google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, September 26, 2017 ~ Peter Gordon

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Sep 26, 2017

Tuesday, September 26, 2017 ~ Peter Gordon

Theme: Sing, Sing, Sing! - Three musical numbers from a 1957 Broadway production.

20. Julie Andrews' "The Sound of Music" role: MARIA VON TRAPP



25. Jimmy Fallon hosts it: THE TONIGHT SHOW



43. Avengers member with a patriotic shield: CAPTAIN AMERICA


50. 9/26/1957 Broadway debut featuring the consecutive songs found at the start of 20-Across, the middle of 25-Across and the end of 43-Across: WEST SIDE STORY

Argyle here. The theme was lost on me until I read the full reveal. Clever.

Across:

1. Sales pitch: SPIEL

6. Outback birds: EMUs

10. Sunup: DAWN

14. Café lure: AROMA

15. Clickable webpage word: LINK

16. Home to billions: ASIA

17. Grass shortener: MOWER

18. Apart from that: ELSE

19. Slightly wet: DAMP

23. Risk, e.g.: GAME

24. Healthful berry: ACAI

31. "Homeland" spy org.: CIA. (Central Intelligence Agency) Homeland is a TV series on Showtime and is in its sixth season.

32. Taxi: CAB

33. Nebraska city: OMAHA

34. "Apocalypse Now" setting, familiarly: NAM

35. Gathering for fans of graphic novels, anime, etc.: COMICON. (comic book convention or comic-con)

38. Delivery vehicle: VAN

39. Painting need: BRUSH

41. Microwave: ZAP

42. Valuable rock: ORE

48. Tolstoy's Karenina: ANNA. 864 pages; too late for a summer read.

49. Dutch cheese: EDAM

55. With 50-Down, tightrope walker's place: HIGH. 50-Down. See 55-Across: WIRE

56. Oscar winner Kazan: ELIA. Best Director—"Gentleman's Agreement"(1948) and "On the Waterfront"(1955) Also, Academy Honorary Award—Lifetime Achievement(1999)

57. Aquafina rival: EVIAN. Bottled water products; Aquafina - Pepsi, EVIAN - Danone(French)

59. Craving: URGE

60. Accelerates, with "up": REVS

61. Foolish: DIPPY

62. Military meal: MESS. 63. Cafeteria carrier: TRAY. Good pairing.

64. V-formation fliers: GEESE. They are starting to form up now.

Down:

1. "Casablanca" pianist: SAM

2. Formal school dance: PROM

3. Corn Belt state: IOWA

4. Rise into view: EMERGE

5. Cattleman's rope: LARIAT

6. Late morning hr.: ELEVEN AM

7. Venus de __: MILO


8. Disentangle: UNSNAG

9. Quick drawing: SKETCH

10. Arp's art movement: DADAISM. Dada was not so much a style of art like Cubism or Fauvism; it was more a protest movement with an anti-establishment manifesto.

11. Right away, in a memo: ASAP. (as soon as possible)

12. Namby-pamby person: WIMP

13. Midday snooze: NAP

21. Gas brand that had a torch in its logo: AMOCO


22. Florida's Boca __: RATON


25. Pageant winner's crown: TIARA

26. Exaggerate, as a stage role: HAM UP

27. Spanish island in the Mediterranean: IBIZA


28. Devastation that's wreaked: HAVOC

29. Scarlett of Tara: O'HARA. Gone with the Wind

30. Decrease in intensity: WANE

31. "Closing Bell" channel: CNBC. (Originally, the Consumer News and Business Channel.) The show is named after the bell that is rung to signify the end of a trading session.

35. Repetitive shout at a protest: CHANT

36. Required little effort: CAME EASY

37. Newspaper opinion pieces: OP ED's

40. Secret supplies: STASHES

44. Add to text, as a missing letter: INSERT

45. Carpenter, at times: NAILER

46. Suitable for all ages, filmwise: RATED G

47. Apple software for creating videos: iMOVIE

51. Omelet ingredients: EGGS. Gotta break 'em to make an omelet.

52. Prima donna: DIVA

53. Ready for picking: RIPE

54. Toy dog's barks: YAPS

55. Play a kazoo: HUM

58. TV's "Science Guy": NYE


Argyle

37 comments:

  1. Hi Y'all! Oh, what fun! Thanks, Peter. I love "West Side Story" and had no problem finding three favorite songs in the theme entries. Before the reveal, I was expecting "Sound of Music" as the theme because of VON TRAPP. Very fast fill all the way thru.

    Just the ticket, Argyle! I'll go back and enjoy the music when I get done posting. Thanks.

    Several entries I was not sure of and needed perps: 31a. CIA because I've never watched "Homeland"; 35a COMICON, knew it had the word COMIC to start; 47d IMOVIE, never heard of; and 27d IBIZA, not IBeria.

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  2. Good Morning!

    Hi everyone! I had a long night at work and was rewarded with both the CC Monday puzzle AND the Peter Gordon Tuesday puzzle :) Yay for me! I got the TADA and near record times on both. It pays to be familiar with the constructors. If you haven't subscribed to Peter's Fireball Newsflash, you should. He is quite talented and I look forward to the delivery every 2-3 weeks.

    I love Jimmy Fallon and I have for a long time. So finding clips led me down a rabbit hole and I couldn't narrow it down. But you can't go wrong with Jimmy and JT's History of Rap. And for good measure, the original Lip Sync Battle.

    I Feel Pretty is still my favorite song from West Side Story. It does not, however, describe me at the moment.

    For real though, So Long, Farewell

    Good night all!

    t.

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  3. Ever wonder about those "on-site" reporters in hurricanes?

    The hippy, DIPPY weatherman
    Gets DAMP before the weather-cam.
    And thus he shows
    No wind that blows
    Can get as HIGH as he can!

    If ever you should go to a COMI-CON
    You'd better have your superhero costume on!
    CAPTAIN AMERICA as a dame?
    A Larp'n video GAME?
    Sometimes it's more like a COMI-kazi-CON!

    {Hover over that last LINK without clicking it. B, B+.}

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  4. Greetings!

    Thanks to Peter and Santa!

    Nice theme!

    No problems.

    Beat the guy with the mainframe back East at Word Solitaire, so far. (He will knock himself out when he gets up, I assume. Only will be a few hours left then.)

    Hope to see you all tomorrow!

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  5. Good morning!

    Wow, I missed seeing a whole passel of clues on this one. Solved it with only the across entries, with an occasional glance at the perps for confirmation. Interesting that the song America is actually about Puerto Rico, ravaged this past weekend (not Tonight) by Hurricane Maria. As Anita said, "Everyone there will have moved here." -- here being Manhattan.

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  6. FIR with no erasures. My nit is that "opinion" is part of the clue, and OPED is the answer. Isn't OPED a contraction of opinion/editorial?

    Taking the motor home north about 100 miles to avoid the unpleasantness from Maria. Looks like it will take a right turn when it gets east of the NC/VA border.

    Thanks Peter and Santa for a fun Tuesday.

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  7. What an interesting tribute puzzle created by one of the greats in the crossword puzzle world. Our first Peter Gordon puzzle in the LA Times. C.C. did a great interview in 2010

    Also, I also cannot ignore the timing of this puzzle right after hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. I have been to San Juan many times and it is so hard to look at the pictures.
    Also, we have 28D. Devastation that's wreaked: HAVOC.

    We have been schooled on OP-ED in the past...PK.

    Welcome to the LAT Peter and thank you, Argyle.

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  8. In the debate between conventional tap water and the much more expensive bottled water, a factor to consider is that Evian (see 57 across) spelled backwards is naive! Some years back, Consumer Reports compared New York City water with various bottled waters and concluded that the city water came out the best.

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  9. Good morning all!

    This puzzle CAME EASY but I did need the reveal to see the theme. Thanks, Peter for the tribute to WEST SIDE STORY - one of mine and my daughters favorite musicals. They used to dance around the house singing the songs from it, so it brought back fond memories :)

    Thanks, Argyle for guiding us along and linking the songs- what a fun way to start the day listening to them!

    The timing is ironic given the devastation caused by MARIA in Puerto Rico. It is turning out to be a huge humanitarian crisis.

    MILO made me think of Milo Ventimiglia who stars in "This Is Us". So excited that the second season starts tonight, as it is such an excellent show. Anybody else a fan?

    That's all I've got for today- back to the grind of the never ending purging of the excessive amount of "stuff" we've accumulated in 20 years of living in this house. It seems to be reproducing behind my back ;)

    Have a wonderful day everyone!

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  10. Good morning everyone.

    Easy solve. Briefly paused at the reveal but then saw the light. Perps helped with fill like DADAISM.
    SPIEL - Spielen means "to play" in German. Probably came into Amer. English via the Yiddish.
    CAME EASY - Help me out here YR. Doesn't seem right.

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  11. Anon at 8:18, when our local grocery stores ran out of the bottled flat water, they placed large pallets of Evian to provide water. They did not raise the price.
    EVIAN .

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  12. Musings
    -Oh, the first, second and third word. Fun!
    -How many times per day does he have to make this SPIEL?
    -Every click on a CrossEyedDave LINK is a hoot!
    -The roofers came over yesterday morning to shingle our exposed roof in a downpour. Luckily there was only one DAMP spot inside.
    -An eye-opening and disturbing look into NAM
    -Two twits playing RISK (:48)
    -The 40-minute drive to OMAHA in my youth is now 20 minutes. Its west boundary of 56th St. is now 204th St.
    -“Play it again, Sam”? Never said it! “You played it for her, you can play it for me” Bingo!
    -I have to disentangle these every day
    -RIPE tomatoes – Nobody has any and then everybody has them

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  13. Painting need = brush? I know some kindergarteners who would disagree.

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  14. The West Side Story songs are some of my favorites so I enjoyed this puzzle. IBIZA was all perps. COMICON was perps and wags.
    Lemonade, I too, associated HAVOC with Puerto Rico. Such terrible devastation. I frequently hear wreak havoc pronounced as wreck havoc. Havoc can involve a lot of wrecking, but it is pronounced reek havoc. The WRECK pronunciation may someday come to be accepted because it seems so common.
    The talking heads were pronouncing dotard as DOH TARD. Equal emphasis. Most dictionaries Say [ˈdōdərd]. First syllable rhymes with TOE and last syllable rhymes with the last syllable of shepherd.
    CAME EASY is much more common than CAME EASILY. You can look at the hits. EASY is used as an adverb here according to the Free Dictionary and others. We say easy come, easy go, as well.
    adv.
    1. Without haste or agitation: Relax and take it easy for a while.
    2. With little effort; easily: success that came too easy.
    3. In a restrained or moderate manner: Go easy on the butter.
    4. Without much hardship or cost: got off easy with only a small fine.
    Bunny M. I can sympathize. I am in the midst of purging much of my paperwork, another frustrating task. Ugh!

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  15. Thanks for the West Sid Story music. It's my all time favorite show. The music by Leonard Bernstein is phenomenal. I saw the first run original cast around '57 or '58. I was mesmerized by the production.

    Anonymous spoke of NYC tap water. I've always heard it very good but haven't been there in some time to sample it. The tap water here in SWFL is so chlorinated that if you make coffee with it the brew gets bleached 😆 and it tastes like Clorox. I have to use spring water.

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  16. I won't fry my eggs over easily, then. Thanks for clearing that up.

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  17. Thank you for a great, enjoyable puzzle....................

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  18. Thank you, Peter Gordon! WEST SIDE STORY and its songs are ALSO one of my favorite Broadway productions so this CAME EASY. Leonard Bernstein was a genius.

    My daughter and her family love COMIC-CON. They are all avid comic hero fans.

    Thank you, Argyle. I'll return to your links later.

    Have a splendid day, everyone!

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  19. I'm back! Been across the pond for a few weeks.
    Loved today's puzzle. Broadway songs are my forte.
    Where is Irish Miss? I miss you.
    NCIS New Orleans 4th season starts tonight!

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  20. Moe kudos for "West Side Story" - and a Happy Birthday to Leonard Bernstein, who would have turned 99 today!

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  21. Good Morning:

    This is the type of theme that, after you see the reveal, you say, "Now why didn't I think of that?" Simple, yet oh so clever. No hiccups and no w/os, just a straightforward, smooth solve. (My memories of San Juan include being robbed at gunpoint in an upscale restaurant by 5 masked men on St. Patrick's Day, to boot!)

    Thanks, Peter Gordon, for an enjoyable romp and thanks, Argyle, for the tuneful tour!

    BunnyM, I share your enthusiasm for "This Is Us" as it's been a favorite of mine since the very first episode. I like the entire ensemble cast, but Milo's Jack is extra special. OTOH, "Young Sheldon" failed to elicit even one tee hee last night and I predict a thumbs down on its success. I could be wrong, though, as there are many less-than-stellar shows that draw enough of an audience to survive. I find Chuck Lorre's "humor" off-putting so I wasn't surprised at some of the dialogue in "Young Sheldon."

    Not to brag or make anyone here jealous, but Warren Buffett is awarding me with $5,000,000.00 as soon as I provide him with some personal information. I'll keep you posted! 😂

    Have a great day.

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  22. Trubrit @ 10:38 ~ Welcome back, you've been missed, even though you don't post very often. Hope you enjoyed your visit abroad. With the number of new shows and returning shows that I'm interested in watching, I found it necessary to make up a chart of what's on when! My DVR is going to get a workout as some shows overlap the same time slot, NCIS New Orleans among them.

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  23. Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990)

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  24. I liked this puzzle. Really well-executed! Only unknown was IBIZA but by solving the acrosses it EMERGED (one of Lucina's favorite words.) Not having seen "Homeland" I didn't know if 31a would be DHS or CIA, but TIARA settled that quickly. Good puzzle!

    Having seen so many "trailers" or ads for "Young Sheldon" LW and I knew we had no desire whatsoever to watch it. Personally I can't stand being near or exposed to a self-righteous, "I'm better than you" person who seems to thrive on putting others down. And the producers are obviously just milking the Sheldon character (so skillfully portrayed by Jim Parsons) for every penny they can squeeze out of it.

    We did, however, watch "The Good Doctor," about which I have mixed feelings. They could maybe develop the show into something really interesting, but my feeling is they'll screw it up; it's already riddled with clichés as it is, e.g. portraying all hospital doctors (well, surgeons anyway) as complete assholes.

    I totally love West Side Story. I agree that Leonard Bernstein was a genius. Of course, Jerome Robbins and Stephen Sondheim were no slouches either. I think it took all three of them to make such magic.

    Best wishes to you all.

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  25. "We" enjoyed the puzzle!

    HG, try The Cord Cruncher for those tangled earbuds (1:41)

    Lucina, (from yest)
    Re: Chrome Blank Pages

    Before trying anything drastic,
    1) delete Chrome history Instructions below best answer edit.
    2) shut down and restart your computer (hard reboot)

    Oh, silly me! I forgot you will not be able to see my link...
    To clear Chrome browsing history:

    Let's first see if clearing browsing data resolves the issue. Click on the Chrome menu > Tools > Clear browsing data. In the "Clear browsing data" dialog, change the dropdown selection to the time when you first saw this issue (likely, "the past day"), select the following checkboxes, and click the "Clear browsing data" button. Gradually increase the timeframe to "the beginning of time", to make sure that there is no residual data that is causing this issue.
    Clear browsing history
    Empty the cache
    Clear data from hosted apps

    Note: I would not choose the clear cookies option because it will wipe out
    your saved preferences in things like, TV guide preferences etc...

    Regards,
    Dave

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  26. Easy Peasy...or should that be Easily Peasily? Hmmm? I must ponder this,

    Fun, quick solve and a great tour with all the links. Thanks Peter and Argyle.

    Owen...both A!

    Jayce, I agree about all the annoying trailers for Young Sheldon. I don't like Old Sheldon. Why would I like Young Sheldon?

    IM, call me when you hear back from Warren!

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  27. I recall seeing the tour of WEST SIDE STORY in San Francisco. What an exciting, thrilling show and score! What dancing! My strongest memory was the anthem to hope at the end - "Somewhere" ("There's a Place for Us").
    Funny how we always needed that fix, that statement of hope in the finale. Now, 60 years later, has that hope been met?

    A neat pzl from Mr. Gordon, a fine response by our Argyle, a pleasure to solve! Ta-DA!

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  28. Jayce @ 12:02 ~ Against my better judgement, I, too, watched "The Good Doctor," and, like you, had mixed thoughts about it. I'm not really fond of shows that stray too far from real life experiences/situations/limitations; that is why I stopped watching "Scorpion." The premise alone of "The Good Doctor" strains credulity and some of last night's scenes/actions were really far-fetched. Only the winsomeness (is that a word?) and tragic fragility of the main character kept me watching. I have my doubts about its success.

    Swampcat @ 12:29 ~ You will be first in line when I share Mr. Buffett's largesse! 💰💰💰

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  29. I too have seen the ads for Young Sheldon. Count me in with those of you who wouldn't watch it if you paid me. What an obnoxious little twerp.

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  30. Very nice puzzle today. Easy enough, with some entertaining clues and answers. Unfortuneatly, I’ll be seeing Julie’s face and hearing “Maria” the rest of the day.

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  31. Thanks, Larry J. learn something new every day.

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  32. BunnyM @ 8:19:

    Don't forget that the coat hangers also multiply unbelievably ... what can you do with 313 mismatched hangers?

    I don't know why the media gurus think that running trailers for shows works -- for so many shows, not just 'Sheldon Jr.', I would consciously avoid these shows after seeing the promotional ads.

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  33. CED:
    Amazingly your links opened for me! However, I'll do as you instructed though it likely won't be today as I'm really busy preparing for my upcoming trip. It's surprising how, even for a weekend trip, so many details have to be attended to. Thank you.

    Yesterday, I also received instructions from an unknown source, at least from an e-mail address I didn't recognize and with no signature. I appreciate it, though.

    Jayce:
    Yes, I do favor certain words and maybe that means I should try to expand my vocabulary!

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  34. I had similar experience today as JAYCE. Only word I didn't know was IBIZA but easily perped.

    I know of a land of EMUS and GEESE
    Who love to eat EGGS and grease
    They NAP way past DAWN
    So be careful not to yawn
    'Cause their DIPPY droppings never cease

    Let me apologize in advance for the rather crude limerick, but it is kinda funny.

    My sister went to our PROM
    With a WIMP of a boy whose name was Tom
    The evening did WANE
    Ho HUM, not insane
    I expected such going with my mom




    Alas, it was with my mom

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  35. Oops, note to self...preview before posting.

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  36. Hand up for WEST SIDE STORY as one of my favorite musicals ever. It was part of an era of musicals of memorable, lasting songs. They just don't make them like that anymore!

    Got that answer immediately, so the theme fill CAME EASY. Fun puzzle!

    Thanks, Anonymous, for showing that buyers of EVIAN are NAIVE! Bottled water is a huge environmental waste. Not only for the bottles, but also for the damage they do in draining local aquifers.

    Surprised that no one knew IBIZA. It is a cross between Las Vegas and a hippie nude beach as I understand it.

    ReplyDelete

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