Theme: Mind the Gap! Removing the space between each pair of circled entries gives you four kinds of gaps:
GENDER gap
GENERATION gap
INCOME gap and
TRADE gap.
As the reveal tells you:
54A. With 57-Across, negotiate ... and what needs to be done to make sense of this puzzle's circles : CLOSE
57A. See 54-Across : THE GAP
Very clever theme from Ed. I confess to a rare Did-Not-Finish today - I was personally natick'ed by the U in the crossing of LAU and EUBIE. Neither name was familiar to me. LAW and EWBIE looked like they might work, but alas, no.
On a side "gap" note, Bank Underground Station in the City of London has the biggest gap between the train and the platform on the entire system. My morning and evening commutes for at least ten years were serenaded by the dulcet recorded tones of actor Oswald Laurence intoning "Mind the Gap". Here's a rather charming news item on his voice, and how his widow would travel through Embankment station to listen to him after he passed away.
Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. Dench of "Philomena" : JUDI. A Dame Commander of the British Empire now. Not that there's a lot of Empire left to command.
5. Alternative strategy : PLAN B
10. "Ladies First Since 1916" sneakers : KEDS. Learning moment. Keds marketed the first canvas-topped "sneakers".
14. Tourney format, briefly : ELIM. Elimination tournament. An alternative format is the round-robin. The FIFA World Cup is a combination of the two.
15. Secretary Thomas Perez's department : LABOR
16. Chicken vindaloo go-with : NAAN. Food! I could list about 200 other go-withs off the top of my head, but not many with four letters. Vindaloo was originally a pork dish from the southern part of India, but has now morphed into a restaurant staple of chicken, lamb or shrimp, with an expectation of a two-alarm fire chili heat level.
17. Sister of Rachel : LEAH
18. Jazz pianist Blake : EUBIE. Part 1 of my Natick. I discover he was a ragtime and jazz musician and appeared in the movie "Scott Joplin" in 1977.
19. Logician's word : ERGO. Latin "therefore". Descartes' "Cogito, ergo sum", or "I think, therefore I am". Near chlecho with 56D - I'd have been tempted to clue them both identically.
20. Sasquatch, for one : LEGEND. I have a soft spot for Sasquatch. The first LAT puzzle that I had published (with C.C.) used the word.
22. Rub the wrong away : ERASE. Lovely clue - it's easy to read "way" rather than "away".
24. Head covering : RUG
25. Walk of life : SPHERE. Some sporting spheres here, courtesy of the master of the red headband, Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits.
29. Home of the Oregon Ducks : EUGENE. Careful with that axe.
32. Limited portions of : RATIONED
34. L.A. commuter org. : M.T.A. Now branded as "Metro".
35. German coal region : SAAR. You need at least one conforming cross here to decide between RUHR and SAAR.
37. New York Harbor's __ Island : ELLIS. My boss, Larry Ellison's last name was taken by his adoptive father to recognize his point of entry into the United States.
38. Large pears : BOSCS
41. Sing-along syllable : TRA-
42. Colonial hero Silas : DEANE. Thank you, crosses. He had something of a checkered career.
43. Home of the Imagination! pavilion : EPCOT
44. Cookout choice : RIBS. Food! I cook my ribs "in". I sous-vide them and then throw them in a 500F oven to give 'em a nice sear.
46. Animation sheet : CEL
47. Extremely focused : DIALED IN
49. Promising performers : COMERS. I've always heard this along with "up and ..."
52. Carpentry tool : SANDER
53. "That's so __!" : YOU
61. Poet Angelou : MAYA
64. Dry up : PARCH
66. Sing in the shower, say : SOLO. I think I sound pretty good in the shower. Which is weird, because I can't hold a note out of it.
67. Fivers : ABES. "Honest" notes:
68. Bored with it all : BLASÉ
69. Fingerprint feature : LOOP. Cousin of the whorl and the arch.
70. Skin condition : RASH
71. Sasquatch kin : YETIS. They're getting quite common around these parts this week!
72. Mid-month time : IDES. Chum of the Nones and the Kalends.
Down:
1. Crystallize : JELL
2. Film beekeeper : ULEE. Played by Peter Fonda in 1997.
3. Laptop screen meas. : DIAGonal measurement. My ThinkPad is 14" corner-to-corner.
4. "Anybody around?" response : I'M HERE
5. Certain campus newbies : PLEDGES
6. Renowned '70s-'80s batting coach Charley : LAU. Second part of my Natick. I'm sure you've all heard of him. Not me.
7. French friar : ABBÉ
8. Roulette bet : NOIR. One of the basic roulette strategies, betting on red or black.
9. Chicken serving : BREAST. More Food! I mostly cook thighs, rather than breasts, for flavor and texture.
10. Desk space : KNEE-HOLE
11. Whisperer's target : EAR
12. Hammarskjöld of the UN : DAG. Secretary-General from 1953 until 1961 until he was tragically killed in a plane crash.
13. __-Caps: candy : SNO
21. One with a habit : NUN. It's getting close to Hallowe'en and the "alternative" nun costumes.
23. Spotted : SPIED
26. Wrap around : ENLACE. Not my first thought. Nor my second, come to that.
27. "This Is Spinal Tap" director : REINER
28. Motown flops : EDSELS. Nice misdirection. Was thinking musical acts at first.
29. War zone journalists : EMBEDS. The practice of "embedding" journalists with the military began during the Persian Gulf war in 1993.
30. Ideal setting : UTOPIA
31. Lawn maintenance accessory : GAS CAN. Tried GAS CAP. Was wrong.
32. __ to go : RARIN'
33. Sleek horse : ARAB
36. Abruzzi bell town : ATRI
39. Payment required of known deadbeats : COLD CASH
40. 1943 penny metal : STEEL
45. Grain cutters : SCYTHES. Can be grim coves, those reapers.
48. Pay a call : DROP BY. Had DROP IN first.
50. Awe-ful sound? : OOH! Think "fireworks" and the like.
51. Breakfast mix : MUESLI. Food! I like mine with Greek yoghurt and a few slices of banana.
55. Word with bake or fire : SALE
56. Logician's "E" : ERAT. Quod Erat Demonstrandum.
58. Yummy : GOOD
59. 70-Across application : ALOE. Cross-referential misery for some. I like them.
60. Boston __ : POPS
61. Spoil : MAR
62. Esq. group : A.B.A. American Bar Association for all those Esquires out there.
63. Assent : YES
65. CBS series with a N.Y. spin-off : CSI. Crime Scene Investigation. Originally based in Las Vegas, then spin-offs aired based in Miami and New York. Almost 800 episodes have been made, one of CBS Television's most successfully franchises.
And ... here's the grid, all circled for your delectation.
Steve
GENDER gap
GENERATION gap
INCOME gap and
TRADE gap.
As the reveal tells you:
54A. With 57-Across, negotiate ... and what needs to be done to make sense of this puzzle's circles : CLOSE
57A. See 54-Across : THE GAP
Very clever theme from Ed. I confess to a rare Did-Not-Finish today - I was personally natick'ed by the U in the crossing of LAU and EUBIE. Neither name was familiar to me. LAW and EWBIE looked like they might work, but alas, no.
On a side "gap" note, Bank Underground Station in the City of London has the biggest gap between the train and the platform on the entire system. My morning and evening commutes for at least ten years were serenaded by the dulcet recorded tones of actor Oswald Laurence intoning "Mind the Gap". Here's a rather charming news item on his voice, and how his widow would travel through Embankment station to listen to him after he passed away.
Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. Dench of "Philomena" : JUDI. A Dame Commander of the British Empire now. Not that there's a lot of Empire left to command.
5. Alternative strategy : PLAN B
10. "Ladies First Since 1916" sneakers : KEDS. Learning moment. Keds marketed the first canvas-topped "sneakers".
14. Tourney format, briefly : ELIM. Elimination tournament. An alternative format is the round-robin. The FIFA World Cup is a combination of the two.
15. Secretary Thomas Perez's department : LABOR
16. Chicken vindaloo go-with : NAAN. Food! I could list about 200 other go-withs off the top of my head, but not many with four letters. Vindaloo was originally a pork dish from the southern part of India, but has now morphed into a restaurant staple of chicken, lamb or shrimp, with an expectation of a two-alarm fire chili heat level.
17. Sister of Rachel : LEAH
18. Jazz pianist Blake : EUBIE. Part 1 of my Natick. I discover he was a ragtime and jazz musician and appeared in the movie "Scott Joplin" in 1977.
19. Logician's word : ERGO. Latin "therefore". Descartes' "Cogito, ergo sum", or "I think, therefore I am". Near chlecho with 56D - I'd have been tempted to clue them both identically.
20. Sasquatch, for one : LEGEND. I have a soft spot for Sasquatch. The first LAT puzzle that I had published (with C.C.) used the word.
22. Rub the wrong away : ERASE. Lovely clue - it's easy to read "way" rather than "away".
24. Head covering : RUG
25. Walk of life : SPHERE. Some sporting spheres here, courtesy of the master of the red headband, Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits.
29. Home of the Oregon Ducks : EUGENE. Careful with that axe.
32. Limited portions of : RATIONED
34. L.A. commuter org. : M.T.A. Now branded as "Metro".
35. German coal region : SAAR. You need at least one conforming cross here to decide between RUHR and SAAR.
37. New York Harbor's __ Island : ELLIS. My boss, Larry Ellison's last name was taken by his adoptive father to recognize his point of entry into the United States.
38. Large pears : BOSCS
41. Sing-along syllable : TRA-
42. Colonial hero Silas : DEANE. Thank you, crosses. He had something of a checkered career.
43. Home of the Imagination! pavilion : EPCOT
44. Cookout choice : RIBS. Food! I cook my ribs "in". I sous-vide them and then throw them in a 500F oven to give 'em a nice sear.
46. Animation sheet : CEL
47. Extremely focused : DIALED IN
49. Promising performers : COMERS. I've always heard this along with "up and ..."
52. Carpentry tool : SANDER
53. "That's so __!" : YOU
61. Poet Angelou : MAYA
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.
64. Dry up : PARCH
66. Sing in the shower, say : SOLO. I think I sound pretty good in the shower. Which is weird, because I can't hold a note out of it.
67. Fivers : ABES. "Honest" notes:
68. Bored with it all : BLASÉ
69. Fingerprint feature : LOOP. Cousin of the whorl and the arch.
70. Skin condition : RASH
71. Sasquatch kin : YETIS. They're getting quite common around these parts this week!
72. Mid-month time : IDES. Chum of the Nones and the Kalends.
Down:
1. Crystallize : JELL
2. Film beekeeper : ULEE. Played by Peter Fonda in 1997.
3. Laptop screen meas. : DIAGonal measurement. My ThinkPad is 14" corner-to-corner.
4. "Anybody around?" response : I'M HERE
5. Certain campus newbies : PLEDGES
6. Renowned '70s-'80s batting coach Charley : LAU. Second part of my Natick. I'm sure you've all heard of him. Not me.
7. French friar : ABBÉ
8. Roulette bet : NOIR. One of the basic roulette strategies, betting on red or black.
9. Chicken serving : BREAST. More Food! I mostly cook thighs, rather than breasts, for flavor and texture.
10. Desk space : KNEE-HOLE
11. Whisperer's target : EAR
12. Hammarskjöld of the UN : DAG. Secretary-General from 1953 until 1961 until he was tragically killed in a plane crash.
13. __-Caps: candy : SNO
21. One with a habit : NUN. It's getting close to Hallowe'en and the "alternative" nun costumes.
23. Spotted : SPIED
26. Wrap around : ENLACE. Not my first thought. Nor my second, come to that.
27. "This Is Spinal Tap" director : REINER
28. Motown flops : EDSELS. Nice misdirection. Was thinking musical acts at first.
29. War zone journalists : EMBEDS. The practice of "embedding" journalists with the military began during the Persian Gulf war in 1993.
30. Ideal setting : UTOPIA
31. Lawn maintenance accessory : GAS CAN. Tried GAS CAP. Was wrong.
32. __ to go : RARIN'
33. Sleek horse : ARAB
36. Abruzzi bell town : ATRI
39. Payment required of known deadbeats : COLD CASH
40. 1943 penny metal : STEEL
45. Grain cutters : SCYTHES. Can be grim coves, those reapers.
48. Pay a call : DROP BY. Had DROP IN first.
50. Awe-ful sound? : OOH! Think "fireworks" and the like.
51. Breakfast mix : MUESLI. Food! I like mine with Greek yoghurt and a few slices of banana.
55. Word with bake or fire : SALE
56. Logician's "E" : ERAT. Quod Erat Demonstrandum.
58. Yummy : GOOD
59. 70-Across application : ALOE. Cross-referential misery for some. I like them.
60. Boston __ : POPS
61. Spoil : MAR
62. Esq. group : A.B.A. American Bar Association for all those Esquires out there.
63. Assent : YES
65. CBS series with a N.Y. spin-off : CSI. Crime Scene Investigation. Originally based in Las Vegas, then spin-offs aired based in Miami and New York. Almost 800 episodes have been made, one of CBS Television's most successfully franchises.
And ... here's the grid, all circled for your delectation.
Steve
49 comments:
Sure for a while that this was going to be a loss. A lot of white in the center-east, with KNEErOom and ENfold instead of -HOLE and -LACE. But eventually I broke the jam and finished!
Ingenious theme. Even with the circles, I needed the reveal to figure them out!
{C, A-, B+, C+.}
There once was a duck from EUGENE
Who was RARIN' to get on the team.
He couldn't play center
Or guard as defender,
But for passing, he was a quackerback dream!
LEGEND says Grim Reapers in shadows abide,
Then on their pale horses, outward they'll ride!
And sometimes it's scary
When two want to marry,
And evermore spend their death SCYTHE by SCYTHE!
There was a white YETI named Sophia
Who journeyed to find her UTOPIA!
There she'd meet her match,
A handsome Sasquatch,
And they'd have several kids colored sepia!
Wherever YOU go, there YOU are
No matter if you're near or far.
But if YOU CLOSE THE GAP
Between fiction and fact,
YOU may find yourself lost in film NOIR!
Greetings!
Thanks, Ed and Steve!
Excellent puzzle and write-up.
Had no trouble with EUBIE. (Gotta be old enuf.)
Am really enjoying Timeless. Anybody else? Love the machines.
Have a great day!
PS. Great job, Owen!
Morning, all!
Great, I finally get a chance to work from home for a day and do the puzzle, and it has to have circles. Go figure... ^_^ The good news is that I'm now officially on a M-W-F schedule at the office, meaning I can work from home Tuesdays and Thursday and actually get a little more sleep. Yay!
The puzzle was a bit challenging, but not too bad. A few stumbles, such as DROP IN before DROP BY, and some complete unknowns, such as LAU and ELIM, but nothing the perps couldn't handle.
Good Morning, Steve and friends. Clever theme, but I am not really a fan of puzzles where the theme spans multiple clues. Hand up for DIAL Up before DIAL IN.
I never knew that KEDS were "Ladies First ..." and apparently that slogan has been around for 100 years. When I was a kid, my grandmother would get me a new pair of PF Flyers every summer. We never had Keds.
Thanks for the Dire Straits, Steve.
Silas Deane (1737 ~ 1789) made a guest appearance in a recent puzzle.
Maya Angelou (1928 ~ 2014) recited her poems at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration.
QOD: Children are the most desirable opponents at scrabble as they are both easy to beat and fun to cheat. ~ Fran Lebowitz (b. Oct. 27, 1951)
Good morning!
On Thursday the LAT puzzle is in a magazine section of the Barnacle, and for the second week in a row, I managed to tear off the far right column of the puzzle. Grrrrr.
Hand up for DROP IN, and it almost cost me the game. That error plus the GO of ERGO made BLASE and YETIS almost invisible. When I used Wite-Out on ERGO and BY, things finally swam into focus. Whew!
Nicely done, Ed and Steve.
Actually, it was IN, not BY which received the snow-job.
Great write-up Steve. FUN puzzle Ed.
LAU was ESP and KEDS was a learning moment. Always a plus.
Glad to see the World Series tied at 1 - 1 ... it means there will be a ball game on Sunday.
GO CUBS !!!
Cheers!
Charlie LAU played and coached at the height of my interest in baseball. He was very well respected for his theory of hitting and developed George Brett who batted .388 one year. He died young.
If you watched the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson you should remember EUBIE Blake.
Fun puzzle, thanks Ed and Steve
Clever theme today. At first I thought it was going to be a letter scramble as my first circles were GENE and GEN - but then D - so had to wait longer to figure out the theme.
WEES about DROP IN changed to DROP BY when none of the crosses were working.
Thanks Ed and Steve for a fun start to the day!
Charlie LAU, not much of a hitter himself, was batting coach for many teams. His theory of hitting with mainly the bottom hand (to get topspin), when he was with the Red Sox, drove Ted Williams nuts - Ted was a big top-hand proponent.
Unfortunately I have a Lau golf swing so I'm always trying to overcome the resulting slice.
Couple of usage/spelling errors Abby, kneewell, meusli but the crosses fixed them quickly. Chicken dinner.
Hello Puzzlers -
Another impressive grid design today. Hand up for no idea about Lau, he was all perps. Eubie Blake was familiar though - when my Mom was looking for a better piano, we test-drove one being sold by the New England Conservatory; it was famous for having been played by Eubie during a gathering there. However, the instrument wasn't what Mom wanted, and we didn't buy it.
Morning, Steve, so glad you're on duty today because my mind went straight to "Mind the gap!" when that answer got filled in. I recall the automated voice at Embankment, and seem to recall flashing lights as well. I still have a Tube coffee cup with that message, from the 90's.
CartBoy 8:38 - your avatar image is a bit hard to see, but it looks like your ClubCar roof has been, um, re-shaped a bit.
I didn't know Charley LAU either but did know EUBIE Blake, who was still performing into his 90's. I had a little trouble in the NE due to the fact I had never heard of KNEE HOLE,didn't know either REINER (Meathead?) or DEANE and I don't think of my little 'world' as a SPHERE. ENLACE was changed from 'encase' for wrap around.
ELIM- I call a foul. I know of single elimination (aka match play), double elimination, round robin, and tournaments that have consolation brackets for losers in the first round but have never heard of an 'ELIMination' tournament. The loser is always ELIMinated.
With the circles 'THE GAP' would have been an easy guess but I had already filled it by perps and with the 'CL' already in place I CLOSEd it without looking at the clue.
KEDS- as a child those shoes on girls were my first recollection of snob appeal. They distinguished whose parents could pay more so their child could 'run faster and jump higher' with KEDS with their blue tags on the heels or the P.F. Flyers. I got to wear the cheapie brands.
Steve- both Splynter and I are 'leg men', and I also like the chicken thighs.
"Puzzling Thoughts":
Today's puzzle was a nice challenge; northern part was pristine but the southern hemiSPHERE had a few errors. I tried to squeeze GRANOLA into the MUESLI spot, and before finishing the puzzle, I tried to anticipate the theme "solve" by putting the word CLASS in 54a. But once I went to PLAN B, I had no further problems.
Needed ESP (every single perp) to get EMBEDS/MTA
If the Cubs pitching and offense continues as last night's, the Series may not return to Cleveland. C'mon Tribe, rebound!
When I saw the reveal, I had a totally different thought about the last two words. For those of you who have a daughter who grew up in the Gen X/Millennial GENERATION, this limerick will hit home:
Teenage daughter installed a phone app
That allowed her to buy a new cap;
As well t-shirts and shoes
Guess you've now heard the news:
They've decided they'll just CLOSE "THE GAP"
Musings
-¡Hola! I am subbing in Español today! The word of the day is GUSTAR
-You know how sometimes you just click with the constructor and fly through a puzzle? This wasn’t one for me. The NE sector took real effort but I loved Ed’s gimmick and, like Steve said in his delectable summary, I too like cross-references
-I put HUBIE and didn’t change it when I finished PLEDGES for one bad cell
-I got PLAN B and thought SIDE B’S might be a Motown flops
-I wonder if others thought the logician’ E would be “Quod ERAT demonstrandum”
-The Industrial SAAR after Allied bombing DIALED IN on its weapon-making facilities
-Go ahead and SOLO, YOLO!
-The top hand release was a signature or the Charlie LAU method of hitting
-KNEE _ O_ _ was not KNEE ROOM
-My MIL lost her GAS CAP and put a regular cap on her mower and it would only run for a minute or so
Thank you Ed and Steve.
No circles, so I opened the puzzle at the LA Times website to see them.
Got the theme, but wasn't sure what a GENE gap and a RATION gap were. Then, as Steve says,"The penny dropped."
Barry Gordy had very few Motown flops.
Learned Dame JUDI Dench spells her name with an i.
I was in the RUHR valley before the SAAR. Drove through the SAAR Valley on my way to Luxembourg.
Loved figuring out NOIR for Roulette bet. Loved the "Awe-ful sound ?" clue. Charlie LAU was a gimme.
Corey Kluber was DIALED IN for the Indians in Game 1.
Jake was dominate early at The Jake in Game 2 last night. That play on names is sort of an inside jake.
I erased my link to Walk of Life after reading Steve's write up.
First spelled MUESLI museli, but it didn't look right. In fact, the correct spelling doesn't look right either.
billocohoes, I laughed at your Charlie Lau golf swing comment. Been there, done that. Mostly drive down the middle now, albeit without the distance of my youth. Now I occasionally pull a line drive over what would be the third baseman's head, resulting in an OB and reload. Golf is the game that keeps on taking.
No circles for me today. I have to use the MENSA site because the local paper dropped the LA Times puzzle a while ago. When I got to the clue about the circles, I tried to open the LA Times website, but got the dreaded 404, so I tried the Merriam Webster site and got another 404. So no circles. However I was able to fill in the puzzle with the help of perps and a couple of WAGs.
Ed provided a nice ride and Steve executed the role of tour guide admirably.
The west side of the puzzle filled in rather well and the Center and East took a little more work.
I knew EUBIE Blake, but for some reason I tried to spell it with an H instead of an E. It took filling in PLEDGES to correct that mistake.
The double A's in 15(a) and 35(a) cinched NAAN and SAAR. I never heard of Chicken Vindaloo so I had no clue what would go with it. I put in RUHR at first until the perps corrected it.
I tried FINS before ABES. Grants are $50 bills and $100 bills are Bens, Benjamins, Franklins or C-Notes but I don't recall ever hearing a $5 bill referred to as an ABE even though it makes sense, it was always a Fin or a Fiver.
The term EMBEDS became popular with the first Gulf War, but War Correspondents have been around for centuries. The first known of these is Herodotus's account of the Persian Wars, however he did not himself participate in the events. Thucydides, who some years later wrote a history of the Peloponnesian Wars was an observer to the events he described. There have been many more with the likes of Ernie Pyle in WWII and Walter Cronkite and others in Viet Nam.
Enough ramblings. I hope everyone has a great day.
Good Morning:
Enjoyed this "toothsome" offering from Mr. Ed. Needed the reveal to catch the theme and it did bring an audible Aha. (Immediately thought of Mike Tyson and Michael Strahan, those two of the famous unclosed gaps.). Clever as the Devil! 😈. Hand up for Drop in/Drop by. Had engird before enlace and Muesli also needed a correction. Eubie was a gimme and when Lau appeared, it looked somewhat familiar.
Thanks, Ed Sessa, for a fun romp and thanks, Steve, for the cool commentary. (I was one who read the clue for erase as way instead of away. Funny how our eyes sometimes trick us.)
Barry G, glad to hear you have at least two days reprieve from the commute and that you can enjoy a more relaxed work-atmosphere.
Misty, hope all went well yesterday and that your discomfort is minimal.
Have a great day.
Good morning everyone.
Easy to suss the theme today. No searches. Tried reapers before SCYTHES.
Weighed Ruhr vs SAAR. 5d was going to be plural, so opted for SAAR. Saarland is Germany's smallest federal state outside the city-states. France held on to it as long as possible after WWII (1959).
Misty, I hope your procedure went well yesterday.
Thank you, Ed Sessa; I was on your wave length today and breezed through the puzzle. LAU is unknown to me, but knew EUBIE. That finished it. I see Sasquatch, the LEGEND and YETI, too. Hand up for thinking music but couldn't recall any Motown flop until EDSEL appeared.
Thomas Perez is the name of one of my ancestors, great-great-great-great grandfather. The name continues to be carried throughout the family, however, not the Sec. of LABOR.
Speaking of names, Steve, one of the British dramas I watch is directed by Steve Barron. Is that any relation to you?
Thanks again to Ed and also to Steve for an excellent review.
Have yourselves a wonderful day, everyone!
oc4beach,
404 means that you got to the website, but the individual page that was requested wasn't found.
This would be the correct url for the puzzle page at the LA Times website:
http://games.latimes.com/games/daily-crossword/
If that's the url you are using, then you may have an issue with the page that has been cached in your browser. You should try clearing the cache first. Here's a well written article:
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-clear-cache-2617980
No problems with this nice Thursday puzzle. That's 4 days in a row of fairly straightforward solves. So the law of averages says "look out for Friday".
TTP said:
"First spelled MUESLI museli, but it didn't look right. In fact, the correct spelling doesn't look right either."
That's because, instead of the oft-noted Frawnche, it's German and since we don't usually have the u with an umlaut, Ü gets Anglicized to 'ue'.
Hi All!
With all the names and places I didn't know, this puzzle was quickly becoming a fun-sponge. The theme kept me going so I cheated a bit - it was worth it. Thanks Ed.
Steve - In addition to the GOOD food-porn, you had Dire Straits! Well done.
Cheats - SAAR [had S & R!]/ATRI crossing to break up the center. DEANE was not in my wheelhouse either.
ESPs: JUDI, EUBIE, LAU. U was a "I WAG'd right!" moment.
Fav: Spinal Tap in the clue? Awe-some. REINER on the making. It doesn't quite go to 11 but interesting nevertheless. Big E- Yes, MeatHead from All in the Family
TTP - I see you posted today; how's your buddy? [you don't have to answer]
{B+, A, B+, B}.
{A} - C.Moe - I'm an X'er. Not being able to get new comfy Gap jeans made me upset and DW quite happy. Now I'm told Cargo shorts are out; what to wear, what to wear?
Barry - Sorry your 1st day back is circle-day. Good to hear about your new schedule.
Steve: re: 22a. I'm going to blame my Italian heritage for reading the clue the wrong a'way. Yous knows what I a'say :-)
Cheers, -T
I can't believe I got this Ed Sessa Thursday toughie this morning, but I did it--Yay! Hurray! Thank you, Ed. At first only the left side filled in for me, while the right was pretty much a blank. But I got IDES down on the bottom, and that gave me MUESLI, which started some other things to fill in. Was amazed by the two clues with double AAs--NAAN and SAAR--very unusual. Sort of got the theme but not entirely until Steve's write-up. And I really liked seeing the MAYA Angelou verse, so thanks for that too.
Many thanks, Wilbur, Anonymous T, Irish Miss, and Spitzboov for the kind wishes. I was very lucky that the dermatologist got the cancer out on the first try, so I didn't need stitches and got home before four hours. Big bandage for a couple days, but no pain or itching. And although they predict a scar I hope it won't be too bad looking at my 55th high school reunion next September.
Have a great day, everybody!
Tough but fun puzzle.
Had to red-letter scroll through the alphabet to get the U in LAU/EUBIE.
Otherwise, everything filled in nicely.
DNF
Not on wavelength
(in fact, way out of tune...)
I even cheated to try & keep going with possible new "aha" moments
by peeking at the completed grid once in a while & still got it wrong.
(Are you sure it's not "Gell" with a "G.")
(Lau/Eubie, I didn't have a chance!)
Is Rarin a word?
What the heck is Muesli? (I don't like the sound of it...)
Can some one pls explain what the heck Motown has to do with Edsels???
Being a cat person, I was ready to complain about rub the wrong away.
Wow!, never even saw it till the write up! Excellent!
Rib sear, 500 degrees, now that sounds interesting!
Every recipe here in the States says "low & slow."
but an ending sear sounds delicious!
(I wonder, if I am careful, if I can accomplish the same thing under the broiler?)
The mind the gap link was interesting, I did not know the London Tubes
had that problem. But it reminded me of how the Yanks (sort of) solved
the problem at 14th street. In this video, between 4:30 & 6:00,
is their solution.
(Which I think creates more dangers...)
P.S., If you find the entire 11 minute video interesting,
you might need to get out more...
Anyone who even briefly played for the Detroit Tigers from 1958 through 1974 was likely known to me so Charlie Lau (bad catcher and mediocre pinch hitter) was easy. I lost it on 48 down when the crosses gave me OPBY and I was sure it had to be "stop by". Drop by never occurred to me. Oh well.
Two nits...I have never heard of a five dollar bill referred to as an "abe". A five was called a "fin". but abe fitted. I also get annoyed when obscure proper names cross each other. Only from crosswords in the pass did I get SAAR and I still don't know what a ATRI is ???
I looked up Charlie on Baseball reference...sure enough he played for my beloved Tigers in 58 and 59. I also looked up his final salary in 1967...$14,500..only slightly more than what my dad made as a union carpenter ! How times and values have changed.
Cont...
HG, your Gas cap mention reminded me of a problem I had with my leaf blower.
In order to allow air to enter, & gas not leak out,
it had a little sponge type material in a hole in the cap.
Of course the stupid thing fell out, & rather than by a new cap
I thought I could fix it by stuffing it with paper towel.
Luckily an inner voice started screaming:
"Jeez! you idiot! You're making a Molotov Cocktail!"
I did eventually find some air permeable sponge type material
that worked well so far.
(If you don't hear from me after leaf blowing season, you know what happened...)
It also, reminded me of the idiot thieves that tried to steal gas out
of cars by using a shop vac. (as seen on the show "a thousand ways to die!)
Cannot let singing in the shower pass unnoticed...
& of course,
(With due respect)
My mind is always on the gap...
Anonymous-T,
He's in a really bad way, still in ICU, with considerable vital organ damage, broken bones and contusions, but he's alive. They revived him on the way to the first hospital. Then Life-Flighted to the nearest major trauma center. Spleen, liver and kidney all damaged. Punctured lung from broken ribs. He's been through multiple surgeries. Fractured pelvis and leg, but as of yesterday they had not yet set the fractures. Heavily sedated but said a few words and has opened his eyes, so that's supposedly a good sign. We are all praying he makes it through and there's no brain damage.
CED, Detroit, aka Motor City, aka Motown, the hub of the big American automobile companies... The Ford Edsel was a flop.
Chuck, The Bell of Atri was a poem by Longfellow. Atri is in the Abruzzi part of Italy. Bell clues are often answered with ATRI or Adano.
CED - Detroit is Motor City/Motown. Home of Ford who's biggest flop in the 50's was the EDSEL - a machine designed by committee. I too want'd B-Sides, but ELLIS, where great-pa Benie was processed, didn't allow it.
Misty - Scar'd or not a beautiful person is a beautiful person. Smarts & wit go a long way [See: Tina Fey]. You've got 'em. Glad to hear all went well for you this morning.
Cheers, -T
TTP - we posted near-time... Promising news. God Speed to the both of yous. -T
It's OK, Steve. I had a bit of a gap myself. Mine was in a different spot, over on the east side where, for a time, CONEY fought with ELLIS for the NY island spot. I should have remembered that Coney Island is no longer a true island. I was stalled and didn't see my error until Googling for DEANE, and that one answer solved a lot of errors, allowing me to change KNEEROOM to KNEEHOLE and also opening up SPIED and SPHERE.
My hand's up, for like desper-Otto, I also went for DROP IN before DROP BY. It was my only other do-over.
Oh, and I found it amusing to see JUDI Dench appearing in a crossword. I first saw her as Juliet at the Old Vic in 1960. She was the sweetest 14-year old! I had no idea I would find her in my Xwd pzl 56 years later...
Anyway, I enjoyed this one overall. The theme was Good/OK, and a few of Mr. Sessa's clues were witty--especially for 28-D.
Guess Chuck and I are weird. I also had STOP BY before DROP BY.
Jamie FOXX for Verizon and MAYA Angelou for iPhone(?) have been getting a lot of commercial time recently.
Can't seem to keep up w/the cabinet - WAGd Labor. Eubie was a gimme (including his spelling), but never know names of coaches (or many players). We often had Keds as kids, but never heard the slogan. Probably heard of Silas Dean but didn't remember. For gas can was trying to think of a tool rather than an accessory, though I'm usually careful about reading the clues. That fact notwithstanding, I still saw 22a as rub the wrong way, when erase fit I thought it was bad cluing.
Still have no idea how 23a walk of life = sphere?
Had EUBIE, but changed it for the unknown perp. Doh!
I was thinking of Hubie Brown, the basketball coach.
Nit. I had the DIAGanol Meas as the DIAM
Which left me MENDER????
Missy so glad it all went well. The best thing about praying for someone is that you pray. Never a bad thing at least for some people.
I knew it was LEA or LAU. Another great hitting coach was Walt Hriniak. A tremendous hs hockey player. But, they made less than the mediocre baseball players .
What a screwing MLB owners did to players prior to getting so badly screwed themselves by arbitration and free agency
Carl Reiner directed Mary Tyler Moore who first was the ultimate anonymous "star".
Anyone Get that reference?
Yes. Owen needs at least an A- for #1
Interesting theme and entertaining write-up.
I'll come back later and see if anyone recalls MLT's first"role". And then rant about how MLB's greed did them in.
Oh. I always like C-Moe's stuff
Eubie Blake had HUGE hands and very long fingers, obviously advantageous for playing the piano. I read that Rachmaninoff had enormous hands also.
WC - Nary a whoosh here. Though MTM & Carl (Rob's dad) was years before my time it didn't go over my hair. Some things are timeless: The setup and the RUGs. Cheers, -T
WC - After I posted I re-read your challenge and my answer didn't quite make sense... MTM wasn't Anon in DVD. So, I Googled. I guess your query did pass by with the same whooshing sound that deadlines often do... [apologies to Douglas Adams]
Are YOU talking about Richard Diamond, Private Detective With only MTM's voice and legs? Never heard of it... Internet magic found me MTM in her words on the Diamond programme. Let's hope this is in tomorrow's puzzle before I forget :-)
Re: STEEL - anyone have Steel pennies? I have 3. Grandpa (Mom's side - WWII EU theater) started me on coin collecting and almost filled my 1st ABE blue-book. And, I've got more wheat-backs than I know what to do with [there's only so many places in the book to put 'em] but I keep saving them. Are they (wheat-backs) actually worth anything more than $.01 or are they like $2 bills and still relatively easy to get?
Cheers, -T
MUESLI - Is a Swiss-German word meaning "granola". German spelling is Müsli as Michael pointed out.
WC, Walt Hriniak was a disciple of Charlie Lau.
Both MTM and David Janssen had impressive television careers; sadly he died at 48. Aside from the timeless Fugitive he was in a show called O'Hara and one called Harry O. That seemed like an inside joke. I too remember RICHARD DIAMOND and his girlfriend on the show, Barbara Bain who went on to play in....
Good evening, folks. Thank you, Ed Sessa, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
This puzzle was not a cake walk. I have more inkblots on it than Carter has liver pills. There are so many that I will not list them all. I did get it done.
DIALED IN was tough.
ATRI was unknown. Perps.
Liked GAS CAN.
Liked ERAT for 56D. Q.E.D. is one of my favorite Latin expressions. I have seen it once in a book, that I recall. "Call of the Wild" by Jack London.
EMBEDS was unknown. Perps.
Misty: Glad things are working out.
It is getting late, so I am cashing in my chips. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
MTN was the "Legs" of Richard Diamond. Only Mary's legs would be shone. She wS a switchboard operator, as I recall
Actually, I rarely saw the show but this was a popular piece of trivia once Laura Petrie became famous. Loved the link A-T
If you google "legs of Richard Diamond" you'll see the reference
Btw. I didn't get SPHERES for Walk of Life???
WC out in his usual ether sans rant
Sphere and walk of life are both synonyms for career.
Clever theme! I got all of the words straddling the gaps, but missed that each was supposed to go with the word GAP!
Hand up for KNEE ROOM before KNEE HOLE. ELLIS Island forced the change for me.
Never heard of LAU, but EUBIE BLAKE really was a legend who I was familiar with. The word legend is overused.
But SAAR/ATRI crossing seemed unfair. Got it with a WAG to complete the puzzle correctly.
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