google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, October 15th 2015 Marti Duguay-Carpenter

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Oct 15, 2015

Thursday, October 15th 2015 Marti Duguay-Carpenter

Theme: Bacchanalian Brigade: Four inebriated entries:

17A. They're loaded : FILM CAMERAS. It's been quite some time since I had to do this - you always lived in trepidation that you'd somehow mess up and either expose the whole roll or shoot 36 frames and never get one on the emulsion:


29A. They're loaded : CROOKED DICE. I've been at craps tables in Las Vegas when I swore there was funny business afoot. In the unloaded light of day, of course it was just me being an appallingly bad gambler. The dice tumble where they may:


45A. They're loaded : BIG SPENDERS. Sadly, not me, probably because of the craps table behavior (see above).

61A. They're loaded : SIX SHOOTERS. Here's an 1882 Colt .44 - Did they mess up, was it meant to be a .45? It was made over 130 years ago, maybe the micrometers weren't so accurate back then. Or the gunsmith was loaded?

 
Good morrow! Steve here with a great mental workout from Marti - all kinds of head-scratching with the fill, and a really nice set of four theme entries, all 11's and no reveal other than the clechoes. The mid-Atlantic section was the one that had me staring down some white squares - EAMES and ENDEAR went in relatively easily, but the rest had me convinced I'd made a major goof until I caught on to the "they're not all single words" possibility and eventually C-NOTE, I.D. TAG and GE'S came to pass. Good stuff! And ....

Across:

1. Chinese secret society : TONG. C.C. might be a member, but of course she couldn't tell us if she was. Shhh!

5. Like many a rural road : SCENIC

11. "Big Blue" : IBM. We've seen Kubrick's "2001" rogue computer HAL quite frequently in the puzzles recently. Add one alphabet-count letter to HAL and you get - IBM.

14. Ancient concert halls : ODEA

15. Music industry underhandedness : PAYOLA

16. Call from a pasture : MOO

19. K+, e.g. : ION. An ionized potassium atom. My chemical knowledge is now officially exhausted.

20. Morning beverage choice, facetiously : UNLEADED. I'm totally defeated by the idea or purpose of decaffeinated coffee in the morning.

21. Dye source : HENNA. I dyed my hair with henna once or twice in my early twenties. Thankfully I realized that a rather jaunty orange wasn't a good look in the financial district in London.

23. Editor's mark : STET

24. Fla.-to-Cal. route : I-TEN

26. Former CNN host Alina : CHO. Thank you, crosses.

34. Terra firma : EARTH. Hmmmm. To me, Terra firma is dry land. Earth is the planet Earth, 90% of which is ocean and decidedly wet.

36. Wedding announcement word : NÉE.  Acute accent on the first "E" if you want to be particular about this.

37. Poet __ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA. Who? Thank you, crosses. I'll let the poetic blog readers pitch in here.

38. One who may need an alibi : LIAR. For explaining why his pants are on fire?

39. Bar closing hr. : ONE A.M. Not in London (11PM) nor LA (2AM). Your mileage may vary.

41. Energy source : ATOM

42. Mediterranean tourist attraction : ETNA

43. Alley target : PIN. Boomer's milieu, not mine. I've been bowling a few times, I think if you described me as "Bambi on a frozen pond" I'd be flattered.

44. Give an address : ORATE

49. Some ranges : GE'S General Electric cooktops. (If you want to put something in my Christmas stocking, I'll take this one, thankyouverymuch - I'll cook you dinner). A little ironic that the burners are gas-fired though:


50. Crown of light : HALO

51. UFO-tracking org. : SETI. The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Was the screen saver that we all so religiously downloaded and left running all night a hoax?

53. Carl Reiner's nine : EMMYS. Nine wins, six nominations. Not too shabby.

56. Take care of : ATTEND TO

60. Eastern way : TAO

64. Jungfrau, for one : ALP. Stunningly beautiful. I've skied parts of the mountain from Grindelwald.


65. Leveling tool : EVENER. OK, hold on - is this really a thing?

66. Carrier with only kosher meals : EL AL

67. Grant foe : LEE

68. Vacation destination : RESORT

69. Long ride : LIMO. This took me a while before the V8 moment! Great stumping for such a little word.

Down:

1. Vegan staple : TOFU

2. Role in the 2011 film "Thor" : ODIN

3. "Little" Dickens girl : NELL. I tried DORI first before I saw sense, realized it would be DORRIT and started over.

4. Olympic __ : GAMES

5. "The Blacklist" star : SPADER. Who he? More crosses to the rescue. This chap:


6. Woke up : CAME TO

7. Looked up and down : EYED

8. Neither partner : NOR

9. Stevedore's gp. : I.L.A. International Longshoreman's Association.

10. Left the tables for the night, with "in" : CASHED. It might equally be "cashed out" except it wasn't clued that way. Something I've rarely done in Vegas (see 27A above). I don't gamble much any more, I'm seriously bad at it.

11. "Let's do it!" : I'M IN. My bad call in Vegas. If you ever hear me say this, cosh me over the head and put me in my room.

12. Blessing : BOON

13. Pulitzer poet Van Duyn : MONA. I'm zero-for-two with poets today. Corner?

18. __ of the day: menu offering : CATCH

22. Make lovable : ENDEAR

24. Furniture store that sells frozen meatballs : IKEA

25. Swarm : TEEM

26. 69-Across user : CELEB

27. "The Pearl of the Antilles" : HAITI

28. Sumatran simian : ORANG

30. Upright : ON END

31. Attachment seen on a carousel : I.D. TAG. The section that caused me conniptions. The ID Tag on your luggage as it takes a few turns around the baggage carousel awaiting collection. They all look the same anyway.

32. 100 bucks : C-NOTE

33. Furniture designer Charles : EAMES

35. Inferior : TRASHY

39. Autobahn auto : OPEL

40. El __ : NIÑO. And a hoped-for wet-weather phenomenon here in Southern California. We have an El Niño forecast for this winter.

44. Bone: Pref. : OSTEO

46. Quarterback, at times : PASSER. Compare with scrambler, flushed-out-of-the-pocket-and-throwing-out-of-bounds-er, dumped on his ass-er, desperately-handing-off-to-the-running-back-er, hail-mary-intecepted-er and, finally, benched-er. Choose your own nominee for this honor.

47. Old Testament queen : ESTHER

48. Comeback : RETORT

52. Recon consequence : INTEL

53. List shortener, for short : ET AL. How about a list of Middle Eastern airlines? El Al, et al

54. Drake, e.g. : MALE. "Duck" didn't work. Here's the rapper Drake:


55. Pout : MOPE

56. "It came __ surprise" : AS NO

57. Sub assembly location : DELI. Chassis, U-boat shipyard and fabrication shop all wouldn't fit.

58. Theme park transport : TRAM

59. Aftenposten newspaper headquarters : OSLO. More facts about OSLO and IKEA today. We are truly turning into experts on Scandinavian trivia.

62. "__ Got You Under My Skin" : I'VE

63. Symbolic kisses : X'ES

And with symbolic kisses, I'll sign off with Marti's trademark {hugs} and the grid is all that's left.


Steve

74 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Pretty straightforward solve today. No unknowns and the only nit was the incorrect cluing (once again) for SETI, which searches for radio signals from other planets and does not track UFOs. I'm really hoping that Rich is to blame for this consistent error.

*sigh*

I suppose I should just let this go, despite how much it bugs me. And yes, I'm aware that SETI can be taken broadly in a general sense to include any sort of searching for intelligent life, which could conceivably involve UFOs. But the word SETI is generally associated with searching for radio signals so I don't know why it can never be clued that way...

In other news, I am apparently officially working for "Big Blue" as of this week. My company was bought out by IBM and we are now officially part of their "Watson Health" division as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Supposedly, nothing will change except that I'll be getting a new laptop computer and (hopefully) better health insurance. Oh, and I now have to chant the official company mantra at least once a day:

IBM
UBM
We all BM
For IBM!

Lemonade714 said...

How nice to see Marti back on Thursday. The poets were both very famous, EDNA a New England icon while MONA won tons of awards.

The rest was all divine miss m with alliteration and wit.

Thanks Steve and marti

Lemonade714 said...

Congrats Barry, go blue!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Felt like a Monday. Didn't know that ESTHER was a queen. Add that to the list of many things I don't know about that book. Maybe Marti will stop by and explain the SETI cluing. I wonder if INTEL was originally clued as a clecho to IBM.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Steve and friends. What a fun puzzle. I just loved it. Lots of fun clues and answers.

Interesting to see EL AL and ET AL.

Also interesting to see ETNA and EDNA. I knew EDNA (1892 ~ 1943) because she was born in Maine and was taught in grade schools when I lived there. MONA (1921 ~ 2004), the poet from Iowa, on the other hand, was a complete unknown.

I initially tried Trek for the Long Ride, but the CELEB showed me the error of the ways.

I live not far off I-10, so that was a gimme. There's a Bar Closing time? And it's ONE A.M.? Tell that the the bars on Bourbon Street!

I love James SPADER in The Blacklist. He was also in a few John Hughes movies, such as Pretty in Pink, back in the day.

QOD: A pair of powerful spectacles has sometimes sufficed to cur a person in love. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche (Oct. 15, 1844 ~ Aug. 25, 1900)

Middletown Bomber said...

Nice Puzzle nice write up. actually have an original Eames chair w/ ottoman in my living room. It is the most comfortable chair in the house even though it does not look like it would be comfortable at all.

Barry G. said...

I know James SPADER primarily from his role as Daniel Jackson from the original "Stargate" movie. He has certainly changed a lot since then...

inanehiker said...

Enjoyed the puzzle and having Marti back on Thursday but in a different capacity.
Theme answers were a nice variety. Vaguely knew most of the names with help from the perps, but CHO was all perps.
I think, Steve, that EARTH as the answer to terra firma was not referring to the planet, but with it as a synonym for dirt or soil.
Enjoyed the write-up, Steve and puzzle, Marti!

thehondohurricane said...


I don't give a hoot whether it's SETI, soti, sati or whatever else. I don't have a lot of interest in who tracks UFO's. No matter the cluing, I usually fill it with perps whenever it appears. My vote is for Rich for allowing it.

As usual, I enjoyed Marti's challenge today. It was fun, yet made you think. Favorite clue was 57D Sub assembly location/DELI. My original thought was General Dynamics, or New London, Ct. Mrs Obama christened the newest sub last weekend.

The only thing I like about IBM is the value of the stock I own. Most arrogant company I ever dealt with, but they supplied a good product. Meeting with them always insured my cursing would remain up to date.




HeartRx said...

Barry G., I had "The 'X-Files' org." as the clue for SETI. [sigh...]

I wanted to come up with four very different meanings of the word LOADED, so I originally had BOOZE HOUNDS as one of the theme entries. So in the puzzle, it would take on the definitions drunk (boozers), deceitful (dice), rich (sugar daddies), and filled (guns). But Rich did not like the connotation of that entry, so I had to swap it for FILM CAMERAS, which IMHO is not nearly as sparkly, and dupes the meaning used for guns.

Oh well...

Barry G. said...

That's all right, Marti -- SETI isn't an X-Files organization, either... ^_^

Jerome said...

Since Marti's theme is "They're loaded",I'm a bit miffed that she couldn't find a way to include Tinbeni and I in the puzzle.

TOFU- The first two words of a gift tag for Manchu.

The blah, blah, blah files- A program that SETI operates is called "Technosignatures".
It's purpose is to search for signs of technology. One of the primary targets of this search is spacecraft. Most people are not very interested in a program that searches for radio signals and to make that the focus of a crossword clue would be a bit boring. But linking that program to alien flying machines is a lot more fun. Yeah, get over it.

SwampCat said...


I struggled with parts of this one...and loved every minute of it! Thanks for the workout, Marti. Good misdirection in key places.

Steve, your guidance was spot on.

Jerome said...

It's... no comments from the grammar gestapo... please.

CrossEyedDave said...

Oh well,

Fun,tough in places (like everywhere...) but doable with time & thought. (Almost...)

1A Secret society? how am I supposed to know???
Because of a misspelled 14A odia my 3D little Dickens girl looked like "Lill."
but TOLG looked wrong, so I went with Gill. (Bzzt!)

From there, the plot Dickens, (um,er, Thickens.)
With no TADA using the dead tree version, I forgot to check my work.
Having figured out big spenders & six shooters I assumed all the loaded entries
would have an "S" at the end, & filled them in.

Hmm, I should have noticed that crooked dics (while potentially loaded) could
not possibly be right...

Re: Last night, Hmm, me do a write up?
Interesting, but I don't think my sense of humor would pass the breakfast test.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Marti got me with her LOADED puzzle. Didn't know CHO, and HAITI hasn't been a pearl for centuries.

Columbus enslaved the local population, who were eventually completely destroyed.

I only drink the UNLEADED variety, as I am too wimpy to tolerate much caffeine.

Time to play cars with my grandson, so IMBO

Cool regards!
JzB

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Good puzzle, Marti. Enjoyed your write-up, Steve.

Fairly easy for a Thursday. Ended up in the central Pacific; needed perps for CHO, and resisted thinking of HAITI as a 'pearl', but perps ruled. Reiner getting 9 EMMYS was a learning.
DRAKE - Wanted Sir Francis first but it wouldn't fit.
I use my EVENER all the time to insure the bridge table is level and the cards won't slide off.

Have a great day.

Tinbeni said...

ONE AM ??? ... really ???
Glad I live in an area where the "Bar closing time" is THREE AM ...
Though I think if you can't get LOADED by Mid-Night you're NOT really trying. LOL

Marti: Thank You for a FUN Thursday puzzle. LOADED being one of y favorite themes. Go figure ...

Liked how "CASHED (in)" @10-d then led to "IM IN" @11-d.

All-in-All this was my favorite Marti Puzzle to solve.

A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset ... geez, it is a beautiful day today.
October is the best time of the year here in Florida ...
(Along with ALL the other months of the year).
Cheers.

Tinbeni said...

oops ... LOADED being one of MY favorite themes ... Go figure ...

Also forgot to thank Steve for an outstanding write-up.
Never occurred to my how ironic it was that my GAS Range is made by General Electric.

TTP said...

Good morning all. Thank ypu Marti. Thank you Steve.

Odd solve today. Completed all but SCENIC, PAYOLA and AMERAS in the first ten minutes. Then spent 17 minutes trying to work out something in that mid north area. I did have NOR down, and held off putting in STONED for "Like many a rural road."

It was one of the two clues that was driving me nuts that finally broke it open. I had no idea what "Left the tables for the night, with in" meant. The busboy didn't clean up the tables at the restaurant ? But what about the "with in" part ?

It finally CAME TO me. Since I don't gamble, go to Vegas or the boats, or even play the lottery, the "CASHED in" and "(gaming) tables" concept is normally way deep down in the recesses somewhere. Solved that area within a minute after realizing it was CASHED (in).

BTW, on that gambling subject, Illinois is so broke that they aren't paying off Lottery winners who have won more than $600. No money left and no budget has been approved. Cook County is so broke they are going to add a new 3% tax on bowling, golfing, and cable TV. Expected to bring in $20 million.

TTP said...


Bars in Chicago and Cook County can stay open until FOUR AM. I guess one could go there to drown in the sorrow of their Illinos Lottery winnings. They'll get paid someday. Supposedly.

The other clue that plagued me was "Music industry underhandedness." PAYOLA became obvious, but is that term specific to the music industry ? Chicago Public Schools CEO Babara Byrd-Bennet awarded $23 million in no bid contracts to her former employer, and was going to receive millions in return. Are illegal kickbacks and PAYOLA the same thing ?

Jungfrau - Been there, done that. Being in the Swiss Alps on Jungfrau, looking down on Interlaken has to be the most SCENIC place I've ever been.

Husker Gary from yesterday, what is a "combo rat ?"

Hahtoolah said...

My first thought for symbolic kisses was XXX. At least one letter was correct.

I think Esther is Persian in origin. The Biblical book of Esther is about Queen Esther who was the Jewish wife of the King of Persia. In Hebrew, her name is Hadassah.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

A fun and straightforward offering from our own Miss M. Needed a few perps (not familiar with Cho) but, overall, smooth sailing. Thanks, Marti 💟 and Steve, 🎲🎲 for an enjoyable mid-October tricky treat! 🎃

The bars in NY state close at 4:00 a.m., as far as I know. 🍺 🍻

James Spader is terrific in The Blacklist. He is one of those rare talents who can say more with a raised eyebrow or a sardonic smirk than an entire page of dialogue can.🎭 🎬

Have a great day.

Paras G said...

I enjoy doing the LA times crossword everyday first thing in the morning and reading the blog after I have done my best. It is the right level of challenge for me and sometimes, like today, I even get a tada moment. Usually it is the enjoyable amount of struggle for me.

Marti's name comes up a lot and I did a Google search to see if I can find her picture. This is where I found it among George Barany Crossword Friends.

http://www.chem.umn.edu/groups/baranygp/puzzles/gbfriends/gbfriends.htm

Paras G

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning!

I've been off the puzzles and the Corner this week. Not enough hours in my days right now, and something had to give. Missed ya!

Thanks, Marti. So that's where you've been hiding out. Great puzzle and a fine tour by Steve. Thanks.

Favorites: LIMOS and GES. Didn't think I would ever break through there!

Have a good day, all!

Lemonade714 said...

I loved JAMES SPADER on BOSTON LEGAL especially his trial scenes and those with William Shatner

Anonymous said...

I, too, loved James Spader in Boston Legal.

desper-otto said...

Paras G: Marti's picture has appeared often on this blog. She posted a couple pics when she announced her retirement from weekly blogging. Check the October 1 blog.

Steve, don't you think 90% is a bit much?

Hahtoolah, you must be a lot older than I thought if you were in Maine while EDNA was in grade school. :)

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Marti, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.

Zipped right through this puzzle today. Went like a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Only one inkblot. I tried to write in MARKED DICE without checking the letter count. Eventually CROOKED DICE was obvious.

Liked the theme. They all made sense.

ID TAG took me a while to figure out. I was thinking of a Merry-go-round type carousel. Almost wrote in HORSE, but held off.

Cannot remember the last time I took a LIMO to the airport. My company would pay for us to do that, but I was too cheap and always took the train, a bus, and then another train. Total about $5.00 at that time. Now it is cheaper for me because I am a senior and get a discount.

IKEA is quite a place. Out here there is one near the Mall in Woodfield. They serve a breakfast for $1.00, at least they used to. Have not been there in a while.

FILM CAMERAS reminds me of my favorite camera ever, a Canon AE-1. Was stolen when our house was robbed about 12 years ago. That is when I switched to digital.

Enjoyed the banter on SETI. One of these days I will remember what it stands for.

Lots to do today. See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Lucina said...

Greetings, friends!

What a great Marti party! Thank you. I also zipped through this rather quickly, with downs assisting the crosses. TONG and MONA were unknowns. LIMO as a long ride has appeared in many puzzles I've done. So has MOPE but I had MOUE and I failed to change it. Drat!

It occurs to me that future generations will never know about FILM CAMERAS or the little canisters they came in and were so helpful to teachers for many projects.

Speaking of SCENIC drives, my sister-in-law took a wrong turn on our way to Highland and we drove through a gorgeous area leading to Riverside then a turn off toward Redlands. It wasn't east coast beautiful, but lovely just the same.

IKEA serves breakfast?

Have a splendid day, everyone!

Bill G. said...

That was a fun, challenging puzzle. Thanks Marti and Steve. I almost e-mailed Marti a couple of times last night to tell her that she got me a couple of times.

Re: I.D. Tags. For years now my daughter has tied a big pink ribbon to her luggage handle. It makes it easy to spot as it circles the carousel.

I first became a fan of slightly-weird James Spader on slightly-weird Boston Legal, one of the all-time great TV shows. I've started enjoying it all over again on cable reruns.

Rich is very careful to ensure the cluing is very accurate. (I think I remember his kicking back a nice puzzle by Marti because its theme involved a snake in the grass and he researched that rattlesnakes weren't found in grass but instead...?) Anyway, it seems odd that he throws SETI in with UFOs when it was really about looking for electronic signals from outer space that weren't the usual random noise. But never mind. I see I'm supposed to get over it. OK, I will. And I was going to add a small grammar comment too but I guess I won't...

I loved my Canon AE-1 too.

Misty said...

It's always exciting to see a Marti puzzle, though I worried about the challenge since this is a Thursday. But it worked beautifully, if slowly, and in the end I only had to get help with EAMES, which I realized I had actually heard of, and should have gotten. So, thank you Marti, for a satisfying and fun morning, and you, too, Steve, for your always delightful write-up.

Have a great day, everybody!

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Thank you Marti for a great puzzle! I, however, missed all the PINs in the Central East by rolling a gutter ball. DNF. (thanks for popping in w/ the back-story - I was looking for a sot)

Thanks Steve for a sparkly sober write-up Loaded w/ info.

Let's see...

I didn't know what a Stevedore is - maybe the bassist for eLo? When I finally Googled 5d, things became more SCENIC (with the exception of two ink blots). All cleared there, but ENamoR and a GaS range (I thought great c/a pair!) burned down that area.

Other w/o: RETuRn b/f RETORT.

Fav - SETI. Just 'cuz I knew it'd set Berry off :-)

Coincidental Fav - I-TEN xing IKEA. How'd Marti know that IKEA is on I-TEN in HOU?!?

ONE AM closing time is weak - not in the grid, but in general. They wouldn't restock the beer in my mini-bar at 2a in Denver. Wanks.

Rob Reiner & son produced brilliant work. I won't bother you w/ another Spinal Tap or Dick Van Dyke link.

CED - re: breakfast test; Rich ain't editing the blog...

Cheers, -T

Freond said...

Fun puzzle today. Seemed likes in every section I had to make some wrong guesses that needed to be corrected, but those became obvious & not hard to repair. That's the way I like puzzles. Not so easy that there's no challenge, but not impossibly obscure either.

Last section was the east side, where I stupidly had crooked DECK not DICE. Once that fell, I was home free. Never did fathom it was a luggage carousel until reading the write-up. Thanks so much for that.

Husker Gary said...

It’s always good to see you back in the fold Marti! Very enjoyable and clever puzzle. Some ranges and Long ride? Fabulous!

Musings
-Subbing today and so my website access is curtailed.
-FILM CAMERAS have mostly gone the way of the buggy whip
-Buying these and getting caught could cost you some broken bones
-In those OATERS, they never seem to have to reload those SIX SHOOTERS
-Our SCENIC drive down the Pacific Coast highway was marred by the extreme drought. I still wish I had known I was going to be in Jerome’s town. I’da bought him an ice cream.
-UNLEADED at breakfast leads to a dull headache later. Addicted? Who’s addicted?
-I know Margaret CHO but not Alina
-LIAR, LIAR - a fav of my college days
-Does anyone remember seeing this Disney demo of ATOMIC fission
-I can’t make out the ski lodge on Jungfrau, Steve. ☺_
-Here is one of those high flying kosher meals, with a bagel no less.
-A CELEB exiting a LIMO can be an event
-Daughter’s friend said ORANGS were the most dangerous animal in the zoo
-Read y'all later. I've got to get back to slope/intercept.

Lucina said...

Oooh, I forgot to thank Steve who puts the glaze on the doughnut. Thanks, Steve!

unclefred said...

So many comments today, and such a long search...in vain...for Owen's limericks.

Other than that, a challenging but fun puzzle, thanks, Marti, and a terrific (as usual) write-up, thanks, Steve.

Least favorite clue: "Attachment seen on a carousel". IDTAG? Humph!

Anonymous said...

Marti was correct about the grassland rattlesnake and Rich was mistaken.
The National Wildlife federation says, regarding rattlesnakes,
"Habitat: They live in a variety of habitats, including forest, grasslands, scrub brush, swamps, and deserts, and they are also capable swimmers."

Anonymous said...

It's been a good week of puzzles for me! I haven' aced all of them but I'm getting better. Thanks, Marti, for the pleasant morning activity. Thanks, Steve, for the write-up.

For 5a I wanted "full of pot-holes", then "bumpy" but they didn't fit. Here's a SCENIC road: Link text

Have a great Thursday!

Pat

Big Easy said...

Been super busy lately and had to take time at noon to do today's puzzle. It was definitely in my wheelhouse; a five minute solve with MONA, CHO and TONG being the only unknowns solved by perps.


HAITI- a better desciption would be 's**thole of the Antilles'. I only know SPADER from my wife watching that show. 'Bar closing hr.'- there's not one in New Orleans- many are open 24 hours. I noticed it was abbreviation Thursday with IBM, CELEB, LIMO,C-NOTE,ID TAG, ORANG, DELI, ILA, & INTEL filling in for the real words. I'll leave ET Al alone.

Hahtoolah- I'm riding my TREK 40 miles Saturday for the Ride The Big Easy tour and 50 miles Sunday in the Tour de Jefferson. Marti- my wife says to get a 'sugar mama' to support us both. Still looking without any success. Abejo- LIMOs are cheaper than taxis going and coming from airports in NYC.

Hahtoolah said...

DO - ya got me! Sometimes I fee that old!

Avg Joe said...

Good to see your name this morning Marti. Thanks for the fun outing. The only unknowns were Mona and Cho, but perps were solid.

Enjoyed your intro as well, Steve. I might have something that evens out the irony of a GE gas range. I've got a power impact wrench built by Chicago Pneumatic.....it's electric. True story.

OK, AnonT. Looks like it's dueling Closing times. How bout this: Closing Time? No? Then maybe this: Closing Time?

Husker Gary said...

Musings 2
-TTP, My friend drummed in a lot of small groups (mostly rock and roll) and referred to himself as COMBO RAT. Kids who are in the gym constantly can be called “GYM RATS”
-Great SETI movie! I’ve linked it before but if your memory is like mine…
-This movie uses a unique code to converse with Earth
-Like Bill’s daughter, I put these around my black luggage rather than depend on an ID TAG
-KC Royals were fabulous last night and Kaufman Stadium was full again. SRO tickets are now $118 apiece for the Toronto Games. Yikes!
-Houston’s (not the NY street) great pitcher Dallas Keuchel will have to live with pitching on two days rest and giving up a dinger in his last appearance until next season. He’s still a stud!

K-Dub said...

Great puzzle by our divine miss m and the usual good spin by Steve. NW was the first to be examined but the last to fall. A few inkblots; RETURN before RETORT, PLANER before EVENER (really?)...liked BOOZE HOUNDS much better than FILM CAMERAS.

I'm in the James Spader fan club from Sex, Lies and Videotapes onward.

Jerome - Come on, don't crosswords and grammar go hand in hand? BTW - "...Tinbeni and me." Jawohl!

Anonymous T said...

1st - Apologies to Barry for spelling it Berry and to Carl Reiner (not Rob)... fingers type faster than the brain thinks...

Big Easy - I love TREK bikes. My brother has one and I used to too. I now (well, before the broken ribs) ride a Specialized he handed-up to me. Only a finger is needed to lift it (all carbon). My bro got to ride it and drive his old Alfa while he was here. He looks good on/in both. I just look like a guy w/ a mid-life issue. ;-)

I tried to find the WKRP episode dealing w/ PAYOLA (how I learned about about the '50s (60's?) scandal; see mom, TV can be educational). I think it was Season1 Episode20 (21?). I can only find links through paid services.

I had a hand-me-down '76 Minolta FILM CAMERA from mom. I loved playing with it. My fav time was setting up extended exposures to capture Gramp's cactus blooming at ONE AM. I don't know the type of cactus it is; the body is thick and 5 star'd and the bloom is snow white only 1x/yr (do you know this Lucina? Gramp stole it from AZ in the '80s). I now have a cutting and it still blooms.

On ID TAGs - I'm afraid to tell my secret for ID'n my bag on the carousel; for then everyone will do it and I can't ID mine! OK, it's painter's blue-tape on the handle & side. Please go shhhh (TONG) on that!

Steve - I agree. Why on EARTH would there be UNLEADED coffee; just drink H2O.

Cheers, -T

Yellowrocks said...

Anonymous T, was it the night blooming cereus? I was invited to see the event once when I was young.
Link text
Link time lapse

Bill G. said...

Gary, yes, it's from Our Friend the Atom. I assume everyone noticed that they filmed it in an room with several mirrors to add to the effect. Cool beans...

Yellowrocks said...

Why are some of my posts showing up as emails? I did not email anyone.


TTP said...

Husker Gary, thanks. I had never heard combo rat before. Now I get it. I know gym rat. Never thought of the music sense for combo.

Anon-T, I read the WIKI on PAYOLA after posting. Very interesting. Didn't know (or forgot) that history. There was a game show scandal too !

Here's an educational film from 1951 about Going Steady. My how times have changed !

OK, my break time is over. Back to cleaning up the garage !

Anonymous T said...

YR - I don't know; I can't see the Cactus. I thought cereus was the generic term for any night-bloomin' cactus (something else to look up).

I found a bunch of pencil-ly bodied cacti, but mine has a trunk (for lack of a better word) that's as big as my thigh and no arms.

Thanks for the links though; absolutely beautiful. If you can, stick your nose in their. Their smell is subtle, but so sweet.

TTP - NPR is disucssing the IL lottery issue on Here & Now now. Intractable it seems until a budget is passed...

KayUUJay - "Come on, don't crosswords and grammer go hand in hand?" No! I suck at both. I play the puzzle 'cuz it's fun trivia, learning moments, (OC) and they reenforce letter patterns (that I never seem to get - see I before E from last week; our Puzzle Pals just kept adding exceptions!) for a dyslexic.

Now, if you want to know 1010/10 (=0101) - I'm your dude :-) C, -T

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Fun puzzle, Marti! Great expo!

Strangely, the only answer that gave me fits was SCENIC. Out my way, the rural roads are "dusty" or "unpaved" but not very scenic, strictly utilitarian farm-to-market pathways.

Doing the puzzle on-line again was a real treat after having my computer down since the last of May again. I've only had the LAT puzzle in my Sunday paper which took me all afternoon and usually DNF. Missed this Corner. I've tried a couple of times to get the computer going. Don't know what I was doing wrong when it crashed. Don't know what I did right that got it going. I think it just got lonely after being ignored and decided to cooperate again. Or whoever was hacking in and screwing me up, got tired of the game and went away. Sure! I bet that's it!

I realized how bad I missed Y'all when I worried about whoever was in a storm or fire area. Whoever had been ill or had ill relatives, I worried about -- like Gary & Yellowrocks & her Alan. Now I need to catch up on all the news.

CrossEyedDave said...

My 1st thought of a loaded film camera was those old trick
cameras that was actually a water pistol. Unfortunately the
only pic on the internet caused my Anti-Virus program to
freak out. I guess I will have to go with a backup pic.

Also,I have been having a problem with my loaded dice...

Why is having a wad of ones associated with being a cheapskate?

& for when a six shooter just isn't enough...

Tinbeni said...

Steve
The EARTH I'm on is only approximately 71% wet.

My major concern regarding our EARTH is ...
What percent is Scotch?

Jerome said...

KayUUJay- Crosswords and grammar certainly do go hand in hand. However, grammar in the hands of an academic failure like me is more like Tarzan talk than the king's English. But that's why there are crossword editors. I really do believe there should be blog editors as well. So that the occasional (I had to look that up to see if there is one s or two) misplaced comma, misspelled word or misused usage ( Is there such a thing?) doesn't drive the professorial types more bonkers.

miss Beckley said...

Hey, KayUUJay, are you a Jayhawk? I graduated KU in 1970.

Yellowrocks said...

PK,how wonderful to hear from you. I think of you often and find myself anticipating your always intersting replies. Welcome back.
The Corner preserves my sanity.I have been down because Alan's MRI shows a herniated disc in his neck with much pain along with other serious problems. I have to decide every day whether to force him to go to work. Mostly he feels no worse at work than at home. I worry about the prospect of spinal surgery. We are both scared. I hesitated to participate here, but you enticed me back in. Thanks for being there.

Anonymous T said...

TTP - Steady link was LOL. Today it's more like "I'll txt U." "Just me?"

DW & I skipped 'steady' and went right to the alter. 27 years later, no regrets here, I can't speak for her. :-)

Seriously, they're playing Checkers? No wonder 'Jeff' can't decide. Q-A8; mate!*

Cheers, -T
*there's a bad pun there somewhere...

Spitzboov said...

RIP Ken Taylor, formerly Her Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Iran, 1977 - 1980. He helped six Americans escape from Iran during the Hostage Crisis. It was depicted in the movie "Argo".
I had the privilege of meeting him at Ft. Drum in 1981. A Real Mensch. Thank you Canada.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Neat-o puzzle today. I enjoyed it.
So, should I uninstall Adobe Flash? Which LAT puzzle sites (Mensa, etc.) don't require it?
Best wishes to you all.

K-Dub said...

Miss Beckley - Unfortunately, I have no ties to Kansas. I am a Cheesehead and a Badger (ChE 1981 - University of Wisconsin - Madison) displaced in Chicago for 35 years. The screen name is a simple phonetic play on my initials (KWJ) but I appreciate your ingenious interpretation.

Husker Gary said...

Anonymous T. If I have $10 and split it among 2 friends, they would each get $5. Right?

Steve said...

Thanks for the corrections on my 90% water claim, I'm not sure were I got that "terra aqua" stat from!

Freond said...

There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't.

Lucina said...

AnonT@1:38
Yes, I do know about the night blooming cereus. Your granpa stole it? Oh, my, he could have gone to jail.


When I replaced my last suitcase after it wore out, I bought a red one. It really stands out among all those black ones.

Is there anyone who hasn't seen last night's Jeopardy? I want to comment on it.

CanadianEh! said...

Thanks Marti and Steve for a fun day. I finally got here after a busy week (but I did get time to watch our Toronto Blue Jays recover from the brink of defeat). Series against Kansas should be interesting.

Lovely reminder of the most SCENIC lunch I have ever enjoyed - picnic on the lawn across from the Grand Victoria Hotel in Interlaken looking up at Jungfrau! Yes TTP, it is just as beautiful from that direction. Hang gliders landed in the park while we were eating.

Thanks Spitzboov for the news re Ken Taylor. He was truly a Canadian hero.

Avg Joe said...

Lucy, I saw it, and posted my warning before the finale. It was interesting.

Also, let me be the 2nd one to welcome PK back. You have been missed.

Jayce said...

Lucina, please do comment.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks, Marti and Steve for great work.

Only perps were CHO and MONA. Otherwise easy.

Can't wait for The Blacklist tonight!

Cheers!

Tinbeni said...

Let's Go Mets !!!

Though I will be rooting for the Chicago CUBS in the NLCS !!!

In the ALCS ... (sorry, Husker) I will be rooting for CanadianEh!'s Toronto Blue Jays.
Geez, Gal-Pal lives about 100yds from their Spring Training Site on Salon Ave. in Dunedin, Fla.

Bill G. said...

Yes Lucina, I'm curious about your opinion. It seemed odd to me; almost as if he were throwing the game.

Well, I'm disappointed in the Dodgers though I think most of the other teams who are still in it are better. All year they have had trouble driving in runners in scoring position. They did have two great starting pitchers but not much success with their middle or set-up relievers.

Anonymous T said...

Freond - yep :-) A buddy of mine had that poster in cube. I LOL'd when I saw it; that's when we became buds.

Lucina - I don't know if gramps knew it was illegal to take a cactus from the desert; he just thought it was cool.

Good game tonight. This has been the best post-season in years. Cheers, -T

Lucina said...

AnonT:
I'm jesting with you. Only certain species of cactus are protected and likely the night blooming cereus is not one of them. I'm glad you still have its progeny.

Bill:
I've noticed that after they've been on over a week or two the champions seem tired and that's what I noticed about Matt. He was less energetic than even the previous day. I just hope our comments from the Blog didn't jinx him!!

PK said...

I noticed that Matt didn't seem really as driven to win the day he lost. Perhaps he'd achieved whatever goal he had set for himself. Does anyone know how they do those shows? Whether they tape Jeopardy a week's worth in a day like I think wheel of fortune does from comments Pat Sajak has made. As hard as the questions are, doing several half-hour shows in a day would certainly tax the brain.

Anonymous T said...

PK - Welcome back! I'd reply to you off-line so I don't over-post, but... (Argyle, feel free to do your thing)

I found this site on Jeopardy FAQs. It reads they tape 2x a week a whole week at a time.

For giggles, I found this Weird Al.

Cheers, -T