google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, January 11 2016, Robert E. Lee Morris

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Jan 12, 2016

Tuesday, January 11 2016, Robert E. Lee Morris

Theme: It's a wash.


17A. *Alabama team : CRIMSON TIDE


11D. *Raspberry : BRONX CHEER
 24D. *Tinseltown trade : SHOW BIZ
28. *Dieter's concern : WEIGHT GAIN
62. Lengthy litany ... and, literally, what the ends of the answers to starred clues comprise : LAUNDRY LIST

Perfect Tuesday level puzzle. Needed perps to fill in the long acrosses, and a couple initial guesses were wrong but other than that, sailed right through.

Melissa here.

Across       

1. In any way : AT ALL

6. Brief : SHORT

11. Pack the groceries : BAG

14. Actress O'Donnell : ROSIE

15. "Peter, Peter, pumpkin __" : EATER

16. TV brand : RCA


19. Boston Bruin great Bobby : ORR

20. Fisherman's Wharf entrée : SEA BASS

21. Kevin of "Dances With Wolves" : COSTNER

23. Honey makers : BEES

25. Okla. neighbor : TEX

26. Fighting : AT WAR

30. Item inserted through eyelets : SHOE LACE

34. Nappy leather : SUEDE

35. Woodwind instrument : OBOE

36. "Veep" channel : HBO

38. x or y, on graphs : AXIS

39. Dickens' Drood : EDWIN. The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

41. Crystal ball gazer : SEER

42. Cribbage marker : PEG

43. One of 14 in a pro's golf bag : CLUB

44. Like xenon and krypton : INERT

45. Dietary supplement obtained from predatory fish : SHARK OIL

48. Up on a map : NORTH

49. Letter before upsilon : TAU

50. Clearasil targets : ZITS. Tried acne first.

52. Vein in the neck : JUGULAR

56. Actress Wood : NATALIE

61. Eggs : OVA

64. Hawaiian wreath : LEI

65. Cubs Hall of Famer Banks : ERNIE

66. One committed to a military career : LIFER

67. Coppertone user's goal : TAN

68. Lear daughter : REGAN. Unknown to me. Middle child of King Lear, married to the Duke of Cornwall.

69. Cosmetician Lauder : ESTEE

Down

1. Circle segments : ARCS

2. Ripped : TORE

3. Cambodia's continent : ASIA.

 Locator Map of Cambodia

4. Swing support : LIMB

5. Longtime Buick model : LESABRE

6. Feels : SENSES

7. Boater or bowler : HAT

8. Suffix with psych : OTIC. Psychotic.

9. Decorate again : REDO

10. Railroad bridge support : TRESTLE

12. 43,560 square feet : ACRE

13. Actress Teri : GARR. Impressive career.

18. Sugary ending : OSE

22. Earl Grey, for one : TEA

26. "Now!" in memos : ASAP

27. Monkey suits : TUXES

29. Newspaper revenue source : ADS

31. __-Wan Kenobi : OBI

32. Very long time : EON

33. Longtime partner of Siskel : EBERT

37. Sports MD's specialty : ORTH. Don't remember hearing this shortened version of the word before.

39. Yellowstone grazer : ELK

40. Batman and Robin, e.g. : DUO

41. __-cone: shaved ice dessert : SNO

43. Doughnut with a twist : CRULLER

44. Fashionable : IN STYLE. Trendy didn't fit.

46. Nonpro sports org. : AAU. Amateur Athletic Union.

47. Tree also called basswood : LINDEN

51. La Brea goo : TAR

52. Quite a blow : JOLT

53. Eye layer containing the iris : UVEA

54. Swiss river : AARE

55. Step on a ladder : RUNG

57. Boxers Muhammad and Laila : ALI'S

58. English elevator : LIFT

59. "Gotcha" : I SEE

60. French I infinitive : ETRE

63. Actress Vardalos : NIA. Did not remember her name, but her face is very recognizable, from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."


Melissa


Note from C.C.:

Yesterday was the first day at pre-school for Lemonade's adorable granddaughter Charlotte.  

 

 This is picture of Charlotte and her Dad Arron and sister Harper. (Correction: Aaron)

Click here for a few more.

48 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Much easier than yesterday's puzzle as far as I was concerned. For most of the grid I simply couldn't enter the answers in fast enough and actually made some careless typos as a result. Still, my time ended up being faster than most Mondays.

Only real misstep was putting in WEIGHT LOSS before WEIGHT GAIN (I obviously wasn't paying attention to the theme), and the only unknown (such as it was) was SHARK OIL. I've heard of fish oil, and I knew that people eat shark meat and shark fins, but I had no idea that SHARK OIL was a thing. The perps took care of it before I even saw it, though.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Pretty much a speed run today, didn't need or catch onto the theme until the last minute. Crimson Tide is timely for me, since I'm surrounded by fans thereof (who are in a good mood today).

Morning MBee! Glad you're driving today.

OwenKL said...

Another one of those days when no ta-da warned me a problem existed, but I found and corrected it without further help. I had JUGULAR misspelt as JUGleAR.

TEX, TAU, TAN, TEA, TAR -- after yesterdays TEE=shirts, I think we have a micro-theme going here.

Time and TIDE wait for no man!
The time to GAIN is now if you can!
You must be a "whiz"
To get into this BIZ --
Racing cars to hear a CHEER from the stands!

Time and TIDE wait for no man!
The time to GAIN is now if you can!
You must be a "Wiz"
To get into this BIZ --
Making apps can give CHEER to the smartphone clan!

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks, REL and mb!

Easier than Monday. Almost a speed run. I also had not heard of SHARKOIL, but, as Barry said, it filled itself in mostly before I had a chance to worry about it!

Time for bed. Really late tonight, sob!

Cheers!

Lemonade714 said...

Sometimes I think Rich is a prescient seeing the puzzle featuring CRINSON TIDE the morning after Alabama won its 4th championship in the last 7 years.

WEES except the CEO to our Earl Grey drinkers.

Thanks RELM and Melissa b

Big Easy said...

Super fast speed run this morning. If the puzzle had contained 'PAPER TIGER' and CRIMSON TIDE Rich could have been on the safe side. My only speed bump was between TORN or TORE on 2D

I know 'Cribbage' is a type of game; just didn't know if it would be TEE or PEG. The rest filled as fast as I could put the pen on the paper.

Gotta go. Plumber coming at 7:30.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and the reveal could have almost been PROCTER & GAMBLE- TIDE, CHEER, GAIN

P&G brands

unclefred said...

Fun, fast, witty CW. Thanks, RELM! Nice write-up, thanks Melissa! Got 'er done faster than yesterday. Only write-over was spelling TRESTLE as TRESSLE. What's that stupid "T" doing in there, anyway? That left "Okla. neighbor" as SEX. I figured that wasn't right, then the light came on.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Stumbled here and there in my race to the bottom. This one was definitely a speed run. No, I didn't get the theme. Big surprise! Guess who failed to read the entire reveal clue. Again.

I've got an el-cheapo Windows10 laptop arriving today. Sure hope the learning curve isn't too steep. I feel naked cruising the net aboard this ancient XP machine.

Tinbeni said...

Melissa: Excellent write-up! Almost as much FUN as my solving experience.

Robert E. Lee Morris: Nice puzzle with a great theme.
If it had something stronger than TEA (to drink) it would have been my favorite this year.

How appropriate that the first theme was CRIMSON TIDE.

unclefred: That "S" instead of "T" in TRESTLE was my "V-8 Can" moment also.
(I really wanted SEX with that "Okla. neighbor" ... lol)

When I woke up this morning it was 12 degrees below "Florida-Freezing!" ...
Yup, it was 39 degrees @5:45am ... though it has already warmed up to 47, heading to 61 by noon.
Gotta-tell-ya, I don't know how y'all survive in those much colder places.

A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!

TTP said...


I soiled right through, but it all came out in the wash.

Actually, no issues AT ALL.

We don't see TRESTLE for ages, and recently have it twice.

Didn't know REGAN but it perped in. Didn't see ETRE until Melissa's review.

Yep, Nick Saban and the CRIMSON Tide won their fourth national championship in the last seven years. Saban's fifth.

Wonder how many he would have if he had stayed in Baton Rouge ? Speaking of LSU, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele left for Auburn, and was quickly replaced by Dave Aranda, who makes a lateral move from Wisconsin. In addition to moving to a warmer clime, he'll get a bump in pay, with his salary almost tripling from $520K to $1.3M. Nice lateral, but Saban still tops the list of highest paid college footbal coaches at over $7M annually.

Tinbeni said...

Funny thing about the game last night.

Alabama was favored by 7 points ... in the betting world ...
BUT when the Clemson Tigers scored that final Touchdown with 12 seconds left ... they covered the spread.
(The final score was Bama 45 the Tigers 40).

As a result ...
Alabama CRIMSON TIDE won the National Championship ... but ...
The Clemson Tiger Fans WON the Bets.

In-A-Way ... both sides WON, LOL!

Yellowrocks said...

As most of you said, this one was a breeze, faster than yesterday with no pausing to ponder. I sometimes wonder how the solving difficulty is determined. No complete unknowns, but I needed a few perps to suggest and/or confirm some answers.
I learned REGAN from X words.

D/O good luck with your new computer. My older son who is into computers believes that people who get Windows 10 on a new computer have little trouble, but people who add it to an old computer often have glitches. I will wait for Windows 10 until I get a new one.
I am sure you know this, but some others may not: When my last computer would not open most of my files and pictures I had a tech transfer them to my new computer. I didn't lose a thing.

Owen KL, I have been enjoying your almost daily limericks.

TTP said...

That was a great game, wasn't it ?
Since Aja, I will forever associate CRIMSON TIDE with Deacon Blues.

Someone needs a little help with their math

I don't have any qualms about using either of my Windows XP PCs for surfing. But I don't do any online shopping, manage my finances, or file my taxes on them.

Haven't upgraded either one of my Win 7 machines to Win 10 yet, but people I respect say that upgrading is no big deal, and that they are having no issues. I'll find ou for myself in a few months.

Magilla Go-Rilla said...

A Tuesday "zip-thru". Tomorrow the fun begins.

Lemonade714 said...

Mike's wife called him into the kitchen early one morning, where he found her by the stove making breakfast.

"Take off you pajamas and make love to me now." she said.

Almost falling down complying, Mike agreed gleefully.

Afterwards, his wife went back to the stove.

"Honey, what did I do to deserve this great start to my day?" Mike asked.

"Oh, Mike, the egg timer was broken and you know I like my eggs soft-boiled."

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

An easy, breezy exercise with no bumps at all. Cute theme which I didn't catch until the reveal.

Thanks, Melissa and RELM, for an enjoyable Tuesday treat.

It's very cold here with some snow expected later in the day.

Have a great day.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Robert E Lee Morris, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Melissa Bee, for a fine review.

As others said, I zipped through this pretty easily. No inkblots.

22D was my favorite. Earl Grey TEA. I am on my sixth cup this morning, as we speak. I am shopping around for another brand right now. I have been drinking Teavana. They recently raised the price to $40 a pound.

Liked the theme. Our laundry detergent is not part of it. We use Arm and Hammer. I also use Arm and Hammer toothpaste.

Could not remember if LE SABRE was with an ER or RE. I waited for the perps.

The square footage for ACRE lead me to do a little math and the factory I used to work at was 51 acres under one roof. Big place.

Now I have to report in for yesterday since I did Monday's puzzle this morning also. Sunday's I could not finish. I may try later today. I do not look stuff up.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Lemonade714 said...

BTW C.C. has today's NYT for those who like a Tuesday challenge.

Northwest Runner said...

Alabama residents can verify this, but I once heard that despite the fact it uses Auburn colors in its logo, Tide detergent is not a big seller in and around the city of Auburn.

CanadianEh! said...

Much faster today. Thanks Robert and Melissa Bee.

WEES. Noted the CSO to our Earl Grey tea drinkers, Torn before TORE.
Also had Gases before INERT and Iron before CLUB (14 irons is a few too many LOL!)

This Canadian likes these crullers.
TimHortonsCruller

When the family camped at Yellowstone, I recall the ELK but also the warnings re grizzly bears and safe camping procedures. They were the most stringent of any of our camping areas!

My father loved Buicks and I still remember the baby blue 1961 LeSabre
BuickLeSabre

We finally have snow!

CanadianEh! said...

At first I thought the theme was a little weak/sparse. BIZ and GAIN are not available/popular here and thus I only saw TIDE and CHEER.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

As Maxwell Smart would say... "Missed it by that much." I guessed an L @47d xing 68a. DNF, er, FIW.

Thanks RELM for a quick Tuesday (though washday is Sunday) and Melissa B. for the writeup.

S. Central was a WAG-fest for me. 54d, 63d, & 47d were perps & guesses. The killer was 68a xing them all. 2/3 WAG'd right :-)

Otherwise, no write-overs.

Near Fav - CRULLER. Can't not think of Bob & Doug at that one, eh, C. Eh?

Fav - INERT. Years ago I got >200 points for xenon in Scrabble and won the challenge - against two English majors! Just warms my JUGULAR.

D-O: I've followed your password woes since Sunday. Consider KeePass. One file and one password to get the random keys for everything else. I keep a copy on a USB key in case my box goes Tango-Uniform. I haven't touched Win-X and hope not to for some time; Win 7 pro is good enough (thought I still have an XP VM for some things).

Time to get sick kid (Eldest) from school.

Cheers, -T

Yellowrocks said...

Today I came across this quote for the "helicopter" parents of my former students. They provided cushions for all of life's problems to save the kids from any pain or responsibility. Often it produced neurotic kids.
"If from infancy you treat children as gods, they are liable in adulthood to act as devils." P.D.James
Lemonade, adorable pictures of your grandchildren. The pic with Charlotte in a red dress and red hair ribbon was especially adorable.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Easy one today. Wasn't mindful of the T in COSTNER, but Earl Grey set me straight. No issues. Liked the theme.
LAUNDRY LIST is part of my (oral) vocabulary. Think I picked it up in the Military.

Have a great day.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-When Joann sends me for TIDE, she sends a picture with me because this is what you see in the store
-“Danny DeVito, don’t be SHORT with me!”
-Can you even get paper BAGS at the grocery store AT ALL?
-I loved ROSIE in League Of Their Own and she has opinions of her own as well
-This beautiful piece was carved out of one 6’ x 2’ x 2’ block of LINDEN
-Costner’s portrayal of U.S Gov’t/Native American relations is very powerful
-Scroll down to see one man’s LAUNDRY LIST of best to worst Costner movies
-Being called an “Okie” or “TEX” is very different
-Whether it’s an English Horn or an OBOE (same family), it’s a haunting prelude (4:20)
-Dickens died before finishing The Mystery of Edwin DROOD and so the ending is also a mystery
-Dad and his brothers used toothpicks for cribbage PEGS
-Downton Abbey has big and small story ARCS
-My daughter’s stereotype of a LESABRE driver/owner

CanadianEh! said...

Great Bob and Doug link, AnonT @9:06.
No parking problems now because everyone is lined up at the Drive-thru window for their Tim's fix!

Anonymous T said...

CanadianEh! - I had Tim's in Calgary. They hold their own against Dunkin'. I got a buddy 2 bags of coffee while there 'cuz his DW missed Tim's roast, which, IMHO, beats the hell out of 5-Bucks (er, Starbucks). Cheers, -T

Lucina said...

Good day, friends!

Thank you, R.E.L. Morris for a rapid run today, even easier that yesterday's. Ditto on waiting for the ending of LESABRE. Cute theme though I don't use any of those brands. Agree with Melissa about not knowing the abbreviation ORTH. Nice CSO to Abejo on Earl Grey TEA.

Lemonade, your granddaughters are beautiful! And how quickly they grow up.

Thank you, Melissa, for taking Tuesday duty.

Have a great day, everyone!

Ohio Resident said...

Just for the record, Lemonade, is your son's name Arron ( on the page 1, blog) or the more common spelling, Aaron ?

Your grandkids are real pretty, Mazel Tov, and may they bring you lots of joy and happiness.

Also, BTW, how did your son find a leather armchair (Lazyboy ?) in a cafeteria ?

Husker Gary, I couldn't see yur daughter in the Buick, but I noticed it has OHio license plates, the bicentennial edition. Since then Ohio has had three other versions of different themes as license plates. That picture is atleast 10 years old.

JD said...

Good morning Melissa and all,

This was the easiest CW I've done in a long time. Seeing SHARKOIL took me awhile, as I did not know AAU. I spelled jugular-juggler, and ORTH was all perps. If any of the fills make me laugh or bring up a good memory, it is a hit, even when I don't get the theme.

There is going to be a 2nd Greek Wedding film out very soon with Nia Vardalos. As I recall she wrote the script for that hilarious movie. Who could forget using Windex to solve every ailment... so funny.

Nice hearing from Hatoolah yesterday, knowing that you are doing well. Have always enjoyed your take on things, and your QOD.

How time flies,,, preschool already! Your grand babies are adorable!

CrossEyedDave said...

What TTP said @ 7:20 gave me a smile,
Worth repeating: "I soiled right through, but it all came out in the wash."

Wait a sec, @ 8:26 TTP actually solves poverty!
Wait a minute! Was that math before taxes?

TTP, great stuff! But in researching shark oil I discovered they also play Lotto...

Earl grey tea reminds me of the Star Trek Universe...

& a sad note from the other Star Trek universe...

Bill G! I just got a Robocall from Microsoft saying I am infected & to call an 877 number!
In looking for something funny, I finally found that picture mentioned 3 days ago!
Give it up A**hole! You've been replaced with higher tech!...

Public Service Announcement!
A list of those tiny little laundry tags explained!

Well, I've done enough damage for one day. Back to cleaning...

Husker Gary said...

Musings 2
-I don’t know where Ohio Resident was heading but my daughter simply believes that senior citizens like her dad drive the bulk of Buick LeSabres.
-A modern story for O. Henry – I’m just back from the Apple Store where I had to have a new camera module put in my iPhone. After surrendering my phone it occurred to me that I had to call my wife to let her know when to pick me up. In a store in which there had to be at least 60 people with phones, the lovely “Apple Genius” couldn’t turn up a usable one and so, TA DA, he dragged out a corded phone for me to use from under the counter!
-Final Jeopardy last night for C.C.:
*Category: AMERICANA.
*The Final Jeopardy Answer: What poem contains the lines
But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
and Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball

*You have 30 seconds, Good Luck.

OwenKL said...

I also had TRESSEL>TRESTLE. Frankly, living in New Mexico next door to our wacko neighbors, if I had to choose between SEX or TEXAS, I know which one I'd pick in an eye-blink! (BTW, the TRESTLE-board is also important to Freemasons, and thus the name of most lodge newsletters.)

That Powerball meme has been subject of discussion over at an innumeracy board I designed the banner for!

HG: "The Ballad of Casey Jones"? ;;-)

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Another fun puzzle today, and some terrific posts by you all. Best wishes.

Lemonade714 said...

Lucina, Ohio resident and JD thanks for noticing my little girls. OR, he is Aaron, the biblical version. I would have named my second one Moses, but....

gmony said...

Is it rip or ripped tore or torn. So if you ripped it it tore? If you rip it its torn?

Husker Gary said...

-A fabulous James Earl Jones recitation (6:10) of my aforementioned Final Jeopardy Question
-Wonderful pix Lemon!

Chickie said...

Hello Everyone, Easy, fast fill today. Hands up for Tressle, but that was quickly fixed. I enjoyed the "Laundry List" of soaps. Fun theme.
I felt smart again. Some days I'm not!!

Lemon, Pre-school already? How fast those grandchildren grow. I know you are enjoying them while they are this age. Both of your "girls" are adorable.

Busy day today with tree trimming of large oak. Can't believe the tree men in their harnesses, swinging back and forth with their chain saws. Our oak is very large and they were way up into the branches.
Our enormous redwood is next.

Have a great day, everyone.

Kevin said...

Hi all,

Just wanted to mention that there is a great C.C. puzzle in the New York Times today.

Bill G. said...

Gary, I feel sure that would be "Casey at the Bat" but I'm guessing others have already responded. Normally I record Jeopardy and enjoy yelling answers (questions) at the TV but I missed it last night 'cause of the football game and something else. There seems to be something about the rhythm of that poem that seems to stick with me even if I can't remember all of the words.

Did they all get it right?

Husker Gary said...

Bill
-Every contestant (none of which were half my age) got the right answer by correctly naming this wonderful poem written in the year of my birth, 923 months ago (taking a cue from Tinman).
-The returning champion bet $1 more than double his nearest competitor and won by a that $1.
-Disney had a longer version of Casey narrated by Jerry Colonna which is a very pleasant childhood memory.

Dudley said...

Swamp Cat from yesterday - our young classmate who will be such an inspiration to women is not the only amazing female in the group. Today I talked with a woman from France who is a professional air traffic contoller, and for a hobby she's a pilot, a flight instructor, and a licensed aircraft mechanic - not to mention being a splendid person! By comparison to these two women, all of us guys are just fuddy-duddies.

Anonymous T said...

Who else played the #SOTU drinking game? No mention of N. Korea, so I'm SHORT a gulp. Cheers, -T

PK said...

Hi Y'all! ORTH was a shout out to me. Fell a week ago. ORTH said 4 fractured metatarsals on left foot. Clean breaks. Don't need surgery. Wear funky shoe, ice, elevate, put no weight on it (didn't say how to avoid this), come back in six weeks for walking boot if healed well enough. Have wheel chair. Kids modified my house for disability. I'm redesigning every life sustaining procedure. Foot doesn't hurt. Rest of appendages protesting at overuse/abuse.

I've done most of the puzzles except Saturday. Can't spend much time at computer. Too awkward to elevate foot. Too tired to concentrate.

SIL is a rehab nurse. Great help. Built me a bath bench then took me through my paces slithering from wheel chair to toilet to bath bench and back. Bathroom very tight space. Just can get my wheel chair in. Lots of scraped paint, dented appliances, etc. Never thought I'd be spending quality time in my bathroom with SIL. LOL! He was very professional. I passed muster. Fully clothed, I must add.

Anonymous T said...

PK - Oh, Gosh... Sorry to hear about your foot. Glad to hear it wasn't worse (or a BANANA PEEL). Keep us up to date and don't let it get infected. Thoughts your way.

OKL - Your link to the FB page requires a login. I don't do FB, so I missed your innumeracy board.

CED - You're too damn funny. The LAUNDRY care tag expo had me LOL.

Dudley - Those women sound like what I'm trying to groom my 2 girls to be - like awesome. They can take up Casey's bat. (Enjoyed that HG!)

Gmony @4:09. Your post made me think of Rip Torn which always makes me think of Rip Taylor's silly gags.

Did no one else think 68a was referring to Norman Lear? Just me again? I SEE.

Cheers, -T

Bill G. said...

PK that's sad news. I'm sure sorry but it's great that you have that professional and caring help. Good luck!

Anonymous T said...

I think you all expected a link to TRESTLE (@:49) and the Spanish Inquisition! Compulsory. Sorry mates. C, -T