google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday Oct 25, 2015 Mike Peluso

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Oct 25, 2015

Sunday Oct 25, 2015 Mike Peluso

Theme: "Now You See It ..." - C is removed from each theme answer.

22A. Coleridge love poem? : RIME OF PASSION. Crime of passion.

34A. Knight's comment when he was mistakenly put in the corner? : I'M NOT A ROOK. I'm not a crook. Nixon.

49A. King of the sea? : LEAR SAILING. Clear sailing. Does this answer sound a bit stretched to you?

68A. North African hops drier? : BARBARY OAST. Barbary Coast.

85A. Citrus high? : ORANGE RUSH. Orange Crush. I grokked the theme gimmick here.

102A. Encouraging simian? : APE OF GOOD HOPE. Cape of Good Hope.

2D. Backtalk in the Everglades? : ALLIGATOR LIP. Alligator clip. New term to me.
 
55D. John and Peter's woodwind? : APOSTLES' REED. Apostles' Creed.

Look, no stray C 's in the theme answers. You know Mike put extra effort in getting us this tight set. Three deletions occur at the first words, five the last words,  but all removed C's are consistently the starts of the key words. Pure letter deletion, no spelling changes involved.

Most of our Sunday grids have 144-words. This one only has 140, with four intimidating corners. Even with cheaters in four corners, those space are very hard to fill cleanly. I'd have chickened out and broken 20D/74D into two.

Across:

1. Varnish resin : MASTIC. New word to me.

7. Online cash-back deal : E-BATE. Never got an e-bate. You? I seldom shop on line.

12. God for whom Wednesday was named : WODEN. I forgot. We had this a while ago.

17. Peru's El Misti, e.g. : VOLCANO. Got via crosses. And 74. 17-Across output : ASH

18. Submit servilely : GROVEL

19. Sounded alike : RHYMED

21. Not kosher : ILLEGAL. I was thinking of TREF.

24. Problems for parades : RAINS

25. Nerds : DWEEBS

27. Quick way to reduce fat? : LIPO. Thought DIET first.

28. N.Y. engineering sch. : RPI. Why did you quit after one year, Splynter?

29. Yen : URGE

30. Form : SHAPE
 
31. NFL great Brown and meteorologist Cantore : JIMs

32. Bern's river : AARE

33. Fed. benefits agency : SSA
 
37. Words after lost or missed : A STEP

38. Hardly laid-back : TYPE A

40. La Corse, par exemple : ILE. La Corse is French for Corsica.
 
41. Early ascetic : ESSENE. Nailed it.

42. "Ain't gonna happen!" : NO SOAP

43. Serious oil problem : SPILL

46. To's partner : FRO

47. Sun. delivery : SER

48. Sides in a Wells—or Welles—war : WORLDS. The War of the Worlds. Orson Welles. H. G. Wells. We also have 77. 1938 broadcaster of Welles radio dramas : CBS

52. Workers' gp. in a 1955 merger : AFL

53. Step : PHASE

54. Easy chore : CAKEWALK

58. Welcoming rings : LEIS. So happy that they're now married.


60. Actor Kinski : KLAUS. Crossing 60. Pink Nintendo icon : KIRBY. The crossing K is knotty. I'd go with this KIRBY, of course!


 61. Sporty Nissans : Z-CARS. Not into sports cars, so draw a blank on this entry.

63. Lodge letters : BPOE

64. Sheriff's assistants : DEPUTIES

66. Sierra __ : LEONE

67. Charity's URL ending : ORG

71. Equilibrium : STASIS

78. "Jersey Boys" role : VALLI

79. Bikini blasts, briefly : N-TESTS

80. Like some protein drinks : CHALKY. All crosses. Never had protein drinks.

82. Vocalized "Psst!" : HEY

83. Ford flop : EDSEL

84. Maguire of "Spider-Man" : TOBEY

90. Waffle center? : EFS. Waffle.

93. Permeate : SOAK. Tried SEEP first.

94. Alternatives to fries : TOTS. I call them full name "Tater tots". You?

96. Ripley's closing words : OR NOT

97. GM sticker datum : MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price).

98. RR stop : STN

99. Celestial sci. : ASTR

100. Little burger : SLIDER

101. Natalie's "West Side Story" role : MARIA

105. How gazelles bound : AGILELY

107. "Dang!" : DARN IT. Same root, no?

108. Put out : DOUSED

109. Mistletoe may hang from them : LINTELS. Also a learning moment to me. The empty spot is called LINTEL?


110. Original environment : ROOTS

111. Energetic mount : STEED

112. Reliable : STEADY
 
Down:

1. Canine cousins : MOLARS. I"m seeing the periodontist on Nov 24. My poor teeth!



3. Crime __ : SCENE

4. Facebook links : TAGS. Photo tagging. I don't associate tags with "links".  They actually are. 

5. Like Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 : IN A. Put in IN?, then waited.

6. Winter time : COLD SNAP

7. Port NE of Canton, OH : ERIE PA

8. B-47, for one : BOMBER

9. Madison et al.: Abbr. : AVEs

10. Racer Fabi : TEO. This has become a gimme.

11. Diminutive : ELFLIKE

12. Deli offerings : WRAPS

13. Very : OH SO. Tricky little words.

14. Start to function? : DYS. Dysfunction.

15. Dubai-based airline : EMIRATES. The answer filled itself.

16. Synthetic used to insulate wet suits : NEOPRENE. Fashion world's new fabric darling.

17. Bug : VIRUS

18. Awe-inspiring : GREAT

20. Kiev's river : DNIEPER. Totally stranger.


23. Absent-minded Milne title character : PIM. Mr. Pim.

26. Immortal first baseman : WHO. "Who's on First?".  I loved this clue so much that I shouted at Boomer who was watching TV downstairs:

Me: Lao Gong, the clue is "Immortal first baseman", three-letter answer,  who's the guy?

Boomer: OTT.

Me: Who?

Boomer: OTT, O-T-T...

31. La __: San Diego resort area : JOLLA

32. Intractable beast : ASS

34. Apple product : IPOD.  The only Apple stuff I have.  

35. Ft. or in. : MEAS (Measurement)

36. Essential __ : OILS

37. In unison : AS ONE

39. Haute couture monogram : YSL

41. Composer Satie et al. : ERIKS. Et this Erik.

Erik Agard
42. Free, as a checking account : NO FEE

43. Hall of Fame linebacker Junior : SEAU

 44. Mountain route : PASS

45. Where Gubbeen Cheese is made: Abbr. : IRE. Never heard of the cheese. I had I?? and figured it might be Italian.


46. Highway warning : FLARE

48. Saxony woodland : WALD. German for "wood". New to me also.

49. High capital : LHASA

50. Risky boot camp response : I CAN'T

51. BHO's predecessor : GWB. Oh, hello, I drew a blank on your initials.



53. Common people : PLEBS

56. Nocturnal Indian primate : LORIS. Oh, hello, I don't know your name.


57. Powder holders : KEGS

59. Hero : SUB

61. Ardor : ZEAL

62. Mozart's "__ fan tutte" : COSI

65. Like paint when it's nearly dry : TACKY. Had STICKY first.

66. Texter's guffaw : LOL

69. KOA users : RVers

70. Sisterhood name in a Rebecca Wells novel : YA-YA

71. Regs. : STDs

72. Radio host John : TESH

73. Enzyme ending : ASE

74. Mopes : ACTS SAD

75. What duffers don't expect to do : SHOOT PAR. True for me.

76. Hot, hot pepper : HABANERO. You'll lose your mind eating these peppers.



79. Gray and tan : NEUTRALS

81. Coin in Tirana : LEK

82. Souped-up cars : HOT RODS

86. Like an ideal negotiation : NO-LOSE

87. Complained : GRIPED

88. Done : ENDED

89. Sturgeon delicacy : ROE

91. Ruffled : FRILLY

92. Renders unproductive? : SPAYS. Nailed it.

94. Some NCOs : TSGTS (Technical Sergeants). SSGTS fit the clue also. So you have to wait.

95. Plains tribe : OTO

97. European island nation : MALTA

99. Have __: lose it : A FIT

100. "Adventures in Babysitting" co-star : SHUE. Again, the answer filled in itself.

101. Cry under a pop-up : MINE

103. Plastic __ Band : ONO

104. Ellipsis element : DOT

106. "Scram, ya varmint!" : GIT

 
So I finally got my enhanced ID yesterday. It looks the same as my last driver's license, but with an American flag to the right of Class D. I needed birth certificate, my citizenship papers and some tax return stuff. All forms have to be original.

Boomer is still waiting for his, after several visits to the place. He lost his SSN card some time ago, and just did not have the correct document.

Do you have enhanced IDs in your state?

C.C.

29 comments:

  1. Morning, all!

    Figured out the theme early on, which helped a lot. I thought the idea was fun and most of the theme answers worked well. I struggled a bit with LEAR SEAS only because the underlying phrase wasn't that familiar to me and I wasn't thinking of a specific king at first.

    Starting the puzzle off with MASTIC at 1A was cruel and unusual, I thought. DNIEPER was another complete unknown. In both cases, the perps took care of them, but I really didn't trust them.

    I wasn't particularly fond of NOLOSE. It was one of those answers that I suspected might be the case but really hoped it wouldn't be and then groaned when it was forced upon me. That was really it for nits, though. The rest of the puzzle was smooth and fun.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good morning!

    This was crunchy and cute. I liked it. C.C., hand up for thinking TREF and wanting SEEP. MASTIC was a new one -- the varnish resin is usually ELEMI in cwds. And that protein drink was CHALKY only because ICKY was too short. With just DN in place, I immediately wrote in DNIEPER; don't ask me why. And at first that pepper was a HABANERa -- guess I was thinking Carmen and not peppers. Still, the whole thing filled quickly. That U in SEAU was my final correction -- it started out as a Y, but KLAUS saved the day.

    C.C., that empty space is not the lintel. If there were a stone in that empty space, the stone would be the lintel.

    And is "Lao Gong" a pet name for Boomer?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree that this was a very fun theme and that it had some crunch as well as nice couple of CSO with RPI and the almost complete ERIE PA. I also did not recall LORIS or PIM. I did like the Wells Welles CLUING.

    Thanks Mike and C.C.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I really chuckled at your WHO discussion with Boomer. Oo calls me S̄āmī, so I inferred the Lao Gong comment.

    ReplyDelete
  5. D-Otto,
    Yes. Lao Gong = "Old Husband". Most Chinese call their husband "Lao Gong".

    So when was your driver's license enhanced? I know MN is far behind, but I never heard you guys discussed this Enhanced ID on the blog before.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Who calls them TOTS?
    Of course, I know of Well's War of the Worlds, but what does "Wellsor Welleswar" from Mensa, and Wells Ñ or Welles Ñ war from the newspaper mean? Also why WELLES?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hah! I thought maybe "Lao Gong" meant Loud Drum = Boomer.

    Here's an article about the states that aren't compliant with the Real ID act.

    Anon@8:41 -- that clue should read "Sides in a Wells -- or Welles -- war." H.G. Wells wrote the book and Orson Welles made the radio adaptation of it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good Morning, C.C., and friends. I found this puzzle to be quite challenging, despite getting the missing "C" gimmick early on. It's never good when I can't fill in 1-Across.

    The Oil SPILL came easily to me, since Louisiana is dealing with the aftermath of the SPILL.

    Erik Satie (1866 ~ 1925) has become a frequent guest in the puzzles, so I finally recognize him.

    KLAUS Kinski (1926 ~ 1999) was the father of actress Nastassja.

    C.C., I see that Desper-Otto beat me to the punch, but you and I are living in one of four states that require its citizens to jump through extra hoops to get the identification needed to fly. Louisiana is not even offering enhanced IDs. Fortunately, my passport should work, since I fly quite frequently.

    Yesterday was an election day in Louisiana. My voting precinct is in a church and there was a big funeral going on. Made it difficult to find a place to park, and I am sure the funeral didn't appreciate all the "extras"

    The rain came in torrents last night. We needed it, but not a year's worth in one day!

    QOD: You have to have sharp elbows if you want to change something. ~ James Carville (b. Oct. 25, 1944)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good Morning:

    I enjoyed this and finished w/o help, although a lot of perps were needed, more so than usual because a lot of unknowns. I always want to spell Seau, Seay, for some reason. I had SSgts, then MSgts, then, finally the correct TSgts. Also had mantle before lintel. Fav clue was for Who. Nice CSO's to Spitz, Splynter, (moi!) with RPI and Abejo with Erte, Pa.

    Thanks, Mr. P., for a nice Sunday diversion and thanks, CC, for your charming commentary.

    RIP, Maureen O'Hara. 🍀

    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good Morning all,
    Had a lot of wrong guesses today. Settled on Pig instead of Pim, and msgt for tsgt which of course gave me four wrong answers which didn't make sense. Oh dear.
    Top left corner stymied me because I had solstice for winter time. Type c (38a) finally persuaded me that I needed to make a change somewhere.
    Thanks P.M. for a challenging puzzle and C.C. for your always informational write-up.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a thoroughly enjoyable Sunday puzzle! However, I did erase the NE corner down to the last molecule of newsprint before LIPO, OHSO and WRAPS appeared. That is also when I saw the “C” could be omitted in front of the phrase.

    Musings
    -I used OH SO many ALLIGATOR CLIPS in my physics lab
    -Harry Truman died under many feet of St. Helens ASH
    -WINDS are a big issue in this parade
    -Many athletes retire when they have “lost A STEP”
    -HomeoSTASIS
    -Mistletoe drone
    -Gotta run to granddaughter's 19 BD party! Downs later.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I needed a 'little' help with letters, guessing only 2 or 3 vowels to get correct one, but I needed that help so often, that I'd say I used 'lots' of help. Took a little longer to solve than I remember for Sundays.

    My son was transferred to Dyess Air Force base outside Abilene, TX, in July. The planes there are B-1B bombers. It's a new plane to him, worked on KC-10s and C-130s before. He is a TSgt so that answer was easy for me. He will officially retire 1-Aug-2016. Makes me feel old to have a child retiring!

    Montana has an extension to meet the Real ID standards until Oct, 2016. We have a state law that forbids issuing them. We still don't meet 8 of the requirements.

    Have a nice Sunday, everyone,

    Montana

    ReplyDelete
  13. RPI coulda been "Ind. engineering sch." a little over half a century ago. The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, originally the Terre Haute School of Industrial Science, was called Rose Polytechnical Institute from 1875 to 1971.

    P.S. to another Anonymous: Orson Welles did the (in)famous radio production of War of the Worlds.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Good afternoon everyone.

    C.C. Thanks for the intro.

    Seemed a little easier than some Sundays. Liked the theme. In a sense, all the theme fill felt 'stretched', but I enjoyed the fun of the word play.
    N-TESTS - During the actual times of these tests, my recollection was that the media, and everyone else, termed them A-tests. ICBW.
    WALD - German for forest, or woods (as in stand of trees) . Think Schwarzwald - Black Forest.
    The word for wood as lumber is Holz. Wood shed would be Holzschuppen.

    ReplyDelete
  15. CC and Hahtoolah yes we have enhanced DL's in Louisiana. "I'm a Cajun" is on one if you want to pay extra.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Boo Iuquette: Go back and read the article Desper-Otto posted. An Enhanced Driver's License must be in compliance with certain security standards outlined in the Real ID Act. Louisiana opted not to follow this law, hence anyone traveling by plane must have other identification, such as a passport.

    The legislation that allows I'm a Cajun does not provide the adequate security requirements required by federal law.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Just lurkin' today says...

    Anon@8:41a TOTS is part of the modern day vernacular. BTW, if y'all haven't seen Napoleon Dynamite, it takes two viewings. The 1st time I saw it I thought, "This is the dumbest thing ever...". The second time - I laughed my butt off.

    Hahtoolah - told you it was comin'. Hope you're stocked up. I had to empty the overflowing rain gauge last night (>6") and we have almost another 2" today. Only my pool is flooded so far...

    Fellow Vets - Isn't the best thing about Basic Training is, for every aspect of your life thereafter, there is no CAN'T?

    Enhanced IDs - I missed that... I do have a passport, Global Entry, TSA Pre, DL, and a building pass for my company. Am I good when they ask "Ver are your Papers?" So Orwellian...// Chill -T, chill...

    OK, someone has to link it....

    Hope everyone is having a grand Sunday.

    Cheers, -T

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  18. From Michigan - Im Wald und auf der Heide Da such ich meine Freude.
    (In the woods and on the heath,
    I seek my happiness, etc)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sorry,

    This is extremely corny, but I have to offer my own clue to this puzzle:

    Clue: "Spot a constructor" Answer: "C BURNIKEL"

    I know it is very groan worthy, but I could not resist because of the puzzle's theme.

    On another note, I enjoyed how C.C. pointed out that SSGTS could have equally filled into 94D ("Some NCOs) because I would love it if I could my hamburger with a bunch of drunks, instead of a side of fries (i.e., SOTS for TOTS at 94A: "Alternative to fries"). Actually, on second thought, I would not love it at all as they would probably be really annoying and paw at my burger.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Kevin, I LOVE your extra clue! Why didn't I think of that?

    My old Mr. Coffee coffee maker quit burbling and gurgling this morning. So it was off to Target for a new one. They had fancy programmable digital models, ones that scramble your eggs, ones that provide the morning news, etc. I got one like my old one that will brew from two to 12 cups of decent coffee after adding the appropriate amounts of coffee and water. $19.99. Low tech. My style. I don't have to learn anything new.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Enhanced IDs in LA. No. But in California they give them to ILLEGAL aliens. Go figure. But the puzzle was easily filled and I caught the theme on RIME OF PASSION. But I blew it with a brain fart on the cross of SHUE & DOUSED. Carelessness.

    LINTEL is also a new word for me and was filled by crosses; MASTIC- I've always heard it used as a caulk or glue but the perps except the Facebook TAGS, whatever they are, were solid. I had to make one guess (correctly) at the cross of KLAUS and KIRBY, not playing Nintendo.
    NO SOAP is a term that I have only seen in crosswords but have never heard anybody say it.

    When I order SLIDERs at a restaurant, I tell the waitress that I want them the moment they are done and NOT to wait for the other peoples' meals; then I share them. If they put them under a heat lamp anb wait, I send them back. 90 seconds on one side, 90 on the other, and then slap them in the bread

    ReplyDelete
  22. Fun puzzle, but a couple of nose-wrinklers. I also entered HABANERA at first, but I got NEOPRENE and DNIEPER right away. Didn't remember WODEN being spelled that way, only as Odin or as Wotan.

    I guess no CZARS ever drove ZCARS.

    Looks like California doesn't have Enhanced Drivers' Licenses. LW has procrastinated for years on getting new or renewed passports for us. We can't even drive down to Mexico for family holidays. (Well, I suppose we could enter Mexico but we would not be able to come back home!)

    I have always called them Tater TOTS. To me, tots are young children. Also, I thought MASTIC was a sort of glue. Live and learn.

    Best wishes to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi Y'all! Liked this puzzle, thanks Mike! Funny theme entries which I got on RIME OF PASSION. A few letters at a time filled it, but I'm glad to be back on computer where I can enlarge the type and get red-letter re-direction.

    Varnish resin: tried "lac"... MASTIC a bad start for me. All perps.

    Didn't know: KLAUS, KIRBY, TEO, ERIK, SEAU or SHUE. I did get AARE but had to look up DNIEPER. Amusing that the two Ukraine rivers are DNIEPER and Dniester.

    C.C.: Great expo! Haven't heard of "enhanced ID's" here. However, they are very cranky about not letting anyone vote now without special picture ID or driver's license. I was told to take in an old DL, utility bill and SS card to renew my driver's license but the examiner just grinned and didn't look at anything but the DL.

    AnonT: I saw your last post last night and wondered if you were prepping your scuba gear. Hoped you wouldn't have to swim for it with your ribs in bad shape. Glad some of our southern delegates are reporting in so we know you are okay.

    ReplyDelete
  24. So far as I can tell, California doesn't issue enhanced driver's licenses. Jayce agrees. Big Easy says they give them to illegal aliens. Go figure that out.

    ReplyDelete
  25. PK: LOL!

    The ribs are getting much better. It's the driving on Houston's roads I can do without. I was on Richmond near Shepard today and I screamed in pain hitting 3 (3!) potholes. Not to get too political, but com'on Ms. Parker. I guess I can't really talk; I'm outside the city limits and can't vote.

    For those keeping score, the rain has eased and most of HOU is just fine. If page A1 is to be trusted, Judge Emmett came through again (he's the one that opened the Astrodome after Katrina to welcome our NOLA friends).

    I hope things are settling down tonight in BR & NOLA.

    Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  26. AnonT, I'm glad to read that your ribs are getting better. No fun. No fun at all!

    I asked the librarian for a book about Pavlov's dogs and Schrodinger's cat. She said it rang a bell but she didn't know if it was in or not.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Good Tuesday afternoon, folks. Thank you, Mike Peluso, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.

    Well, this puzzle took me a while. Got it done! Took me a while to catch the theme, but after I did it sped things up a bit. ALLIGATOR CLIP was my Rosetta stone. As Husker Gary said, I used alligator clips all my life in the telephone exchange. I still have a bunch in one of my tool boxes.

    SHOOT PAR was good. I have never shot par in my life for 9 or 18 holes. Individual holes, yes, once in a while.

    Glad to see my home town hit the puzzle again, ERIE PA. I was just there two and a half weeks ago for KEGGS and EGGS in Edinboro, near Erie.

    Enjoyed Kevin's alternate title to the puzzle. Excellent!

    LINTELS was also a new word for me. Not sure I will remember it.

    See you later today with the Tuesday puzzle.

    Abejo

    ( )

    ReplyDelete
  28. What does a cold snap got to do with winter time? It's weather, not time.

    ReplyDelete
  29. THIS ONE REALLY TICKED ME OFF, AND MADE ME CRAZY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE ANSWERS...LIKE LINTELS??? AND PIM???I THREW IT ACROSS THE ROOM BUT THEN IMMEDIATELY WENT AND GOT IT AGAIN....THANKS,ANYWAY.....JAN

    ReplyDelete

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