google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, October 13th 2016 Doug Petersen & Patti Virol

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Oct 13, 2016

Thursday, October 13th 2016 Doug Petersen & Patti Virol

Theme: Three-Ring Themer: Circus-related entries for the three long acrosses ..

20A. Circus barker turned hurler known for brushbacks? : INSIDE PITCHMAN. The inside pitch in baseball is to encourage the batter to stop encroaching on the strike zone. Also known as "buzzing the lighthouse" when the ball comes close to the batter's head.

40A. Circus emcee turned fry cook? : ONION RING MASTER. I've never cooked onion rings. I've got a feeling that I never will.

55A. Circus performer turned gardener? : DANDELION TAMER. The only "added" word that isn't a word in and of itself. We loved dandelions as kids, but drove our Dad mad when we blew the seeds all over the lawn.



Hi all! This is going to be a little brief today - I'm running up against the deadline to get this published so I'll stick to the salient points. In the wonderful words of Douglas Adams: "I like deadlines, I love the sound of them rushing by". I'm in Jacksonville, just missed the hurricane rushing by too. Phew.

Three weighty theme entries in this one from Doug and Patti. Add to the start of a circus-related person and you get a whole new profession.

Really clean fill in the rest of the puzzle, not much to even think about wincing at. Great stuff.

Have at it if you see anything you want to link!

Across:

1. "__ Secretary": CBS drama : MADAM. Never saw it, but didn't hesitate with this one.

6. Tense period? : PAST. Past tense. Very nice.

10. Studio payment : RENT. Residual didn't fit

14. Anaheim's Honda Center, e.g. : ARENA

15. West Coast sch. : UCLA. Down the street from me in Westwood. Nice campus.

16. Harbinger : OMEN

17. Woody Woodpecker's creator : LANTZ. Crosses, thanks.

18. Commuter option : RAIL

19. Skip over : OMIT

23. Auditorium : HALL

24. Sound sometimes choked back : SOB

25. Harvest-ready : RIPE

28. Wooded valley : DELL

31. Olympics volleyball great Kerri __ Jennings : WALSH Beach volleyball great with Misty May-Trainor. She was still competing in this year's Summer Games in Rio after goodness knows how long in the sport.

35. Like fans after a tough win, probably : HOARSE

37. Pro words : YEAS

39. 29-Down's rock gp. : E.L.O. Jeff Lynne makes an appearance in the downs. Nice.

43. Reason to wear earplugs : DIN. Not E.L.O.

44. A, in many orgs. : ASSN.

45. Saws : ADAGES

46. Emmy contender : ACTOR

48. French cathedral city : METZ. The "TZ" might make you think German or Belgian. Close to the Germany border, but solidly French.

50. "Not gonna happen" : NOPE

51. With 27-Down, sign on a damp bench : WET. Cue groans from the cross-referential clue haters.

53. Party leader : HOST

62. Disturbs : JARS

63. Button on some remotes : MENU. I tried MUTE briefly, but I think they all have those

64. Family name in a 1936 classic : O'HARA

65. Dramatic accusation : ET TU

66. Send a quick message to : PING

67. Contribute, as to a kitty : PAY IN

68. Stinging insect : WASP. I got one of these little buggers inside my shirt once and got about 20 stings before I could get my shirt off.

69. Merit badge holder : SASH

70. Baton, say : STICK

Down:

1. West African country : MALI

2. Ireland's __ Islands : ARAN. Not to be confused with Scotland's Arran Island.

3. Lairs : DENS

4. Film noir protagonist : ANTI HERO

5. Miata maker : MAZDA

6. Prince's "__ Rain" : PURPLE. Live performance from 2007

7. Berry at health food stores : ACAI

8. Narrow cut : SLIT

9. Soft minerals : TALCS

10. Disc-shaped robotic vacuum : ROOMBA. Don't read the articles about what happens if your pet leaves a "present" when you're out and Roomba is around.

11. Austen classic : EMMA

12. Nuremberg no : NEIN

13. Blasted stuff : TNT

21. Respected tribe members : ELDERS

22. Tearful words : HOW SAD

25. Sitcom with a 1974 wedding episode : RHODA. Guessed. Guessed right!

26. Greek column style : IONIC

27. See 51-Across : PAINT

29. Jeff of 39-Across : LYNNE

30. Chair part : LEG

32. Release : LET GO

33. "To __: perchance to dream": Hamlet : SLEEP

34. Epsom Downs racer : HORSE

36. Caught : SNARED

38. __ Prime : AMAZON. Great deal if you're a regular Amazon shopper. Prime membership costs around $80/year and gets you free two-day delivery on many items.

41. Ideology : ISM

42. Red-and-white topper : SANTA HAT

47. Admits (to) : OWNS UP

49. Yet : THOUGH

52. Estimates on weather maps : TEMPS

54. Dots on a subway map : STOPS

55. Excel input : DATA. I've been doing a lot of that over the last couple of weeks, hence the late deadline.

56. Graphic __ : ARTS

57. General Organa in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" : LEIA

58. Days and Holiday : INNS

59. Permission-seeking phrase : MAY I

60. "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" writer Carle : ERIC. A wonderful book that I remember reading to my young daughter.

61. Military status : RANK

62. Hanukkah celebrator : JEW

And here's the grid!


Apologies again for the brevity this week!

Steve


43 comments:

  1. Greetings!

    Thanks to Doug, Patti and Steve!

    Didn't know WALSH, ARAN and LYNNE. Also, ERIC. However, amazingly, it all worked out in the end without help.

    Have a great day!

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  2. A little chuckle seeing JEW and WASP in the same corner.

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  3. Not feeling my most inspired today -- only two poems, the first using some keywords from yesterday, but the second started out about politicians, then changed to religion, forbidden subjects, so points docked.
    {A-, C-.}

    There was a dour HORSE who wouldn't say YEA,
    Instead, voting NEIN, he'd only say neigh!
    A germy HOST
    Infested his throat,
    Now he's a HOARSE HORSE, with nothing to say!

    If we went to the PAST, to a Roman ARENA,
    We'd see DANDY LIONS munch Christian pita!
    In ARENAS today
    Televangelists prey,
    Feeding their Christians with lyin' pizza!

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  4. This one played a bit hard for me, but I got it. I saw WALSH play at the London Olympics, where I discovered that the beach volleyball venue is mostly a beer fest.

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  5. Good morning!

    Got the paper, got the theme, got the puzzle done. Dreck-free fill, IMO. Felt stupid when I finally figured out what that 3-letter chair part could be. Thanks, Doug and Patti.

    Steve, where have you been? Amazon Prime now costs $100/yr, but it's still worth it. Tuesday the MENU button on my Amazon Fire TV remote (along with the rest of 'em) quit working. New batteries made no difference. I chatted online with an Amazon rep, and though my unit is out of warranty, he offered me a replacement remote at half-price and threw in one-day shipping. The new remote arrived yesterday, and works just fine. Now back to the binge-watching...

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  6. Found this to be a fun puzzle, albeit an FIW or DNF. No matter, it weren't right! The culprit was the crossing I for 66A & 57D. I chose an O for the vowel.

    Really liked the theme clues, was going nuts trying to remember what pitcher was a former circus pitchman, before the perps corrected my thinking. The north filled in quickly, but it was a slow go in the central & south.

    Baseball season ended for me when Cubs beat the Giants. SF has a lot of holes to fill for next season. But, I really enjoyed the Boston/Cleveland series. Terry Francona got a little bit of revenge. So appropriate.

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  7. Good Morning:

    Despite a few unknowns, Lantz, Walsh, Lynne, Eric, etc., I sailed through with nary a hiccup. Really liked the theme, especially Dandelion Tamer. Fav c/a was Tense period=past. CSO to our BMOC with Santa Hat!

    Nice job, Brad and Patti and ditto to you too, Steve.

    I bought a new floor lamp that had to be assembled and while the directions weren't too confusing, I had to chuckle at the final entry: The Lamp Is Done. (Unpacking it was more complicated than putting it together.)

    Have a great day.

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  8. LANCE:LANTZ; DALE:DELL. No problems. But MUTE hung in there a long time before finally giving way to MENU, really giving me fits in bottom center. I liked that both HORSE and HOARSE were in the CW. And as Argyle said, JEW and WASP crossing made me smile. Overall, nice CW, thanx, Doug and Patti, and nice write-up, thanx, Steve. Owen, A, B, thanx for the grin.

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  9. A day at the circus. Clever. I take Alan to the circus every year for his birthday. I used to take my grandson, too, when he was younger.
    Lynne and Walsh were unknown, but perps and wags to the rescue. V-8 can moment was INNS Duh! IN-S, PING resolved it. Very cute clue.
    I love to watch Madam Secretary.
    Today I will teach Alan to make scrambled eggs.
    Late last night I couldn't bring my Kindle online but I found nothing wrong. I tried the computer and that was off-line, too. Suddenly both came back up.
    My bathroom is done. It looks nice. The painter wadded up the plastic drop cloth and put it in my recycle bin where it would have been rejected. I picked it up to place it in the regular garbage bin when about a half cup of latex paint dripped out, some getting on my clothing. I worked for days to remove it but there is still a faint shadow. It should have been bagged before being discarded, ARRGH!
    Lucina, what a mess with the olive oil, so hard to clean up. I dropped a bottle of it and the cap broke, allowing some of the oil to run under the fridge. Yuck. I guess all we can say is "Stuff happens."

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  10. D-N-F ...

    Didn't know WALSH, METZ, ERIC ... and my "perps" took the day off ... probably at the Holiday Inn.

    THOUGH I did enjoy the themes. Fave was the ONION RING MASTER.

    Hand-up for liking the JEW / WASP cross.

    Cheers!

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  11. Good Morning.

    Thanks Patti and Doug for a fun run. I loved Tense Period: PAST. I wanted Boss for party leader. . . . Hey, all my life, I've lived in Cook County, Illinois! 42D: I wanted Seuss for red and white hat--I've made enough of those. Sorry, Argyle! Loved 57D: INNS--Days and Holiday. Great entry.

    YR: I am inferring from reading the comments that Alan is doing very well. YAY!!

    Thanks, Steve. Not to worry--some famous English playwright and poet once said, "Brevity is the soul of wit."

    Finally--Am I the only one who feels like the Dodgers are playing Walgreens when I see the graphics?!?!

    Have a fine day. Go Cubs!

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  12. Got it all without help, but I had to battle the south. I had text for PING, and didn't get past that until Days / Holiday INNS got me back on track. At first I wondered if there was a Doc Days in Old West lore, then I remembered that the Doc in Tombstone didn't spell his name that way.

    Didn't know Honda Center, WALSH Jennings, ARAN Islands, Jeff LYNNE (but I really like ELOs music), or ERIC Carle. Didn't know that LEIA had a successful military career after the first episode, which is the only one I saw. If I remember correctly, Star Wars was the first movie to use Dolby audio. I applied to RCA to become a technician on that system - install and fix this new Dolby stuff in theaters across the country. I didn't get the job.

    My favorite clue was red-and-white topper. Didn't have a least favorite clue today. Thanks Doug, Patti and Steve for a fun Thursday exercise.

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  13. Good morning to all!

    Today's puzzle flowed fairly smoothly for me. Cute theme. Last cell to fill was the "A" in the crossing of ARAN and LANTZ in the NW, both complete unknowns. Thanks Patti and Doug.

    Thanks for being our guide today, Steve.

    Enjoy the day!

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  14. I really like MADAM Secretary so that was easy. In fact, most of the fill was easy except LANTZ/ARAN crossing where I had e instead of a. DIW

    However, I liked the three ring circus theme. LYNNE stymied me for a bit until realizing Y could be the only letter possible to complete L_NNE. Nice CSO to our SANTA. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is always a favorite book for the young set.

    I discovered a WASP's nest in the rain duct which had filled with dirt and it's been a chore to get rid of them. Can't clean the dirt off until they are all gone.

    METZ took me a long time to fill because I was certain it was in Germany. Thanks for the reassurance, Steve.

    YR: Yes the olive oil smell still lingers a bit.

    Thank you, Doug and Patti as well as Steve.

    Have a stupendous day, everyone!

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  15. Hi gang -

    Was about to give in to a DNF when METZ dredged up from somewhere. That gave me AMAZON which gave me YEAS which gave me LYNN and a few aha! moments.

    Clever theme, just right Thus difficulty, and clean fill.

    Very nicely done.

    Not much more to add.

    I'll be playing for a wedding reception on Sat. Never had that gig before.

    Cool regards!
    JzB

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  16. Musings
    -I gotta run too as the English teacher for whom I am subbing (how ‘bout that syntax?) actually expects me to teach something.
    -Piece ‘O Cake and fun until the bottom where MUTE and TEXT were not helpful.
    -Yikes, here comes a gaggle of 7th graders hungering to be taught about nouns.

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  17. @Madam DeFarge: You are NOT the only one! I have often wondered how that logo hasn't inspired a trademark infringement lawsuit.

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  18. FYI, CC and Don G are the constructors of today's NY Times puzzle. I don't have a subscription but I saw it on Rex Parker's blog. Personally, I thought the theme was as clever as could be. IOW, a very typical CC and Don offering. Congrats to you both!

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  19. Hello Puzzlers -

    Nice and tidy, not too difficult. Metz and Lantz needed perp help. Hand up for forgetting that Leia became a General.

    Morning Steve, thanks for your efforts under pressure! I like the Douglas Adams quote too.

    We ended up with Amazon Prime sort of by accident: the LW forgot to cancel the trial service before the payment came due. I bet they count on that. Anyway we like the fast shipping and will likely keep it.

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  20. Good morning everyone.

    Only strikethrough was I had dale before DELL. Rest of solve was easy enough. WAGS included SLEEP and UCLA. WALSH and OHARA came from perps. Liked the puzzle's cadence. PRIME had me stymied for awhile until I got ___ZON and the AMAZON light went on.
    METZ - Was my first guess but held off until I had MET. Knew it was in Lorraine, which was German as part of Alsace-Lorraine from 1871-1918.

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  21. Pretty easy for a Thursday. I've never shopped online, so I didn't get Amazon (Prime) immediately, but the fill of Metz helped with that area.

    Re dead remotes. Some years ago, my remote stopped working despite new batteries, so I googled remote repair and the instructions worked! I took out the batteries and pressed each button or toggle (repeated for good measure), put the batteries back in, and voila! Of course I had an old TV/remote back then, so I don't know if this will work nowadays on these high-tech models.

    Heat and humidity have returned after only three days of low humidity and 85 degree temps - off to finish the yard work - yuk.

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  22. Thanks Doug and Patty, and Steve.

    LANTZ... Couldn't recall whether it was an A or an E, so I went with I. The credits on Woody Woodpecker always showed Walter LANTZ, and that may have been the first time I encountered the TZ ending as a young reader.

    Woody Woodpecker has since taken up residence near Hondo's house...

    Bob Gibson was an INSIDE PITCH MAN. You didn't dare dig in against him. He'd knock you down or hit you with a fastball. The Cards beat the Red Sox in the 67 World Series as Gibson threw three complete game wins. Next year the Cards lost to the Tigers in the 68 series when Jim Northrup hit a 2 RBI triple off Gibson in the 7th game. Gibson's 1.12 ERA that season may never be matched again. McClain won an amazing 31 games that year for the Tigers, but it was Mickey Lolich that went 3 and 0 in the series. Made me a Tigers fan. Jumped on the Cubs bandwagon this year. Go Cubs Go !

    AS IF before NOPE and MUTE before MENU.

    METZ... along the way on the drive from Karlsruhe to Paris in my olive drab 70 Pontiac LeMans. Still recall the brightness of the yellow headlights that all French cars had, especially when they flashed them on high beams when recognizing an American car ahead on the highway. Or so it seemed.

    I rode the commuter RAIL here for about 5 years, until 93 when I became a full time telecommuter. You'd get in this sort of "cattle mode" on the daily trudge. Monthly RAIL pass was approx $90 back then, and free commuter parking for a while. Then cab, bus, or boat fare once downtown. Monthly pass is now $188, and parking is $30/mo. Door to door and back was 3 hrs/day. Don't miss it. Especially don't miss the headaches caused by people wearing too much perfume or cologne that permeated the confined spaces of the rolling stock known as passenger cars.

    Loved the Days and Holidays clue.

    Au revoir !

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  23. Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Doug Peterson and Patti Varol, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.

    puzzle started easy. There were some sticky spots, however. Liked the theme. Took me a while to get the first answer. Then I had it. DANDELION TAMER was the first for me.

    Misread the clue for 18A as Computer option. Wrote in MAIL. Faxed that later to RAIL.

    Could not remember WALSH, even though I watched her play in the Olympics. Got it with perps.

    Wanted TEXT for 66A. Held off until I had a crossword. Saved me an inkblot. PING was the word.

    Had PUT IN for 67A. After I fixed that to PAY IN I had an inkblot.

    I also wrote in DALE for 28A. Fixed that to DELL. Should have waited.

    Fun puzzle.

    Go Cubs!

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    ( )

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  24. There's some dispute whether the deadlines quote is by Douglas Adams (Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy) or by Scott Adams (author of the Dilbert comic strip). Sounds more like something Scott would say, IMO.

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  25. Cool puzzle, very enjoyable. Entries range from pretty easy (e.g. MADAM) to totally unknown (e.g. LYNNE). I like the sound of ROOMBA; it's also a really great entry.

    My Post Is Done.

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  26. This Thursday puzzle filled in nicely for me--except for the Middle-east, where I got stuck. Finally had to cheat, but only one item, thank goodness, and then the rest fell into place. Clever puzzle and much fun--many thanks, Doug and Patti. And no problem with the quick expo, Steve--it was still very helpful.

    I still fondly remember RHODA, which followed another favorite show with Mary Tyler Moore. Remembered the O'HARA family from "Gone with the Wind," and guessed we were probably talking about Princess LEIA. Ah, yes, and Jane Austen's EMMA, together with a Shakespeare quote. Nice array of items, all around. And I even visited the ARAN Isles off the western coast of Ireland with my mother many, many years ago!

    Have a great Thursday, everybody!

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  27. Got it done in spite of shooting myself in the foot early. I quickly wrote ARAL Islands and ANTE-HERO and misspelled PURPLE. Had the PITCHMAN but I just finished the rest of the puzzle before I went INSIDE.

    I am familiar with ELO but not Jeff LYNNE or ERIC Carle. LEIA and METZ were also perped.

    ROOMBA- I bought one for my daughter as a housewarming gift last year, as her bottom floor is 100% WHITE marble. The vac works fine but she was crazy to get a white floor. It shows every speck of dirt and everything the kids spill on it.

    AMAZON- not a prime member. The few things I get from them aren't worth the extra money and the two day shipping that they want you to pay extra for is a joke. I have never paid extra and it gets here in two days anyway, usually by US Mail. For anything large, I order it from walmart.com and pick it up at the store ( one mile away) because I don't like stuff left on my front porch for thieves to help themselves to.

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  28. Never heard of "buzzing the lighthouse" for an INSIDE PITCH. "Chin music", yes.

    Giants.Dodgers, and Yankees pitcher Sal Maglie was universally known as "Sal the Barber" because he'd shave your chin. It was said he'd knock down his grandmother if she crowded the plate.

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  29. Fun, pretty simple for me anyway.

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  30. Oooh, a bacon-wrapped onion ring! It looks so yummy! A beautiful thing to behold.

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  31. This weeks puzzles have been easier than usual for me. I enjoyed yesterday's hockey theme; too bad it couldn't have been a Saturday puzzle so Splynter could blog it. Thanks, C.C., and H-G, you did an excellent job of reviewing it. Thanks today to Patti V., Doug P. and Steve.

    DNF: the south east would not open up for me so I finally gave up and came here to see the grid. This isn't unusual for me for a late week puzzle, so I'm not too upset with it.

    Have a great Thursday!

    Pat

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  32. Embarrassed to admit that I needed a prompt to get WALSH. Ms. Jennings' name was indelibly etched in my brain through the summer games, but somehow the middle section vanished in the ensuing months. It was my only cheat today, and it wasn't until I had the "S" in place that I needed to seek help for the rest of it.

    Among the easier fills today was ARAN. I'm a fan of Robert Flaherty's old documentary, Man of Aran, and I once directed Martin McDonagh's play, The Cripple of Inishmaan, a truly hilarious spoof on the making of that classic film. And although I didn't actually visit any of the Aran Islands, I can at least claim I saw them once, sitting low not far off the west coast of Ireland, beyond Galway Bay.

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  33. TTP @ 11:24 AM Gibson was 90% of the leagues rational for lowering the pitchers mound. He made many HOF'ers look mortal.

    b illcohoes @3:13 PM In my youth I was in attendance for at least a half dozen Giant/Dodger games where Maglie pitched vs Preacher Roe. After they had gone thru the line up the first time, at least 7 to 8 batters for each team had dust on his rear end. Of course there was also the occasional game where on of them was in the locker room before the end of the third inning. The back and forth with Dodger fans were fun, none of the junk that goes on today.

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  34. Hi all!

    I enjoyed the puzzle today! Good job and thank you Steve for the write up, even hurried is still thorough.

    I giggled at the Douglas Adams reference! Looks like its from Salmon of Doubt from 2002 - a book I have not read! I have read the whole Hitchhikers guide "trilogy" several times but am due for another go-thru as it's been a few years.

    I have been deaf and HOARSE after many concerts :)

    Ah, Jeff Lynne and ELO ...so many good choices!
    Can't get it out of my head
    Don't bring me down
    Sweet talkin' woman

    OK I quit! Have a great evening :)

    t.

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  35. Good Evening, Steve and friends. I enjoyed this puzzle. I have always liked "before and after" puzzles, so this was right down my alley.

    I liked how Sound sometimes choked back SOB crossed with HOW SAD (Tearful Words)

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  36. Enjoyed today's puzzle by Doug and Patti. Finished it with no help other than perps.

    WRT Amazon Prime, there are other benefits than the two day shipping. You can get free book downloads, and streaming video of many TV shows and Movies along with streaming music. I like to watch the old WWII era movies in addition to newer releases.

    Hope you all had a good day since it looks like the day is almost over.

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  37. Hi All!

    Blew right THrOUGH Doug & Patti's fun offering until I got to the south. I had DANDy LION TAMER. I wasn't sure it was IE or Y so I wrote the answer in backwards. Ha!, must be a y! Bzzt. And that's my only WO. Yet, that 'Y' did hold me up completing TEMP, MENU & PING until THOUGH cleared everything up.

    Thanks Steve for playing HOST today. Loved the Douglas Adams' quote [I read Salmon of Doubt - it was his last book IIRC].

    ESPs: WALSH. Technically, 11 & 12d are ESP too 'cuz I didn't see them 'till the expo.

    Favs: HOARSE/HORSE JEW/WASP, 6a c/a. And for icing, S.O.B. - hafta choke back that sound before I RAIL and say it! :-). //y'all had that one guy at work that won't LET GO nor ever STOPS complaining? HOW SAD...

    {A-, B-}

    DW has AMAZON Prime. I use it to rush technical books; she uses it to watch TV, er, iPad. The $100/yr is made up at Christmas time as my family is scattered about.

    YR - How'd the eggs go?
    Lucina - my OLIVE oil is in a big can. However, I can relate(ish) -- A 5lb bag of sugar falling out of the pantry. All I could think was "ANTS!" (After the requisite cursing of course).

    Tawnya - Thanks for the tunes and the link to the Adams interview. You're between semesters, get yourself
    Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
    and the sequel The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul (what do you know, Wiki says Salmon of Doubt was the third in the Trilogy - I forgot that). Both are fast reads and LOL - don't read 'em in public :-)
    Oh, and payback: WALSH.

    CED - Steve told you not to Google it! :-)

    Commute? In Houston, it's by car. This morning I had a meeting at 8:30. I should have taken the red traffic-map as a bad OMEN. It took an hour+, which is bad enough, but 10 minutes in... "The Commute from Hell, NPR Pledge Week: The Beginning."

    Cheers, -T

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  38. Very fun puzzle, though Steve you owe Patti an "A"

    C.C. and Don Har G at the NYT, more trickeration

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  39. I entered a post at about 7:00 pm and was just getting ready to Publish and my phone went dead. It had warned me earlier and I'd forgotten.

    Hondo, you were right in the early 50s CATBIRD seat re. Dodgers vs Giants. You must have your 1951 memory much like us old Bostonians have our 1967.

    Not to speak of our father's 1946,48,49.

    And speaking of... Last night's NL game had a reference to Leon Culbertson. He was the replacement cfer in 1946 when Enos Slaughter scored from first on a single. Pesky(Johnny) was forever vilified, Leon more or less skated.

    One baseball thing leads to another so I'll stop even though I'm in Unreadsville.

    Speaking of.. The "Great" U(n)R(ead) was a play on words of The Great I am.

    I'm glad I'm not completely talking to myself. Not that I don't enjoy that.

    And speaking of.. I enjoyed Patti and ? Xword, Steve's write-up and as always Owen's limericks.

    Finally and I mean finally, the brush back, beanball etc talk begs for my long missive about Tony C

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  40. PS.. re. Yesterday's LED/DHL that could have been LEN/NHL.. I'm now putting the phone down and picking up my LEN Deighton. And speaking of trilogies...

    I have one of my Strider/Intrepid type theories about LD's tri-trilogy. I've got to work it out more, one of my clues is the Dodo/Kiss character.

    tIBER

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  41. Fun theme. Got it all correct.

    But I really hated ARAN/LANTZ crossing as totally unfair. I have been to Ireland and never heard of ARAN. Lucky WAG for me.

    LYNNE/METZ crossing was more acceptable because E was the only logical crossing letter.

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