google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, August 16, 2016 Patti Varol

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Aug 16, 2016

Tuesday, August 16, 2016 Patti Varol

Theme: Discrete Approach - Catching someone's eye but hiding it in the theme entries.

17A. Annual Time honoree: PERSON OF THE YEAR. Hey

27A. Nickname of a Nobel-winning novelist: PAPA HEMINGWAY. Ahem

47A. Doesn't get confused, as facts: KEEPS STRAIGHT. Psst

60A. Verbal nudge found in each set of puzzle circles: ATTENTION GETTER

Argyle here. This is Patti's second Tuesday in two weeks. A bit funky but fun.

Across:

1. Sherbet flavor: LIME

5. Exhalation of relief: [SIGH]

9. Rumor, to a rumor mill: GRIST

14. With 5-Down, "Spanglish" actor: ADAM. 5D. See 14-Across: SANDLER



15. Capital of Samoa: APIA


16. Vitality: [OOMPH!]

20. "__ who?!": SEZ. "Sez me; that's who!"

21. Throw in: ADD

22. Selection for a reading: PASSAGE

23. Like LAX and JFK: INTL. Airports that are INTernationaL.

25. __ colada: PIÑA

26. Plant, as seed: SOW

31. Under the intended pitch: FLAT. (music)

32. DVR button: REC. (record)

33. Mogadishu is its cap.: SOM. (Somalia)


34. "Shush!": "CAN IT!"

36. Concern for an orthodontist: GAP

38. NFLer again in 2016: LA RAM

42. Old tape initials: VHS. Video Home System (VHS)

44. Detective Spade: SAM. Can you remember his comic book ads for Wildroot Hair Tonic?

46. Greek letter that would be last in English: ZETA

50. "The Greatest" boxer: ALI

52. __-chic: hippie-influenced fashion style: BOHO. "BoHo" is an abbreviation of Bohemian Homeless. Much, much more in this Wikipedia entry. Fashion

53. Knee-baring skirt: MINI

54. Letterman's successor: COLBERT. Stephen Colbert.

56. Like a texter who types ":-(": SAD

57. Winter illness: FLU

63. Trusty mount: STEED

64. Advertising award: CLIO

65. Gradually withdraw: WEAN

66. Makes by working: EARNS

67. Green Hornet's sidekick: KATO

Van Williams Bruce Lee Green Hornet 1966

68. Betting numbers: ODDS

Down:

1. Gym class punishment, perhaps: LAPS. I remember them well.

2. Cannes concept: IDÉE

3. Oft-molded almond confection: MARZIPAN. We see it often in the bithday cakes that show up here. (Thank you, CED)

4. Ambulance letters: EMS. (Emergency Medical Services)

6. Apple with earbuds: iPOD

7. Picture file suffix: GIF. (Graphics Interchange Format)

8. Something stuck in a bonnet: HATPIN. Both are vintage now. Well, except for Hat Day at the Saratoga flat track.


9. Misses military roll call, maybe: GOES AWOL

10. Rob __: cocktails: ROYs. Ruination of a good Scotch.

11. "Whatever works": "I'M EASY". But I'd have a Rob Roy if you're buying.

12. Wolfgang Puck's restaurant: SPAGO


13. Pitched: THREW

18. Inaugural recitation: OATH

19. Puts on the museum wall: HANGs

24. One born there: NATIVE

25. "Guernica" muralist Pablo: PICASSO


27. Rank below cpl.: PFC. (Private First Class)

28. __ française: À LA

29. "Family Guy" daughter: MEG


30. Like the '69 N.Y. Mets: AMAZIN'

35. Diver's sickness: THE BENDS

37. Bit of butter: PAT

39. Found a new home for, as an unwanted present: REGIFTED

40. Olympics entrant: Abbr.: ATH. (athlete)

41. Yoga class need: MAT

43. Baseball or golf: SPORT

45. Nearsighted cartoon character: MR. MAGOO

47. Off-__: askew: KILTER. See 25-Down.

48. Cornball routine: SHTICK

49. Executive's confidante: AIDE

50. Make __ for: argue in favor of: A CASE

51. Ton of, slangily: LOTTA

55. "It's __ fun": BEEN

56. Foul mood: SNIT

58. Set the pace: LEAD

59. Coffee servers: URNS

61. Suffix with pay or Cray: OLA

62. Couple: TWO


Argyle

45 comments:

  1. Greetings!

    Thanks, Patti and Santa!

    No problems apart from BOHO.

    Anyone watching The Night of? Only two more episodes. John Turturro has given a masterful performance.

    Very hot here (100 plus) today.

    Cheers!

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  2. Hi Y'all! Another fun romp with Patti & Argyle!

    Last to fill: MA in AMAZIN/SOM/LARAM cross. WAG was right. Thought NFLer was a man's name. Forgot about SOMalia. The lack of "G" at the end of AMAZIN THREW me.

    After reading the Spanglish clue, I tried AlAn SpANgLER and wondered why it didn't fit. Duh! Then laughed and corrected it.

    Jerome, from last night: Are you smoking that wacky weed your friend sells at his shop then getting hostile? You're losing a lot of respect from former friends that way with inappropriate name-calling.

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  3. Hold up on that. The name calling was for the anon that used the words even George Carlin wouldn't use. I deleted the post but I could send it to you if you want.

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  4. Morning, all!

    No circles = no theme, as usual, but after getting the reveal I was able to go back and find AHEM and PSST. Never did figure out HEY, unfortunately, but two out of three ain't bad (or so I've heard).

    Couldn't remember SPAGO, so that was all perps. And I tried MIDI before MINI for the skirt, which made it very difficult to come up with AMAZIN. Plus, I had no idea the LA RAMS were coming back this year. That eventually all got sorted out, however.

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  5. {B, C, C.}

    Today I met a little green man
    He showed up on a U.F.O. scan!
    He said flying saucer
    Is a horrid misnomer,
    Back home they call it a MARS-I-PAN!

    The lass had eyes for the brae highlander,
    So asked, "would you like a tour of the mill, sir?"
    She showed him the gist,
    How the wheel crushed the GRIST,
    She still had ayes for him, when things got out of KILTER!

    PSST, AHEM, can you hear me? HEY!
    I'm down here hawing and HEMING aWAY!
    My antenna has THE BENDS,
    It no longer extends
    I haven't heard an "eek" in a week and a day!

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  6. Good morning!

    No problem with Patti's puzzle, though I misread "Diver" as "Driver" which made THE BENDS slow to appear. Argyle, thanks for the definition of VHS -- never knew.

    Apia looks like a fun place to visit. Nice pic, Argyle.

    Was thinking "floor of the tent" at the "Under the intended pitch" clue. D'oh!

    No, I don't remember the Sam Spade commercials, but I do remember the "Wildroot Cream Oil, Charlie" jingle from the 50's. It preceded the "Brylcreem, a little dab'll do ya" craze. Remember how those Brylcreem tubes would vibrate when you whacked 'em?

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  7. Monday easy puzzle today. LARAMS? After 30 seconds it became LA RAMS. BOHO needed ESP, but then it rang a bell. After getting the HEY and AHEM phrases I could fill in PSST with no other support. Also with GETTER I filled in ATTENTION without perps.
    I well remember the LAPS in gym class. I was caught talking and ordered to do laps. The volleyball net was suspended from wall to wall. After a lap or two I was looking down and so caught the supporting ropes across my throat. I landed flat on my back, but recovered soon. Today's parents would have raised a ruckus in a heartbeat. My parents thought it was my fault for not following the rules. After all, I was not injured.
    Argyle @5:22, I agree that Jerome's reaction to the despicable post was justified. Thanks for pulling it down.

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  8. I print the puzzle off the LATimes site. LAT upgraded this week to the same version of software the WP uses. The circles showed on screen but didn't print. Bug.

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  9. Argyle: I didn't see the "despicable" post. Don't need to. What was left posted was Jerome appearing to call AnonT a "psycho monkey". I went back just now to see what you were talking about. Jerome has done something similar before. What I said today is what I continue to mean.

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  10. Wow. Wednesday came on a Monday this week, and Thursday came on a Tuesday. Must be a time-warp. Couldn't figure who LARAMS was, never saw LA RAMS till I came here. Never heard of boho-chic. Had WHEW for SIGH, which thoroughly screwed up that section and slowed me down. QUIET for CANIT, couldn't remember SPAGO, several other problems, but eventually got 'er done, but took 28 minutes!! Thanx for the mental workout, Patti!! Thanx for the terrific write-up, Argyle!!

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  11. Nice write-up Argyle. FUN puzzle & theme Patti.

    Fave today, of course, was the Rob ROYS, though I prefer a Scotch NEAT without the other stuff. LOL

    PINA colada was a close second.

    It's 5 O'clock Somewhere ...
    Cheers!

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  12. DO YOU COPY

    http://www.crosswordfiend.com/blog/2014/02/24/tuesday-february-25-2014/#la

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  13. Artoo-Detoo, I didn't know what you meant...until I worked today's NYT. Yes, it is the same theme as C.C.'s original. Timely, though, since the R2D2 actor died this past week.

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  14. 10D: To add to your comment, it's like the "hamburger helper" of a so-so Scotch. I would never make a Rob Roy with Glenlivet but I would with Dewars.

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  15. Magilla

    The Rob-Roy is like the Rusty-Nail (Scotch with Drambuie) ... a way to enhance an inferior brand (read that as "the Bar scotch").

    Pinch, Glenlivet, Dewar's (12yo), or any other "Premium 12 yo" should never be ruined with the other ingredients.

    Hell, I won't even "dilute my Scotch" with water (by "adding _ _ _)."

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  16. Musings
    -I tried my best to dump BOHO but ding, ding, ding, it was right!
    -The backlash from naming this man (PERSON) OF THE YEAR made this magazine rethink its criteria
    -Ya gotta figure a flight from JFK to Heathrow is non-stop but from KC INTL., not so much
    -Letterman’s teeth have a GAP and so do Colbert’s ratings with what Dave had
    -SAM soon learned that this was a fake and so was the woman
    -The RAMS were always LA to me just like Dad’s Dodgers never left Brooklyn
    -My GI Dr. told me to get a FLU shot but NOT one for shingles
    -Let’s roll KATO! (:25)
    -My grandson’s coach made his baseball team run some LAPS after losing in 95˚F heat. I wanted to yell, “PSST, HEY, AHEM, you’re a jerk!”
    -I thought REGIFTING was coined on the Seinfeld show but it turns out they only popularized the term
    -Rock and roll with bagpipes with the group OFF KILTER at EPCOT
    -Subway tunnels under the East River had to be pressurized to keep out water and diggers suffered from the BENDS when they exited

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  17. Hi all!

    What a fun respite from insomnia / stomach issues (I don't know which is causing which but I'm in a SAD state - maybe a Rob ROY will fix me up!). Thank you Patti for another outing and Argyle for the expo.

    I had trouble in the south-central - oLIO and nATO held-up my SHTICK. Only other WO was Pvt b/f PFC. Oh, and I had MARZaPAN.

    Cute - REC near VHS. Diane Rehm had an ATTENTION GETTER yesterday w/ Edison v. Tesla and mentioned VHS v. Betamax in her intro.

    Patti - you ADD'd lots of other fun c/as as well: 46a, LOTTA (almost had LOTsA), KILTER, and 31a certainly didn't fall FLAT w/ clue-echo at 13d.

    Anyone else think of this song at PINA Colada?

    Fav: I love me some COLBERT (and so can he) :-)

    {B, A, B-}

    PK - I missed Anon's SNIT but thanks for SHTICKin' up for me; psycho-monkey wouldn't be the worst I've been called :-) Argyle: +1 for KEEPin' it STRAIGHT; AMAZIN' work you do for the Corner.

    Cheers, -T

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  18. Good morning, folks. Thank you Patti Varol, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.

    Got through this fairly easily. A few rough spots. I used the newspaper so I had the circles, of course when I use cruciverb I have them also.

    My only inkblot was 1D. I wrote in REPS quickly and it turned out to be LAPS. OK.

    Theme worked out. Very good.

    Did not know BOHO, but SHTICK gave it to me. Alos gave me KATO.

    Thought of CAP for 36A, but held off and GAP won that battle. I had a cap once that cracked from eating popcorn. The dentist said it had to be redone. So, I asked the lady at the desk when I was scheduling the Recap, how much it would cost me. She said no charge. Since the dentist had put on the original, it was under warranty. That was a first for me. I really liked that dentist after that.

    Liked GRIST. Good word and clue.

    Now I have to go back and report on Monday's puzzle, which I did this morning.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    ( )


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  19. Good Morning:

    A nice Tuesday offering with no bumps or hiccups. Only w/o was Mel before Meg which was a wag, having never watched Family Guy. Knew of Boho Chic but thought it just referred to Bohemians not homeless. Then came Shabby Chic in household decor. I wonder if other countries are as "trend" obsessed as we are? (What is attractive or stylish about wearing ripped jeans? Better yet, what is sane or logical about paying a fortune for the "privilege" of wearing them?)

    Thanks, Patti for a fun solve and thanks, Argyle, for the "scenic" summary.

    Wouldn't it be nice if nasty Anons didn't exist? Ditto for the email scammers and phony "telemarketers. Ah, I shall dream on.

    I never had to do laps because there was no gym classes for girls at my high school. I guess we were too delicate! 😇

    Have a nice day.

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  20. The question I have is why Artoo posted the C.C. 2014 puzzle here (using a Fiend link!) pointing out the similarity in theme for Lynn Lempel's NYT, and yet made no such reference at the Fiend? Of course the puzzle, themers and clues are different. Only the concept is the same. Also knowing the lag time for publication of NYT puzzles, it may have been there for a long while and pulled out of queue because of the death of the actor.

    This brings me to note that C.C. has another WSJ today if you need more exercise.

    I loved SPAGO back in the early 80's, did not know the term BOHO which seems really insensitive, loved the analogy the hamburger helper of so-so scotch, re-gifted was fun (be careful to remember who gave it to you), fascinated by the Bahamain sprinter's dive for gold and finish up with a memory of this KATO .

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  21. This puzzle required a little more work than the usual Tuesday but it was all GRIST for the mill. No circles on Mensa but not needed; I nearly stopped to look at my newspaper copy but just came here to see. Thanks for the fun, Patti, and thanks Argyle for explaining. (I had a nit with INTL thinking it meant initials and wondering where the plural "s" had gone.)

    I was misdirected to baseball with 31A "pitch"; had MarSipan before SEZ fixed it.
    No problem with BOHO. I was looking for some kind of a bee in the bonnet before the hatpin. 40D was timely with the Olympics but ATH as abbr. for Athlete was a Meh! for me.

    My funniest mistake today was having REW instead of REC for 32A which gave be PIWASSO until I saw the light.

    Wolfgang Puck had a restaurant in Niagara Falls, Ontario but it closed. Poor reviews.

    Have a great day.

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  22. "Puzzling Thoughts":

    Fun romp; a bit tougher than most Tuesday puzzles but not too tough to make me look anything up / Google

    WUFS (what Unclefred said): I, too had PHEW/WHEW instead of [SIGH] in 5a. That was my only stain on an otherwise pristine puzzle page (feeling alliterative today)

    Informative recap, as always, Argyle. Patti gave you some good material!

    Lots of great clues and solves - Argyle, I reckon that there are many HATPINs worn here, too. With regard to Saratoga, I first went to the races there in 1978 when Affirmed (the Triple Crown winner) and Alydar (runner up to Affirmed in all three of the TC races) hooked up again in the Travers Stakes; sometimes called the "mid-summer Derby". In their "career" against each other, Affirmed won 7 out of the 10 races. The most "controversial" was at Saratoga, which was the last time the two met in the same race. I recall the disappointment among the supporters of Affirmed (who went off at 3-5 odds) as well as the ecstatic pleasure among those who bet Alydar (a 4-1 shot) who was placed first through a disqualification of Affirmed.

    For those who don't recall their 1978 Travers Stakes Race, the video is only 2:22 in length. For anyone who follows horses, it is pretty clear that the rider of the horse in the yellow silks (Shake Shake Shake) pushed Affirmed out into the center of the track, leaving a hole for Alydar to run through, along the rail. Once Affirmed passed Shake Shake Shake, he could not see that Alydar was to his inside, and clearly impeded his progress. Many people who are professional bettors thought that Cordero - the jockey on Shake Shake Shake - and Velasquez (Alydar's jockey) had this tactic planned ahead of time. Affirmed's regular rider - Steve Cauthen - was not aboard that day due to an injury he suffered earlier in the meet.

    As a lot of horse players have come to realize, Saratoga Race Course has been the "Graveyard of Champions" dating back to a day in 1919 when a horse named "Upset" defeated the legendary Man-O-War.

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  23. Nicely done, Patti Varol, thank you. I breezed through this quickly and without a SIGH. Almost had a Natick at SOM/AMAZIN' then realized the G was missing.

    Fun to see off KILTER and MARZIPAN which I love but am limited in how much I can eat which makes me SAD.

    Thanks, too, Argyle, for all you do.

    Not much time today, have to run.

    Have a lovely day, everyone!

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  24. Weird puzzle today...I like that! Lots of chuckles, but harder for me than a Tuesday. Has the week gotten all backwards?

    Thanks for STRAIGHTiing it out, Argyle.

    Good verses, too, Owen.

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  25. LA RAMS gave me pause for only a tiny while. Then the penny dropped.
    Off to our second medical appointment of the day. The Merry-Go-Round keeps spinning. Without Medicare and Medicaid we would be out on the street. Thank you U.S. citizens.

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  26. YR, hoping all goes well today and some resolution is found. We are similarly thankful for our Canadian medical coverage.

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  27. Hand up here for siding with PK re Jerome's occasional unpleasantness. Will be touring wine country soon and hope to not cross his path since my tax bracket and car choice are not to his approval.

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  28. Nice puzzle today. Loved the "GRIST" fill and clue! Thanks, Patti, for the Tuesday offering. Cluing was upscale and tricky in parts.

    Thanks, Argyle. Nice pic of Apia.

    Loved C.C.'s puzzle in the WSJ today, as well!

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  29. Well, I found this another toughie--and am thankful to Unclefred for letting me know I'm not the only one finding this a bit of a crunchy week so far. But I loved the theme and was only sorry I had to look up a few things--although I probably should have gotten LA RAM. Aren't they practicing on my campus in Irvine right now? Still, it was all fun, so thanks, Patti, and I too loved your APIA pic, Argyle.

    Fermatprime, I'm absolutely riveted by "Night Of." Hope I don't miss any of the two last episodes.

    Have a great day, everybody!

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  30. I started to enter PVT, then realized Ms. Varol was being specific.
    Do they still have PFCs? It's been so long since I sported that single stripe (in HS), and I have the impression that the services have revamped and renamed all the ranks (esp the lower grades) with fancier specialist names and gov't alphanumerical listings.
    Isn't it time to replace sewn-on stripes with scan-able bar codes?

    Husker Gary - you remind me that I first learned about THE BENDS in 3rd or 4th grade from reports about NYC tunnel diggers, aka the "Sandhogs." Those guys are still at it, working now on Water Tunnel Number 3, 600 feet down, expected to reach lower Manhattan in 2020.

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  31. Better than yesterday. I really like today. Good Tueday puzzle good job. Was fun

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  32. Good afternoon everyone.

    Shuffled off to Buffalo for a few days for a sort of mini family reunion. No easy access to the LAT cw.

    Thanks to all who wished BH birthday wishes. It was sincerely appreciated.

    Mon's and Tues' puzzles were solved without difficulty. Patti's long acrosses were easily filled, especially PERSON OF THE YEAR, which sped up the perp resolution. Chuckled at REGIFTED.

    Also did C.C.'s WSJ entry this morning.

    Have a great day.

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  33. Fun puzzle; I enjoyed it. I also thought ATH for athlete was meh, but the neat-o theme plus terrific fill such as MARZIPAN, KILTER, and REGIFTED made it for me a terrific puzzle overall.

    DW and I had dinner at a SPAGO in Palo Alto years ago. Both of us were rather underwhelmed and never went back. It closed in 2007.

    PIWASSO, funny!

    fermatprime, glad you are enjoying The Night Of. I've never heard of it, but agree that John Tuturro is a fine, albeit overly-intense, actor.

    Best wishes to you all.

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  34. Very nice puzzle. Clever theme and some excellent fill.

    How to ruin great fill-

    "I'M EASY"
    "You are?"
    "YES I AM"

    "You like cereal?"
    "I eat a LOTTA TOTAL"


    "Are you still working at the comedy club?"
    "Yeah, I've got a SHTICK shift"

    "What do you think of the quality of an ADAM SANDLER movie?"
    "REAL DAMN SAD"











    "Are you still working at the comedy club"?

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  35. The screw up above is not my fault. Obama did it!




























































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  36. I'm growing tired of Jerome's tired passive aggressive unpleasantness. Luckily there are other forums discussing the LAT puzzle. I'll miss many of you. I may still drop in from time to time to keep up with PK, YR, IM and Lucina.

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  37. Jerome, gotta admit, you're really spaced out today!

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  38. OMK @ 1333 - Just google 'enlisted ranks' and go to the defense.gov site. While the Army and Marine Corps both have the rank of Corporal, the ranks below are different, and only PFC is 3 letters. The cheese gets a little binding tho, because the Marine's PFC is an E2, the Army's PFC is an E3. Either would fit the clue.

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  39. I try to do Monday and Tuesday without perps but hopefully without a lot of INKY mess. After LIME/LAPS I Started going with the perps. ALA had me perplexed for a bit; quite often the sports clueing does the same.

    Constructors have a different view point I'd guess.

    The author(Moore?) interviewed by Diane R. also wrote the book about the enigma code and subsequent movie(Imitation Game).

    I didnt read the book but the movie was vague about dates. My theory: The Brits had the code PRIOR to 12/7/41. They had to know of the impending attack since the Germans were all-in on the attack. How? Their spy team was embedded in the island frantically passing fortification information to the Japanese embassy.


    QED

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  40. Anon@2:53, please do not desert us. If you find 2 out of 40 posts not to your liking, please just ignore them. It is more difficult with snarky anons because I always bite hoping it will be someone like you rather than a snark.

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  41. Desper- Have to agree with that, brother. But I did enjoy your clever wordplay.

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  42. Anon @ 2:53... Good riddance. Sorry YR, we don't need his type.

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  43. Sorry, I don't get why AMAZIN with no G is a valid answer? Am I missing something clever?

    Never heard of BOHO. No circles in my puzzle, but I did find all three of the hidden ATTENTION GETTERs.

    Having lived in Denmark as a child, I love MARZIPAN.

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  44. They were known as the AMAZIN' METS. PR thing, don'tcha know.

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  45. Thanks as always for the helpful answer, Argyle!

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