google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, April 15, 2016, Jeffrey Wechsler

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Apr 15, 2016

Friday, April 15, 2016, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Where R you?

JW is back in my backyard with a truly ambitious effort, built around a simple theme...take the letter "R" out of a word in a phrase and clue with hilarity. Package this in a 68 word grid with all kinds of fun fill. Quad sixes in the NW and SE Corners mixed in with double 7s over grid spanning theme fill make for a really cool puzzle. Locating two sixteen letter phrases that become  funny phrases when you remove an R is an amazing find.  Only one R per phrase, and all are removed.The 6-7-8 fill include some wonderful stuff like CABANA, AVOCET,  REVERE,  CREDOS,  DEMEAN,  MY DUST, BAD LEAD,  ADAGIOS,  TAVERNA,  ON A AND E,  CHAUCER,  NELLIES,  TIE GAME, TRIES IT and  ASSAYER. As always, some of his choices are two or more words.  Let's get 'er done.

17A. Oath sworn in a kosher kitchen? : ABOVE ALL DO NO HARM (15). Some Greek, as this hearkens to the Hippocratic Oath for Physicians but it is a popular misconception that the phrase "do no harm" is a part of the oath. Jews do not eat pork products so "do no ham" is true. The rumor about WalMart advertising is not, it was a Greenwich Village deli.











27A. Double-dealing in Delhi? : INDIAN COR(9). I am sure there are con men in India as well. The corn was a colorful part of childhood.













32A. Cutthroat entrepreneur? : BUSINESS CARD (11). How many of you keep anyone's business cards anymore? CAD is such an old fashioned word.

38A. Demand from a Stooge fan? : SHOW ME MORE (9). A wonderful CSO to our Chairman.

54A. "Stir-frying is an option, too"? : I COULD USE THE WORK (15). Another delightful phrase emerged. We do not own a wok.

The final element of the skill JW has, is the placement of the R that is removed, as each one is in the last word of the phrase, and is the third letter in a four letter word. HAM, CON, CAD, MOE and WOK make such an appealing set of three letter words.

Across:

1. Not as available : SCARCER. Not the easiest for 1A, but fair.

8. Red herring, to a cop : BAD LEAD. Police depend on leads from the public in many investigations, enhanced in modern days by all the cameras.

15. Athens eatery : TAVERNA. I love me a good Greek TAVERNA especially the tzatziki, spanakopita and souvlaki.

16. Where to view "Duck Dynasty" : ON A AND E. This has an attractive letter string but is hardly fair as the network always uses the ampersand. Do you think puzzles should include ampersands?

19. Hightailed it : RACED.

20. Le Mans law : LOI. A French word for Law.

21. Great Plains tribe : OSAGE. One of the Native American tribes loved by CW puzzlemakers.

22. 9-Down opener : ENERO. Spanish for January

23. '50s pres. candidate : AESAdlai Ewing Stevenson. ran agains DDE twice.

25. Long of "Third Watch" : NIA. This actress has WORKED.  She is on the left.


26. New Year's Eve get-togethers? : DATES. Meh.

30. "A symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal": Steinbeck : WAR. The LINK.

31. Old knives : SNEES. We have this 5 or 6 times a year.

36. Pool option : CRAWL. Back again, a stroke popular in swimming.

37. Six-time '70s Dodger All-Star : CEY. Ron, the Penguin, was part of a great Dodger infield, and then lead the Cubs to a rare NL championship series appearance.

40. Unyielding : SOLID. When an irresistible force...














45. Lobbying gp. : PAC.

46. Neighbor of Turk. : SYRia.

47. Place to play : ARENA. Hence this GAME .

48. Riches : LUCRE. Often called filthy...

51. Deg. for drillers : DDSDoctor of Dental Science.

53. Unyielding : STERN. Often not irresistible

57. Nervous __ : NELLIES. Comes from the description of anxious race horses.

58. No-win situation : TIE GAME.

59. Doesn't back away : TRIES IT. Vague Friday cluing, but doable.

60. Gold rush figure : ASSAYER. Very important for they told you if you really found the gold.

Down:

1. Was googly-eyed : STARED. This and scarcer were a hard beginning for me. I think of this as what Kanye looks like when he sees Kim's booty...

2. Place to bring a suit : CABANA. Bathing suit; a gimme for a Floridian.

3. Wading bird : AVOCET. Pretty BIRD.

4. Put on a pedestal : REVERE. more Kanye and Kim?

5. Beliefs : CREDOS. From the Latin.

6. "Bambi" doe : ENA. Spoiler alert, she is in the sequel.

7. Award-winning political cartoonist Ted : RALL. No clue. he apparently won a Pulitzer, but he is hard to link in a non-political blog.









8. Word with able or full : BODIED. Sailor? Wine? Kim?

9. Munich : Jahr :: Madrid : __ : ANO: Fort Lauderdale: YEAR,

10. "Hawaii Five-O" nickname : DANO.

11. Landlocked Asian nation : LAOS. I think it is the only four letter one; all I can think of are Mongolia and Kazakhstan which may only exist in Ali G's mind.

12. Heightened : ENHANCED.  Ribbed for her pleasure?

13. Slow movements : ADAGIOS. We have lots of musical clues and many musicians as constructors and solvers.

14. Insult : DEMEAN. I didn't mean to demean.

18. Some bank files : LOAN RECORDS. I prefer Loretta's records.

24. 1980 Oscar winner who portrayed Loretta : SISSY. Spacek who also was the original Carrie. She did all of her own singing in the movie.


27. Actor McKellen : IAN. So many great roles.


28. Mandela's org. : ANCAfrican National Congress.

29. Exhibition funding gp. : NEA. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Yes another mistake on my part filled in NEA and never read the clue. Thanks anon. I liked seeing it with ENA, btw.

30. Trickery : WILES. Generally related to feminine.

32. Cabbage family member : BROCCOLI. A nephew I think.

33. Detroit labor org. : UAW. United Auto Workers.

34. Letters in personal columns : SWMSingle White Male, or perhaps swimmer who does the front crawl in his freestyle event.

35. Get : SEE. ironically perfect for a puzzle.

36. First poet interred in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner : CHAUCER.

38. Immobilize, in a way : SPLINT.

39. Something to eat in a Western? : MY DUST. While I ride off into the sunset.

40. Miss America contestants' array : SASHES.






41. Salsa brand : ORTEGA.

42. Room to maneuver : LEEWAY.

43. Where to emulate the natives : IN ROME, do as the Romans do; pinch.

44. More unpleasantly moist : DANKER.

49. Dominate : RULE.

50. Some Ivy Leaguers : ELIS. Yale gets more love than all the rest combined.

52. Words with limit or trap : SET A. Is this a dreaded partial?

55. Agnus __ : DEI.

56. It's in many poems : 'TIS. The anagrammatic reference even dupes the '. For both Will S., JW and I, let's end with ....Sonnet 110.
"Alas, 'tis true I have gone here and there
And made myself a motley to the view..."

Happy April 15, you have until Monday to file your taxes. Really enjoyed this one as much as I have any of JW's efforts. Lemonade out.



49 comments:

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks, Jeff, Lemon!

Lots of long entries and tricky clues. Thought at first that it was Saturday-hopeless,

Nonetheless, after 35 minutes, I got the tada!

No cheats. RALL was perped.

The wind is ferocious here!

Cheers!

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

Bluehen,
I recall your surgery was rescheduled, but I could not remember the exact date. When is it?

OwenKL said...

I do not care for BROCCOLI,
Although Ma says it's good for me.
I'll not DEMEAN
Those lumps of green
Although I'd rather macaroni!

I wish that I could write like CHAUCER,
Immortal fame's a vain seducer
If not renown
Then I'd be down
With being satisfied with LUCRE!

{C, C-.}

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Fun puzzle, once I sussed out the theme. Tough, but ultimately doable.

I struggled the most in the NW, where initially I only had LEERED at 1D, TENETS at 5D and ENA at 6D, only one of which was actually correct. When I returned to that corner at the end of the solve, I still faced a sea of white so I got rid of everything except ENA (which I knew had to be correct) and started afresh. Fortunately, I finally thought of STARED and, by that time I had gotten ANO at 9D and was able to get ENERO, which got me to CREDOS (although before getting ENERO I did try CREEDS briefly). Fortunately, I remembered what an AVOCET was and got the tricky clue for CABANA.

Hungry Mother said...

Once I got the theme, all went well. Had TENET instead of CREDO as only write-over.

George Barany said...

What a terrific theme by @Jeffrey Wechsler. One of the theme answers made me think of a puzzle that appeared earlier in the week in the New York Times, but I would rather not spoil that for those who have not done the other one yet. Thanks also to @Lemonade for the hilarious writeup.

Today, the Ides of April, marks a somber three-year anniversary, and another somber 151-year anniversary [see also this]. That's not even mentioning a certain annual deadline, that I understand is being pushed back until Monday this year, due to a Federal holiday today.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

As Barry said, "ultimately doable," except that I didn't dooed it. In my ignorance I wrote TAVERNO/ROLL, and having writ, the moving finger moved on. DNF. Also tried Elevated for ENHANCED, but that didn't last. No ham done.

A WOK is not recommended for stir-fry on a modern cooktop. The round bottom is too small as a heating area. Either the bottom is too hot, or the sloped sides stay too cool.

Nice shoutout to the Chairman.

Lemon, I wouldn't be opposed to an ampersand in a cw. But then, I'm not a purist.




KenoRunner said...

DoesNN't DaNNo have two NN's?

Avg Joe said...

Brutal. Managed it, but it became a fun sponge. Final fill was the Natick of L at Rall and Loi. Did two runs and guessed it correctly, but had 1% faith in it. The theme was a lot of fun though, so I guess it wasn't a complete waste of 45 minutes.

Big Easy said...

I get to eat lunch today because I got to keep my lunch money on this one with a lucky guess at the intersection of RALL and LOI. The rest of the puzzle was a constant struggle with one BAD LEAD after another. I got the gimmick at INDIAN CON because the NE was filled but the rest of the puzzle was white. There were very few gimmes today- ANC, UAW, SISSY, NEA, ENERO, and NELLIES were the only footholds I had.

My BAD LEADs of SHIVS, DEAD END, and FACES eventually became the correct SNEES, TIE GAME, and TRIES IT. TAVERNA is a new word for me but when "IN 'ATHENS', eat where the Greeks eat".

LOAN RECORDS- I find it ridiculous that some banks can't find the original records when they try to foreclose on bad loans and the people get free houses.

Barany-what's the federal holiday? Oh, It's Washington D.C., and nobody does any work there; they just take our money. Happy tax filing to those of you who have put it off.

BobB said...

NW corner stalled me because l had "You shall do no ham". Finally saw the light.

Bluehen said...

I liked this puzzle. Beautify symmetry to the construction; an amusing theme; a good test of vocabulary; tough but fair cluing; a difficult challenge, but ultimately doable. The sweetest victory . . . No, I'm not competitive. Why do you ask? Thanks, Jeffrey and Jason.

CC, it's just as well that you didn't remember my rescheduled surgery date because I misspoke when I said it. I said that it was rescheduled for April 15. I should have checked the calendar. Such surgeries are always performed on a Monday around here. Mine is scheduled for next Monday, the 18th. It can't happen soon enough.

Anonymous said...

I believe the NEA as clued today refers to the National Endowment for the Arts, not the teachers' union.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Hallelujah!. I got it unaided albeit timewise it was a 2 coffee cupper. Almost was gonna go to the Mensa site for red letter guidance, but persevered and got it all. One whiteout - had elevated before ENHANCED.
SISSY was a WAG. INDIAN CON gave me the theme. Lemon explained it well.
Re &'s - If it's well known like A & E, it doesn't bother me, especially on a Friday. We have other symbol substitutions like WWII and ACTII. Just have to remember what is being asked for. (I thought ONAANDE looked strange, too, but left it)

JW does a good job. BZ

Have a great day and weekend.

oc4beach said...


Yea!!! A Friday finish. Once I figured out the dropped R the bottom of the puzzle fell into place. I did have to use a few WAGs but they seemed logical and ultimately were correct.

I did have some of the same problems as others with CREDOS. Plus I had RIGID before SOLID, DIRKS before SNEES, DAMPER before DANKER and there was no way that EIGHT-BALL or NINE-BALL was going to fit into 5 spaces (wrong kind of pool) although I did toy with BREAK for a moment.

Great puzzle Jeff and Lemon was up to his usual good form in reviewing it.

Bluehen: I wish you a successful surgery and speedy recovery next week. Waiting is sometimes worse than getting it over with.

Have a great weekend and I hope everyone gets their taxes in on time.



Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

What Bob Niles said 8:46. I was certain the oath would be "One/You Shall..." and that kept the NW bollixed for a long time. Scarcer came and went multiple times, too. Got there eventually.

Morning, Lemon, I never saw the ham photo before today - I hafta believe a New York store would be particularly embarrassed by a goof like that.

Yellowrocks said...

Very challenging today, but with extra time I finished it correctly using many wags, most of which panned out okay. I was not sure of the last L in RALL, but LOI seemed fairly logical.
Yes, NEA, National Endowment for the Arts.
Great puzzle and theme, outstanding write up.
Good luck and quick healing with your surgery Blue Hen.
I injured my shoulder between Christmas and New Year. It stayed quite painful for months until I went to Chinese Acupuncture. I had the 5th weekly session today and feel so much better. It is amazing. I figured it would DO NO HARM and nothing else was working, so it was worth a shot. Medicare and my insurance covered all but the $10 co-pay for each session.
Link Why April 18?

C6D6 Peg said...

Another gem by JW. Thanks for the challenge and fun!

Nice write-up, Lemonade, as always.

inanehiker said...

Really enjoyed this JW puzzle - my husband and I got a chuckle out "Above all do no ham", especially being in the medical profession, and "I could use the wok".

Thanks, Yellowrocks for the link about Emancipation Day - not as well known, as it is mainly observed in DC.

Thanks Lemonade for the write-up and JW for a wonderful puzzle!

Anonymous said...

An FYI. Ides for March, May, July and October are the 15th. For the other months, they are on the 13th.

unclefred said...

48 minutes of struggle, even with Red Letter help. Oi, even though I got the theme early with the "....donoham" clue. STILL, even knowing the theme early, I struggled. I like the cleverness of the CW, and blame myself for struggling so much, not Jeffrey, who constructed a fine CW today, thanx, Jeffrey. And thanx for the terrific write-up, Lemon. And thanx for linking the ABOCET. I have a degree in zoology, and live in South Florida, where we have many wading birds, but still never heard of an ABOCET, so thanx for the link.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!!

Dots said...

29 down NEA is National Endowment for the Arts not National Education Association.

Lucina said...

WEES. Thank you, JW, for a doable and fun puzzle! What initially seemed daunting slowly started to fill with very few cells in place but then momentum took over. At "Jahr" I guessed it meant year so ANO and ENERO seemed certain. Then my first theme fill was BUSINESSCAD so that alerted me to the trick. It was a cell by cell CRAWL but quite satisfactory to finish it all with only one write over at NOT before NO HAM.

Even the unknown NIA Long and CEY perped themselves. Luckily I did know SISSY had played Loretta.

And thank you, Lemonade, for helping us with your erudite analysis.

Have a fruitful Friday, everyone! BlueHen, good luck with your surgery.

Lemonade714 said...

Thank you both Anon and DOTs, I have corrected my NEA error.

Unclefred, it is AVOCET; here is the LINK.

Jayce said...

A good puzzle today. Enjoyed the theme and some of the tricky cluing. Since it is Friday and a JW I thought I would not be able to solve it, but I was wrong.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Struggle , slog, toil and trouble. i had actually given up on this one. Took another look and sussed CRAWL. Was then able to pick apart the SW corner.

But the NE was the last to fall.

Thought this would be a huge DNF before it all came together.

Good puzzle but too difficult to be fun. Ultimately satisfying, though.

One of the Granddaughters in is DC for a class trip today.

The holiday today is emancipation day.

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/emancipation-day-dc

Cool regards!
JzB

Happy weekend.

Anonymous said...

I've come to expect typos, incomplete and run on sentences on Fridays. So much so that it had become a second puzzle I play with each week. Sort of like a word search. Btw, the rumor about Walmart is not...not...not what? I'm on pins and needles here!

oc4beach said...


Anon @12:37PM: I think this SNOPES ARTICLE discusses the WalMart Rumor.

Irish Miss said...

Hi Everyone:

Late to the dance due to doctor's appointment, a trip to the bank, and a trip around the grocery store and, finally, a very late, much-needed lunch!

On the first pass, I thought I was surely in for a DNF, but with lots of perseverance, I finished w/o help but needed some perps and a wag on Roll/Loi. I caught the theme right at India con, so that helped in getting the other themers. My biggest hold-up was wanting Cher for the Loretta clue, as that was her name in Moonstruck and she did win the Oscar, I think. Anyway, Sissy finally surfaced and that settled that.

Thanks, Jeffrey, for a tough challenge that was a satisfying solve and thanks, Lemonade, for the fun write-up.

Going to a birthday party tonight for one of my godchildren. Lots of noise but lots of fun, too.

Have a great day.

Good luck with the surgery, Bluehen, and speedy recovery.

Bill G. said...

Hi everybody. Today is very pretty; blue skies and temps about 70. However, the winds are howling around the corners of our house. No day for a bike ride. The only time I'm OK with riding in the wind on the bike path is if you can assure me of a tailwind both ways. :>)

I agree with JzB; too difficult to be fun for me. But I got it done by hook or by crook and enjoyed the result. Thanks Jeffrey and Lemon.

Bluehen, good luck again. I'm sorry you have to wait.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Very clever, this Mr. Wechsler!
Talk about a "Red herring"! I couldn't crack the theme of this pzl for the longest time because I thought the answer to 8A ("Red herring, to a cop?") was to be a theme answer. That's the way it appeared in the LA Times, with a question mark punctuating the clue. But when I filled BAD LEAD I saw nothing to connect it with, say, INDIAN CON.
It wasn't until I'd nearly finished that I realized my mistake - or Mr. W's intentional mis-direction. Other delaying errors were of my own doing, such as entering RIGID instead of SOLID at 40A, which led to the itchy presumption that Miss America contestants sported RASHES instead of SASHES, and a couple of other curious results.
The most unexpected answer to me was ASSAYER. I don't know why, but this part is always cast as an "extra" role in movies. I guess that's Wall Street's influence, making sure Hollywood gives the middle man, the one who charges an advisory fee, a very low profile.
All in all, I finished this pzl using more WAGs than usual. I don't usually trust my intuition so much. It's a good feeling - when it works.

Husker Gary said...

My tee time came before my completion time. The NW held out and now that I am back home, STARED and CABANA fell out of the sky and I’ll take a “got ‘er done” out of petty cash.

Musings
-Hey there is such a thing as an AVOCET!
-WOK gave me the gimmick finally. Some subs COULD USE THE WORK more than I.
-OTOES and OMAHA were not my tribe today
-DO NO HARM! My friend’s wife got a ruptured bowel from a routine colonoscopy.
-Ron CEY’s running style earned him the nickname The Penguin
-The TUR./SYR. border is not a safe place to be these days.
-The 10-10 TIE GAME where our cwd friend ARA ran out the clock instead of trying to win besmirched his reputation
-I first brought my suit to a TAILOR
-Does anyone else think of this woman when you hear Loretta Lynn?
-The only hilarious BROCOLLI song (1:33)
-Some of those SASHES have more material than their “Swimwear”. Complaint? No, just an observation.
-Many countries are concerned that their new émigré’s do NOT want to do as the [Insert Country] do
-I SET A limit of $200 at the blackjack table. When that’s gone, so am I.

Anonymous said...

I just had a fajita wrap from Tim Hortons in New Jersey. That's a Mexican dish from a Canadian restaurant in The United States. I just dined North American style.

Bill G. said...

I came across a new show (to me) on PBS called "Wallander." I am less than halfway into my first exposure; Season 3, Episode 1, "An Event in Autumn." I'm having a hard time getting involved with the story but especially the characters. So far it doesn't have the appeal for me of shows like Grantchester and especially, Foyle's War. I enjoy the characters and the settings of those two. Are any of you watching it? Thoughts?

AnonymousPVX said...

It is properly "Danno" as cited above.

Also correct about the Wok usage - there is actually a Wok stove it is used on which allows it to "sit" deeper in, thus letting the heat hit all sides. According to America's Test Kitchen you should just use a flat bottomed fry/sauté pan to stir fry on a modern stove.

Kind of a tough one, a bit of a natick with 7D/15A in my opinion.

Lucina said...

BillG:
Apparently each local PBS station sets its own schedule. E.g., Wallander aired a long time ago and I didn't watch it but I love Grantchester, Rosemary and Thyme, Daziel and Pascoe, Death in Paradise and Luther. Those are the programs I'm currently watching as well as some specials such as Jackie Robinson.

Anonymous said...

Today was not my day to complete a puzzle. I got so little of it that I give myself a big, fat 0! I've been preoccupied and that's my excuse. Nice job, JW. I'll try again. Thanks bunches, Lemonade. Reading your answer key showed me that I didn't have a chance of finishing.

I'd like to tell you about a good friend of my daughter and of his accomplishment yesterday. Chris is an ultra marathoner. Besides regular marathons he has run distances of 50K, 50M and 100M. A couple years ago he talked to someone who had done a 12-hour challenge. He pitched the idea to his employer, TQL--Total Quality Logistics--, to do a 12 hour treadmill run at work and raise money for a charity. Yesterday was the day. Several running related groups were invited to be there with info, including the Flying Pig Marathon. Chris' goals were to run at least 60 miles and raise %5,000. At the end of the 12 hours he had run 68.3 miles and had donations of $5,500! The Flying Pig donated $250 and work met employees donations. He raised $9,211.00! The icing on the cake for me was that he donated the money to the animal shelter where I volunteer! He's hoping others will use their talents for philanthropic endeavors. Chris' Run

I'm over my 29 lines, so I'm done. Enjoy your evening. Pat

Lemonade714 said...

Amazing more than 5 MPH for 12 hours straight!!!

The cast in Wallander is wonderful; if you want to give it chance BIll start with season 1

Avg Joe said...

Olio post, this will be

The Jeopardy finale was fantastic today. The players were only a few hundred bucks apart, so tension was high. And then the payoff was a great clue for a crossword staple. Sadly I turfed it...but it was still an award winner. Constructors take note.

Anon at 3:35..... Love it!

Gary, me too. No Otoes, but didn't think of Omaha. Prolly a good thing.

We actually do have a very nice wok. But I rarely use it cooking for two. Nice to have around when we have guests for Pad Thai, however.

OM Keith, I'm gonna have a difficult time getting that Rash image out of my head......thanks a lot! :-)

I haven't seen an avocet in over 40 years. But I've seen them, and that helped. They look a fair amount like a curlew (look it up).

Tex Mex is slated to be plated for us tonight. I'm leaning toward an empanada.

Lucina said...

Since I recently saw "August: Osage County" that name was at the forefront of my brain and so it successfully fit otherwise it might have taken much longer to emerge.

pje:
Congratulations to your nephew! Not only is he a remarkable athlete but a generous soul as well.

AnonPVX:
Yes, I saw that episode on ATK where they recommended using a flat skillet for stir fry, etc. Mine turns out well using that method.

Lucina said...

Oops. I'm sorry, Pat, I thought it was your nephew but I see it was a friend of your daughter. Still, kudos to him!

Anonymous said...

Average Joe, thanks for the heads up about Jeopardy! Great finish; one of my favorite authors!

Pat

Misty said...

I didn't think I'd get any of this Friday toughie when I started but I actually got everything but the SE corner without any problems, and even got the theme pretty early on. Yet I finally had to cheat and got the last corner only after I looked up ORTEGA, with which I wasn't familiar. So I'm satisfied--many thanks, Jeff, and Lemonade.

Good luck on the surgery, Bluehen.

Lucina, I too like "Grantchester" a lot, but the "Murdoch Mysteries" are still my favorite.

Have a great weekend coming up, everybody!

Anonymous said...

Seems SCARCER is part of th them. SCARCE. R

Anonymous said...

So I'll whine about PAC not being a lobbying group. Not that it materially affected my DNF but I have to whine about something!

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Well, "Because you can't always blame Canada*," I'll blame myself for chasing BAD LEADS. Chalk-it-up as a cold-case finally solved by Lem. TITT. Thanks Jeffrey & Lem.

How bad? Tenets @5d, Nast for 7d; w/ 8a, 16a, and 10d in place, WAG LAOS then ENlarged @12d, DEbase @14d, addles? @13d. So the end of 17a was NO LOB... The theme must have something to do w/ ster since LOBster is a kosher no-no. I was out in left-field w/o a glove.

Suffice to say every corner went that way. Finally, I returned my focus on another puzzle - how does accounting get two identical invoices save bank-routing numbers? The authorities, not Lem, are helping the solve this time.

non-Fav: DDS - DW just told me we're all going tomorrow @1 :-(

Fav screwup: W/ ELIS @50, I ink'd Nervous AS A TICK (on dip-day) for 57a.

Bluehen - Many wishes for a speedy recovery!

HG: Thanks for Dana Carvey's Broccoli - I love that bit.

Cheers, -T
*Wore the tee for for my Canadian bud at the office today.

Anonymous T said...

I think I just solved my other puzzle - a Monday conf. call will tell.

HG: The reason I love that bit: It's what Carvey submitted to SNL before he was accepted by Lorne for a live audition. SNL launches another star...

Cheers, -T

Anonymous said...

Two things:

One, ONAANDE is embarrassing.

Two, MYDUST is unfair

and three, this is a subpar puzzle.
Shame on you, Rich.

P.s. not a fan of lemony either

RetFizz said...

Well, I got up late today, as usual, so my comment will probably be the last, as usual, and thus go unread. Oh, well.
Good puzzle. I got the theme right away, knew most of the answers, but lost patience and went to red letters because I “knew” RIGID was right. Two of the 4 great Dodger infielders in the 70s, Cey and Garvey, were members of our tennis club. Both played in a celebrity tournament that I entered, where best club members played against best-known celebrities. I got stuck with a guy from General Hospital, playing against another member and actor-comedian Dabney Coleman, who was not only the best player on our court, but by far the best in the tournament!
But enough name-dropping. Speaking of high-latitude detective shows, Bill G, Lucina, Lemonade, and Misty, I commend the “new” series Shetland on ex-PBS LA channel KCET. The Shetland Isles are about 60°N, approx. the same latitude as Bergen, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, and St Petersburg, and are closer to Bergen than to London. (Google "Shetland Bus.") I quite agree about Grantchester, Foyle’s War, Wallander, and would certainly add Morse and Endeavour.