto mentioned. SONG

Misty said...

Nice easy puzzle, perfect way to start a morning, many thanks, Gail and Bruce. Argyle, thanks for posting the Bella Abzug pic, Argyle.

Thanks for the extra info on Bella Abzug, Eddie Redmayne, and Werner Von Braun, Hahtoolah.

Gave a good week, everybody.

Anonymous said...

The daily (Monday - Saturday) New York Times costs $2.50. That's not free but, I think, pretty cheap.

unclefred said...

Nice, fun puzzle, only complaint was ROCKET should have been clued "Capsule launcher", not "Launched capsule". I didn't even have any write-overs today!!(YAY!!) Thanks to Gail and Bruce for the fun puzzle, and to Argyle for the usual terrific write-up. Here in Fort Lauderdale, summer is always stifling, but doubly bad this here: record temperatures, and record low amounts of rain. We used to at least have an afternoon shower to cool things down a bit; not this year. We had ~25% of the normal rain in June. Mind you, that's not 25% less rain, but 25% of the NORMAL rain. In other words, 75% less than normal. Oi. And we have to wait for October to get any cool weather. Just sit in the house in the AC and do CWs, I guess.

Lucina said...

Hello, friends!

What a nice, easy sashay to start the day! Thank you, Gail and Bruce. My only pause came when suddenly in a short fit of dyslexia I couldn't reconcile the -CK in ROCKET. My eyes kept seeing KC until I shook it off.

Hadn't heard of Bella ABZUG in quite a while. She also was prominent in the feminist movement.

Misty, it's great to see you! How is Roland? I've been out of touch so I may have missed something.

Have a merry Monday, everyone!

desper-otto said...

Virginia Sycamore you can get an online puzzle subscription to the NYT for $40/year -- that's about $0.11 per puzzle. Here's a Link to their subscription page.

C6D6 Peg said...

Thanks, Gail & Bruce, for a very enjoyable puzzle. Liked the theme and the fill. Favorite was Knave. Haven't heard of that in a while.

Nice write-up, as usual, Argyle. Thanks!

JD said...

Good morning all,

Another fun Monday..thanks Gail & Bruce, and, of course, Argyle. Like others, I did not get the theme until the reveal. Had 1 write over the back > tail end.Had no idea that Encino had graduated to an affluent district. It was not much when I was a kid, but then Beverly Hills was not much either.Since I took the city bus to school on Wilshire Blvd., I knew every street from La Cienega to Beverly Drive... a 17 cent ride.

Husker Gary said...

A lovely Monday offering, even with the hated ELHI! ☺

Musings
-Teed off at 7 a.m. and it was still unbearable at 9:30! What would we do without a/c?
-It took real mountain men to find the GAPS in the Appalachians and Rockies
-A nice JIB!
-My non-athletic daughter called RUNS points before grandson corrected her
-We don’t “pickle” any more, but we have foot long cukes now
-It took quite a while before Huntsville, AL warmed up to the former Nazi rocket scientist, but once they did…
-Nit alert! I second Uncle Fred in that the launched capsule is not a ROCKET. It rides on top of one. Like this Mercury Capsule on a Redstone ROCKET. The LUNAR module rode atop a Saturn V ROCKET
-I play yellow golf balls so no one ERRS by hitting mine
-Somehow trains seem incomplete without that caboose at the TAIL END
-A very common example of pharmacological redundancy around here
-Today AIR GUNS look so realistic, they have led to bad endings for people wielding them

coneyro said...

Perfect Monday level puzzle. Had to go back and read most of the down clues because I didn't need most of them to complete the grid.

Isn't WATERING HOLE also a term for a spot where country people swim, as in the river or lake?

Chaiman Moe....WICCA, to put it simply, is a pagan religion which began in England in the early 1900's. Their belief system is based on the worship of nature, and the sun and the moon. The symbol is a pentacle, a five pointed star. It is a very interesting and spiritual practice, though misunderstood by some who believe they deal in evil witchcraft.

Most people don't know that SASHA is not the given of Obama's daughter. It is actually Natasha.

I, personally, prefer Duncan Donuts to Krispy Kremes. How about you?

That about wraps it up for me today. Hope this is the start of a beautiful week for all.

Argyle said...

Rocket launched capsule.

Anonymous said...

"Country people" swim in a swimmin' hole. A watering hole is where animals go to drink (i.e. to get "watered") and, by extension, a saloon (or bar or pub or tavern).

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Marti,
Rosehip oil is for skin care. Not for cooking.

What do you use rose water for? I got one bottle from our local Asian store, but I use it as a toner.

Anon-T,
Get the Trilogy Rosehip oil for your wife. She'll love it.

Chairman Moe said...

Unclefred @ 11:08 - I am directly across Alligator Alley and it seems we've been getting all of the rain that YOUR coast isn't. We still manage to get our late afternoon thunder, and at times, some pretty intense rain. Last week it was raining at a rate of 2"/hour in Lee County (Ft Myers area)

HG @ 12:10 - know what you mean about being unbearable at 9:30am, but then we are in Florida, so one gets used to it pretty quickly - or, as unclefred says, you stay indoors in A/C, and do puzzles! Glad to see you're back on the links, again, so soon. And don't be ashamed or embarrassed by using a yellow-colored golf ball. I like the looks of them, too, although I still have several dozen white ones to lose before converting! Also, with regard to your photo of a CVS next to a Walgreen's, I can't recall an intersection where one WASN'T right next to the other. But $2.69 for a gallon of milk? How long ago was THAT picture taken??

coneyro @ 12:25 - thanks for the WICCA explanation. I did not Google it, so I appreciate your posting it here. As for your other question (Dunkin' Donuts vs Krispy Kreme), I would give a leg up to KK for their donuts fresh out of the fryer. They aren't nearly as good, though, when they reach room temperature. DD gets kudos for their variety, but lately when I have a donut urge, I get 'em from Publix. Publix's apple fritters are hands down the best for the $$

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

VirginiaSycamore,

Click here. The Seattle Times carries NYT puzzles on line, but they're six weeks behind for weekday puzzles and one week behind for Sunday puzzles.

VirginiaSycamore said...

Desper-otto, thanks for the link to get NYT crosswords. I will have to save up for that. Also I mentioned you in my original von Braun song link but it got removed as I kept retyping the link to get it to work.
Anonymous @10:44 am, I'm too poor for that. When I wasn't I did get the paper and I found that I felt so guilty that I couldn't read it all, plus it piled up in my house.

Husker Gary, I go to both CVS and Walgreens and most of the deals at both require their cards, or at least key chain tags to get. I used to go to Walgreens all the time but they "couldn't get" ANY of my Metformin for my Type 2 diabetes so I switched. I still like Walgreens for some items. But they don't get my almost weekly presence to get prescriptions.

Beach Bum said...

Pretty straightforward Monday puzzle. Agree the clue for ROCKET is just flat out wrong. Not sure what Argyle@12:26 meant -- if that's a clarification I'm missing it completely.

I've always preferred Dunkin' Donuts to Krispy Kreme, but that's probably part nostalgia seeing's how I grew up in New England. I remember getting a dozen for $1.10 back in the '70s. I was back in Western Mass last week and had one and noticed, not only are they obviously more expensive, they seem to be about 10-20 percent smaller.

Avg Joe said...

Maybe not the fastest solve ever, but there were no ?s along the way. The only unknown was Eddie, even though I've seen the movie. Great flick. Also watched Wild the other night. Strange, and very gritty but pretty good. Next up is the Imitation Game.

I haven't had donuts as frequent fare for decades, but agree that right out of the fryer you simply can't beat a Krispy Kreme. Just a slice of heaven. 10 minutes later, they're ordinary. Back when I worked in Boulder there was a Daylight Donut shop that had Bear Claws that were every bit as wonderful.

Lucina said...

Does anyone else have BOSA doughnuts in your area? They beat both Dunkin' and Krispy Kreme by more than a country mile! Sadly, I would soon be unable to enter through my door if I ate them frequently. It's a once in a while treat.

Speaking of ROCKETS, I just read that tomorrow the ashes of Pluto discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh, will pass within 7,800 miles of the former planet as the spacecraft, New Horizons flies on its way to outer space.

CanadianEh! said...

Quick solve today with just a little hiccup because I wanted ABSUG and TSU.

Enjoyed watching Pan Am rowing on the weekend. Beautiful weather!

Anonymous said...

Confucius adopted the TAO, but Lao-Tze (Lao-Tzu, Laozi, choose your English spelling) found it.

WOS (and everyone else but Argyle) re ROCKET: It's the launcher, not the launched. If Argyle wants "Launched" in the clue to be the past tense of a verb instead of a past participle, then the answer would be ROCKETED, not ROCKET.

CrossEyedDave said...

Great Opening Words...

Sorry, but "hole" is a sore spot for me...

Void explained...

Thigh Gap explained... (Note, you don't have to click on everything, & sometimes it's better not to...)

I once rented a sailboat at Disney World, I wish I had watched this video 1st... (Has a little wind noise on the Mic, but hey, that's part of sailing...)

For the more advanced, with a bigger boat... (Hey, I thought it was called Jibing, not JeyeBBING!)

The extent of my sailing experience. I have the exact same boat, built it myself. It took 303 hours to complete not including radio control conversion...

Occasional Lurker said...

CED maybe you should explain the words KLAATU BARADA NIKTO are the code words from the book and the movie, The Day the Earth stood still.

(Just to save others from having to google it.)

OwenKL said...

Sorry, "but hole" is a sore spot for me, too... (don't worry, it's safe.)

Anonymous T said...

HI all!

Well shihtzu... I put an S in there and it wasn't even a WAG (that was the V @6d). Oh well, a Monday FIW, thanks GaB it was a HOLE lotta fun. Thanks for kicking it off today Argyle.

There's extra theme too... 47a, 48a, and 30a all have NO at the TAIL END... My parents' OPENING WORDS - "NO! NO! NO!, -T don't do that..."

Boat sub(hehehe)-theme? DRY ROT, JIBS, OILER, or just ships in general?... LUNAR ROCKET thanks to VON (that's today's fav!)

ESPs (i.e. I had no CLUE) - 15a, 66a (that doesn't quite count since it's wrong) and 38a.

I had friends at AMOCO when BP bought them. They've (mostly) moved on to smaller independents.

Hopefully after tomorrow I can stop reading 4 PAGE resumes...

coneyro - Mel-o-Cream is my fav dough with a VOID. The VOIDs are sold has doughnut HOLES (a doz for $2). I don't know why they call themselves "International," they're only in SPI.

C.C. - Thanks. I put a marker on my calendar in Sept to get her that for our 27th.

I though Three's Company. I was lied to...

Anon@12:30 - And, WATERING HOLE attack. Watering Holes are web-sites that folks from a specific industry that you want to target are likely to visit. Attack those sites (which likely have less defenses than the real target) and insert drive-by malware. e.g. want to attack the DOD? - infect Jane's Defense's site.

So, if I wanted to take down CED, LOLCats (and now RC boat sites) is my 1st step :-)

Cheers, -T

Tinbeni said...

CED
Thanks for the links !!!

And a great example of why it is important to check "yesterdays" latter comments and posts.