google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, June 17, 2016 James Sajdak

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Jun 17, 2016

Friday, June 17, 2016 James Sajdak

Title:  STAND  what's going on?
           DO YOU

Remember those Wacky Wordies we all have solved over the years like:


Well James has done a masterful job weaving this device into a Friday puzzle. Using the adverb "Literally", he places the first part of an in-the-language phrase literally beneath the second part to induce the preposition UNDER which completes a theme phrase using the same number of letters in both as you can see in the grid below. 




And, oh yeah, having the first word in the phrase appear later in the puzzle and the last word requiring a cross reference adds to the BOTTOMS UP amusement/torment. Fiendish - Today thy name is Sajdak! Very cool! 

Husker Gary here pinch-hitting for Lemon and I give this puzzle  
Now let's see what else is hidden in our puzzle and not



Theme Entries: 

#1 GETS UNDER FOOT

15. See 18-Across : FOOT

18. Literally, forms an obstruction : GETS


FOOT
GETS
Yes, he "Literally" can!!




#2 THROWS UNDER THE BUS

19. See 23-Across : THE BUS

23. Literally, sacrifices to save one's own neck : THROWS


THE BUS
THROWS

With Photoshop, you can do this figuratively, uh, not "Literally"! 



#3 PLACES UNDER ARREST

56. See 61-Across : ARREST

61. Literally, books : PLACES
ARREST
PLACES

The most famous in moviedom?



Didn't Dirty Harry also
COVER
WORK

#4 LIES UNDER OATH

62. See 66-Across : OATH

66. Literally, commits perjury : LIES


OATH
LIES
You ain't foolin' her!



...and the reveal:

36. Toaster's words, and a hint to solving eight puzzle answers : BOTTOMS UP - Meryl probably got an Academy Award Nomination for this line!
Across

1. Liner : SHIP - Some captains don't like it when they are called boats. Spitz?

5. Hope __ : CHEST

10. Shred of evidence? : DNA

13. A, to Bach : EINE - Even a cultural philistine such as I knows EINE kleine Nachtmusik 

14. "I wanna do it" : LEMME

16. Turkish warlord : AGHA

17. Physicist's proposed particle : AXION - Count me as physics teacher who has never heard of this word



21. Camps : ROUGHS IT - Holiday Inn Express is ROUGHING IT for us

24. Pod opener : TRI

25. RV chain : KOA

26. Chou En-__ : LAI

27. Like adobe : EARTHEN

30. Publicity : INK - "Say whatever you want, just spell my name right!"

31. Sundance's love : ETTA - The real ETTA Place and Sundance Kid (Harry Longabaugh)



33. Blackguard : CUR

34. Touch, for example : SENSE - My iMacPro can SENSE how many fingers are on the TOUCHpad



40. Fills : SATES

43. __ grass : OAT

44. World Golf Hall of Famer Aoki : ISAO - He's got a lovely bunch of vowels!

48. Soul seller : KIA - When visiting South Korea, the Pope chose a modest, made-in Korea KIA Soul and admonished clergy who drive big, expensive vehicles



49. 1972 Olympics city : SAPPORO - The last Olympics where wooden skis were used to win a gold medal

53. Beantown landmark, with "the" : PRU - The 52-story PRUdential building's parking is much cheaper, a 20 min. walk to Fenway and easy to find after the game

54. Rile : IRK

55. End of August? : INE

58. Blocks : PREVENTS

63. Tin Pan Alley gp. : ASCAP

65. Mr. Bean's car : MINI - Mr. Bean, his MINI and Teddy!



67. Onetime NPR host Hansen : LIANE

68. Settled : PAID

69. "The Conspiracy Against Childhood" author LeShan : EDA

70. Itzhak Perlman choice : STRAD

71. Tart fruit : SLOE


Down

1. City named for a Duwamish chief : SEATTLE - Wise words from Chief SEATTLE 



2. Snub : HIGH HAT

3. Come into : INHERIT He that troubles his own house shall INHERIT the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. Proverbs 11:9

4. R&B singer Bryson : PEABO Definitely worth a "google"

5. One to admire : CLASS ACT - C.C. is the embodiment of this sentiment 

6. Spell : HEX

7. Mideast monarch : EMIR

8. Like some operators : SMOOTH

9. Academic status : TENURE - A teacher with TENURE is hard to fire

10. Supple leather : DOESKIN

11. Whims : NOTIONS "The Witt Store." Your place for notions, sundries, gewgaws and baubles Columbus, GA, c. 1953 . Who's says no one ever uses the word gewgaws?



12. On the line : AT STAKE

15. String next to E? : FGH - String of letters in the first song for many of us. I had the fill correct but struggled before I understood it!



20. Former NHL defenseman Krupp : UWE - UWE Von Schamann was a Sooner field goal kicker that never failed against the Huskers

22. Infomercial cutlery brand : GINSU - I never liked that shoe!



28. It's frustrating to be in one : RUT

29. Scout group : TROOP

32. Actor Vigoda : ABE Barney Miller's Phil Fish and The Godfather's Salvatore Tessio

35. Center opening : EPI

37. Davis of "Do the Right Thing" : OSSIE

38. Tiananmen Square honoree : MAO - Translation of the writings?



39. Lacking, with "for" : STRAPPED

40. Stick on a slope : SKI POLE

41. Blitz : AIR RAID

42. Break on "Downton Abbey" : TAKE TEA - What?? TEA TIME is not right?

45. Reduced-price offering : SPECIAL

46. Hall of "Coming to America" : ARSENIO - 69% on Rotten Tomatoes

47. Unlikely, as a chance : OUTSIDE - or a variation using the theme



50. Historical records : ANNALS

51. Watch a friend's dog, say : PET SIT

52. The NBA's Magic : ORL

57. Cloverleaf branches : RAMPS - The Pregerson Interchange in L.A.



59. Old tape type : VHS

60. Bad mark? : SCAR

64. Santa __, California : ANA

Now it's time for others to comment, so they shouldn't delay and get (yes this is addictive)

31 comments:

George Barany said...

This puzzle by @James Sajdak was tough, made more so by the fact that it took me another 5 minutes of staring at the completely correct answer grid before I was able to fully appreciate the theme. This must have been really tough to construct! I also want to express my appreciation to @Husker Gary for the lively writeup, from which I learned a lot (count me in as a science guy who never heard of AXION).

On other fronts, kudos to C.C. who has a themeless puzzle today over at the other paper. Check it out!

Also, today remains part of a relatively small window this year during which @Tim Croce's wonderfully impressive Look Both Ways is relevant, and the exciting ongoing NBA playoff finals reminds me of King James Version from two years ago.

OwenKL said...

FIR! Also got the theme before the reveal!

{A, B, C, C.}

You/heard, so stand/I,
taking/My to take/this land!
With the arrest/king
We'll/throw the rest
Of the/seers, my/all command!

Thomas was destitute, his money used up,
When he was befriended by an eloquent pup.
"Name's Toast," the dog said,
"Because I'm, well, bred."
A well-heeled dog, Toast BOUGHT TOM SUP!

Retirees in an RV were Lenny and Leah,
Whose custom-made vehicle came from Korea!
They won't stay home and PET SIT,
They go camping and ROUGH IT,
Well, such as they can in a K.O.A. KIA!

The AGHA and EMIR were having a feud
They each questioned the other's rectitude!
Each put on his HIGH HAT
To settle their spat
Of whose turban, upright, had the most altitude!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Sussed the theme early on, and thus made good time through this seriously clever puzzle. High Hat is all new to me in this context.

Morning Husker, I never heard of an Axion either.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks, James and Husker!

Fun theme, once I caught the gist!

OWE was perped. Took awhile!

Cheers!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Got the theme early on, but it didn't really help me all that much with this one. Really struggled with stuff like UWE, HIGH HAT (as clued), AXION and PEABO. Plus, I was convinced that "RV Chain" was a tricky clue for the alphabet run STU and I really thought that Mr. BEAN drove a Reliant Robin 3-wheel car. Maybe that was only in once episode?

Anyway, I eventually got 'er done unassisted, but I wouldn't call it a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination...

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

When am I gonna learn to read the entire clues? Apparently never. Blew right past the reveal and didn't get the theme until PLACES (under) ARREST. But that was enough to allow me to go back and finish the missing letters in the other three theme entries. Cute. Tough, but cute. Just one over-write this morning: ALIT before PAID showed up. Well done, James.

Husker, you were in fine form this morning. I was hoping you'd provide an answer key to those posers you posted. Either I'm slow or it's too early in the morning. I'm slow.

desper-otto said...

Forgot to mention, PEABO (????) adjacent to UWE (????) was particularly cruel.

Hungry Mother said...

THROWS under THEBUS took me the longest time from THR__S under THE__S. Blind spot, I guess. I finally saw it and finished.

Yellowrocks said...

Very clever and quite crunchy. I loved this puzzle. Wonderful review, Gary. What an adorable puppy!
While skipping around to get a toe hold, BOTTOMS UP from just the ---UP was one of my first fills. Then I skipped to the SW and LIES UNDER OATH became easily apparent. Having the theme helped tremendously. Perps were very useful. The only totally unknowns were PEABO and UWE, and they crossed. Glad I left them in. It had to be THROWS UNDER THE BUS, a very common phrase.
Busy day. I'll check in later.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I must admit that this gave me fits until I (FINALLY) understood the theme. Whew! But the cleverness and execution and satisfying solve were worth the frustration. Uwe was tough but I knew Peabo. The Bottoms Up brings a certain Floridian to mind. Anyway, I finished w/o help and was a happy KOA camper!

Very well done, James S. and nice subbing job, HG.

I had the worst nightmares last night and one seemed to go on forever. It wasn't gory or scary, just very disturbing. Is there any correlation between strange dreams and what you eat or drink before you go to bed?

Have a great day

Big Easy said...

This was my first puzzle in three weeks and I was rusty but got it done. Lots of unknowns filled by the perps- Mr. Bean, AXION, LIANE, UWE, OSSIE & Duwamish and mis-starts. RTY were next to E before I thought about the alphabet instead of the keyboard. And with AIR becoming INK and TEA TIME morphing into TAKE TEA. And I can never remember if it's 'PIEBO' or 'PEABO', 'ADA' or 'EDA', or the correct spelling of ISAO or Chou En LAI.

I thought the theme was neat but I figured it out before I completed BOTTOMS UP. HIGH HAT is an unfamiliar term for 'snub' as 'cold shoulder' is used more around here. I've always heard HIGH HAT used for 'snob', not 'snub'.

Very good write up HG and add me to the list of science guys who have never heard of AXION. But I was pretty sure it ended in 'ON'.

Tinbeni said...

Husker: Outstanding write-up and links.

James: Thank You for my New Favorite Puzzle of 2016.

Fave today, of course, was BOTTOMS-UP ... it will probably be said a few time later today at Villa Incognito.

Go hell ... "It's Five O'clock Somewhere!" already ... Why should I wait?

Bottoms-Up! ... and Cheers!

Husker Gary said...

Just home from 18 holes – 7:30 am to 9:30 am!

Musings
-My guesses on the Wacky Wordies in my write-up are
1. A house divided
2. Crossed wires
3. Mind’s eye
4. High seas
5. Wide-awake
6. Unbalanced (that took me some time!)
7. Tilting at windmills
8. Jailbreak
-If you want more, have at these!
-I imagine our Lake Erie contingent really liked last night’s wrestling match, er, NBA game 6. I want the Cavs to win too!
-Steve, I am always paranoid about something missing from my write-ups too. The html stuff can be tricky!
-Off to do my vacuuming!

CrossEyedDave said...

I am sure somebody must have heard my groaning when I saw those "see whatever across" clues...

But I am sure glad I stuck with it to uncover this marvelous construction!

Friday hard, but well worth it. Thank you James Sajdak!

Under foot?

I had too much trouble "on" the bus to look what's going on under it...

You Liar!

Under arrest?

Bottoms up? I think it's all in the timing...

oc4beach said...


Really puzzling puzzle today. A Friday puzzle that I was able to finish but only because of perps. I did not UNDERstand JS's theme until HG 'splained it admirably.

Like others, I didn't know UWE, PEABO, and LIANE. Perps and a WAG or two filled them in.

I thought a LIME was the tart fruit. In my early college days I did have a few SLOE gin fizzes because Sloe Gin was one of the few available sources of alcohol that we could get. Plus maybe a little Vodka from our over 21 friends.

Have a great weekend.

Lucina said...

What a fiendishly satisfying puzzle from James Sajdak! Thank you, for the mental challenge. I caught the theme at THEBUS
THROWS and slogged forward through the western hemisphere but also was caught at TEATIME before TAKETEA then all fell in place. AXION is completely new to me but then physics has never been in my wheelhouse. TENURE clinched it. UWE took all perps though I knew PEABO Bryson. A name like that sticks to the memory.

The SE corner bound me and gagged me for the longest time since I was looking for books to read, tried PRIMER which made LIMBS seem right. So a full erasure was called for though I was sure about ARSENIO and finally after looking up PRU the blocks filled up. Oh, that kind of booking.

Thank you, again Mr. Sajdak and also Gary who really entertained today.

Have a splendid day, everyone!

C6D6 Peg said...

Great theme and puzzle today for a nice Friday challenge. Like most, didn't understand what was going on with the reference clues, but finally got a hold of it! Thanks, James!

Great job, HG, on your continued theme entries. When will we be finding you in the constructor's name?

Ol' Man Keith said...

Very clever these oh-so-foxy Xwd-ers!
Who doesn't get a kick out of such devilish word play? Sure, it adds to our initial puzzlement, as we see we must satisfy more than one SENSE with several of the linked answers, but the amusement factor soars much higher than the usual fare.
Nothing stood out as particularly difficult--just a couple of obscure items, one of which caused me to Google my way into the NE corner. That was DOE SKIN, a form of leather that I haven't come across before. And, given its origin (at least if we're to take it literally), I would rather not encounter it in future.

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts":

A little crunchy today; missed a couple so I FIW. I actually got the theme answer and then noticed the solves using the word UNDER. LIES under OATH was first; PLACES under ARREST was next, and GETS under FOOT was last to fall. I totally screwed up CLASS ACT as I had no clue about Blackguard = CUR. I think I had RUR for this which led me to CLASS ART - which of course was wrong. Oh well; didn't have to GOOGLE a Friday for a change.

AnonymousPVX said...

I wasn't paying much attention to the theme, and plus I don't usually care for when one clue references another. But I saw it when I got "arrest" and "places". And then I thought it rather clever in spite of myself. The only write over was "pole" for "gate" with ski, but I also had "axiom" until it changed to "axion".

Saturday awaits.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle a lot. The cleverness of it astounds me. A pleasant mental workout that was hard and satisfying. My gratitude to all.

Spitzboov said...

Good afternoon everyone.

I usually like James' puzzles and I liked this one. After I sussed out PLACES under ARREST, the other sets of 'under' fill came easily, making this a relatively easy Friday puzzle. Only wite-out occurred where I had kidskin before DOESKIN. Got EINE right away. No searches today.
SHIP - Gary, it isn't just the captains. It's like dragging your nails across a chalkboard. Submarines are often referred to as 'boats', but I call them Subs.

Dudley said...

Adding to what Spitz said: a buddy of mine served on diesel submarines back in the day. He made sure I knew they were "boats", because they carried no smaller boats aboard (dinghies and/or life rafts didn't count, apparently).

He wouldn't allow the pronounciation "sub-marron-urz" either. It had to be "sub-marreen-urz".

There were some fun stories, such as how every submarine carried a bootleg stash of hootch - everybody knew it, but not officially, of course.

Michael said...

From Wikipedia, FWIW:

"The axion is a hypothetical elementary particle postulated by the Peccei–Quinn theory in 1977 to resolve the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). If axions exist and have low mass within a specific range, they are of interest as a possible component of cold dark matter."

Perfectly clear, no? (I always thought it was a "cold, dark, night" ... but I guess not in physics.)

Yellowrocks said...

Michael, your post is all Greek to me. Somehow I got AXION from just the X. I don't know where the word came from. I am not into physics. In high school the physics teacher droned on with an expressionless voice and affect. I tuned out and hated physics. I studied and outlined the text to ace the tests but remember nothing. My nephew works at Cern from time to time. Maybe I picked axion up from him without understanding it.

Anonymous T said...

I was completely befuddled after getting FOOT over GETS and failed to GET it. Thankfully, I solved the Theme'er early and nearly finished (filed THEBUS THROWS b/f any of the NW). FIW - End of August? is TEE in my pzl. It was so much fun James. Thanks!

HG - Great writeup thank you for
G
N
I
P
P
E
T
S

WOs: 53a - I was double-wrong. Somewhere I've seen a giant coffee uRn, but it wasn't in Boston, that's a TEApot. I also PLACEd Mr. Bean in a Benz b/f MINI.

ESP: SAPPORO - and I put a T where it x'd 37d. Dern.

Fav - Gotta be the theme. I though KIA and KOA in the same pzl is cute too.

I've not read everyone yet, but IM, yes - when I finished my 1st corner and didn't "get it" I thought I'd never finish. Well, I did; only wrong :-)

Friday nap time. Cheers, -T

Anonymous T said...

Michael, et.al.: I knew AXION from just the I in EMIR. I was listening to NPR and caught this story about Hippies and Physics and LSD*. Quantum Mechanics makes perfect SENSE now.

About that nap, I need to sleep. But how? Oh! BOTTOMS UP!
(Turn down your speakers b/f clicking).

Cheers, -T
*That's not the interview I heard, but you get the gist.

Kevin said...

C.C., Excellent work on the NYT crossword today; I greatly enjoyed it. Even Rex Parker praised it for being "a wonderful themeless puzzle. Shimmering and clean." While I am not necessarily a fan of said cynical crossword critic, I cannot remember the last time he actually fully enjoyed a puzzle, so I guess that is some kind of a feat in of itself. Kudos!

Jayce said...

Wow, a "shimmering and clean" critique from Rex Parker? That is definitely something to be proud of! C.C. you rock!

Wilbur Charles said...

The Great Unread here. Started about ten am and slogged. Picked it up later and grasped the themes after BOTTOMSUP and BUS which made sense of previous fill. BEABO, BEAN?? Finally got to NE. Refused to DNF but got hung up on danSKIN. Just couldn't recall KOA. But I did finish.

Yes, PRU was always the place to park for Fenway. Be careful on the walk crossing those streets, pedestrianns are considered mortal enemies of Boston drivers. Let's see if I can recall my old 1980s golf poem:

Oops later. ALICE was my inspiration. There's a golf answer, CC, if you can frame a clever clue.

Wilbur Charles said...

The Great Unread here. Started about ten am and slogged. Picked it up later and grasped the themes after BOTTOMSUP and BUS which made sense of previous fill. BEABO, BEAN?? Finally got to NE. Refused to DNF but got hung up on danSKIN. Just couldn't recall KOA. But I did finish.

Yes, PRU was always the place to park for Fenway. Be careful on the walk crossing those streets, pedestrianns are considered mortal enemies of Boston drivers. Let's see if I can recall my old 1980s golf poem:

Oops later. ALICE was my inspiration. There's a golf answer, CC, if you can frame a clever clue.