google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, Oct 7th, 2017, Alex Bajcz

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Oct 7, 2017

Saturday, Oct 7th, 2017, Alex Bajcz

Theme: "We don't need no stinkin' Bajcz"

Words: 68 (G,X,Z)

Blocks: 31

I did not recognize the author, so I reviewed his constructions based on the blog - discovered his name is pronounced "badges" - and found out Alex has had three puzzles for the LA Times; a Sunday last year, plus a Thursday, and a Friday from 2013 - ironic that the 'theme' that Friday was "No "G"", and today we have no "G" again.  Struggled through this one, had just enough to take some WAGs in places, and ultimately stayed away from Google - though there were plenty of obscure clues today.  I did have to turn on red-letters - I filled in the whole grid, but got no 'ta-DA~!'; and a strange grid we had, to boot; sort of a fourteen-letter pinwheel design.  The longer answers;

22. Classic : QUINTESSENTIAL - I looked at what Google thinks of as the "quintessential" rock song and rock group, and I had to disagree - but then again, I also noticed that Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser of  Blue Öyster Cult did not make Rolling Stone magazine's top 100 guitarists list....and he's been playing live for 40+ years.  What's your opinion of rock's quintessential~?

45. Pass for now : TAKE A RAIN CHECK

5. Break down : BURST INTO TEARS

16. Stereotypical doo-wop garb : LEATHER JACKETS - this is what comes to mind for me, having grown up in the 80's - WARNING~!  I never realized the language in this ditty

Greased Lightnin'
Four ON the floor WARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Chimpanzee relative : BONOBO - there was no way that MONKEY was going to be correct, but the -ON--- was enough the get started in the NW

7. "Teen Wolf" airer : MTV - oops; one red-letter oversight - I had "S"TV because my presidents appeared on STreetS

10. One on a sting operation? : WASP - wasn't fooled on this one

14. You'll need a lift to use one : SKI RUN - couldn't get it to jibe with my early DOWN fills, so I ended up changing them

15. "Madam Secretary" star : TEA LEONI - one of the few proper names I knew

17. Have grand ambitions : ASPIRE - I aspire to be the best Property Manager at the winery that officially hired me on Thursday - which coincided with my last day at UPS....and I walked out of there with not a word said to me by anyone, after 7 years with the company.  Not even a lousy donut.  The only person to shake my hand was one of my four drivers, and he still thinks I'm coming back

18. Deal maker : SALES REP

19. Pronoun for Catherine de' Medici : ESSA - I tried SRTA first

21. Mariner's home : SEATTLE - baseball for C.C. - and hockey is here for me~!

26. Peels off, perhaps : UNSTICKS - oops.  My DOWN crossing left me with unstiNks, and around here, sometimes if you "peel one off", it leaves a "stink"

27. Revolutionary icon : CHE

28. Mideast capital once called Philadelphia : AMMAN - I tried ASSAD, who happens to be the president of Syria, not the place in Jordan; the Wiki

29. Prima __ : FACIE - learned from watching Law & Order; the 'evidence' is true unless proven otherwise

31. They might be set in windows: Abbr. : ACs - Air Conditioners

34. Included in the game : DEALT TO - as in cards; I have lost every week for about six months now; there's almost no point in going to play

36. Canal treatment fluid : EAR DROP - that kind of canal

38. Not irreg. : STD

39. Made waves, in a way : OARED

41. House Lannister member on "Game of Thrones" : JAIME - so many people tell me I would love this show, but I have only seen one episode

42. Basses' sect. : STRings

43. First period of the Mesozoic Era : TRIASSIC - filled via perps

48. Script used by ancient Minoans : LINEAR A - learned from doing crosswords; in fact, I believe back then I screwed it up by leaving it as "lineara", and not breaking it down; the Wiki

49. Oft-layered item : CAKE

50. Share of ownership : INTEREST

52. Renew one's strength : REST UP - I get to rest up for three days before the new job starts

56. Trial area : TEST SITE - think bombs

57. Automaker Bugatti : ETTORE - filled via perps

1910 - I have the hot Wheels version

58. Freezer brand : EDY'S - something IN the freezer, not the unit's manufacturer

59. Stereotypical corny joke teller : DAD - ah, not "HAM"

60. Tin ear, to a pathologist : ASONIA - I really thought it would be a-Tonia, but the DOWN had to be correct; tone deaf, from the Latin "a-" and "sonorus", 'sound'

DOWN:

1. Jamboree-on-the-Air org. : BSA - my buddy Ed was a Boy Scouts of  America troop leader

2. Accepts : OKs

3. Something in the air : NIP

4. With a hotel, avenue whose rent is $550 : ORIENTAL - man, I racked my brain to come up with this one without Google, trying to mentally picture the Monopoly board; this is the 'second' group, the light blue squares which also includes Vermont and Connecticut


6. Request for a small delay : ONE SEC - I had "---TEN", which made sense, except there's no word to put in front of TEN to make any sense

7. Some are named for presidents: Abbr. : MTs - ah, mountains, not streets

8. Flirt : TEASE

9. Spanish autonomous community or its capital : VALENCIA

10. Little white breed, affectionately : WESTIE - one of those "awww" inspiring breeds

West Highland Terrier

11. Vital circulation aid : AORTA

12. Fisherman's knot : SNELL

13. Lead Clue weapon : PIPE - and five other original weapons; the rope, the gun, the knife, the candlestick, and the wrench - with three out of six, I guess blunt force trauma was the choice for murder back then

Miss Scarlet in the conservatory~?

20. Put on one's wish list : ASK FOR

22. Outdoor lecture sites : QUADS - college grounds, not muscle groups....

23. Like some unreasonable requests : UNMET

24. "Your noble son __": Polonius : IS MAD - Hamlet

25. Issuer of three-part nos. : SSA - the administration that deals in social security #s

30. Comedian __ the Entertainer : CEDRIC - OK, I knew this one, as well

31. Surface : ARISE

32. Lewis Black, e.g. : COMIC - um, and this one, too

33. Barely a blip : SPECK

35. "American Pie" actress : TARA REID - OK, I forgot this one

37. Makes a break for : DASHES TO

40. Zeta-theta go-between : ETA

42. '50s-'60s country singer McDonald : SKEETS - now this guy I'd never heard of - the Wiki

44. How land is measured : IN AREA

45. Like rakes : TINED - I first read this as "little" for some reason

46. Pacing, maybe : ANTSY - good guess based on the "Y" being there from EDY'S

47. Many a reggae artist : RASTA

48. Beer case word : LITE

51. Mosby on "How I Met Your Mother" : TED

53. Homework amount? : TON - "man, I got a ton of homework to do~!"

54. Ocean State sch. : URI - been a popular crossword school lately

55. Princess' bane : PEA - still trying to get my mom to understand "Peapod", the online home delivery service from Stop N' Shop supermarkets

Splynter

54 comments:

Argyle said...

As Thumper's father told him, QUOTE. I have nothing to say.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! I'm with Argyle, I don't want to talk about it. I got BONOBO right away then stalled out on most of the rest.

PK said...

PS: I did fill it, thanks to red-letters.

Big Easy said...

Today's puzzles is the QUINTESSENTIAL type that makes you want to BURST INTO TEARS, but before you decide to TAKE A RAIN CHECK, REST UP, don't get ANTSY, crack open a LITE beer, put on your LEATHER JACKET, and take a ride to SEATTLE. Whew! Those were easy fills. Now for the rest.

The words I've never heard or knew but that I somehow filled correctly- LINEARA, ETTORE Bugatti, ASONIA, SKEETS McDonald, ESSA, SNELL, TED Mosby, JAIME- tough but fair. My only changes were ONE MIN to ONE SEC and SALESMAN to SALES REP. I wanted to RECOUP instead of REST UP but the TON of homework (that I never did) wouldn't let me. Finishing the SE with ETTORE and ASONIA was pure luck.

BONOBOs and Chimps live on opposite sides of the Congo River. They couldn't cross it. Chimps are aggressive, dominant male societies but BONOBOs are female dominant and settle every dispute with sex.

Now it's time to sit and wait for the hurricane to come. The front shutters are already closed and I have the rest ready to put on if it veers toward LA.

Adios

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Got 'er done once I changed COIF to CAKE, but was pretty sure ETTORE and ASONIA would be wrong. Nope. Didn't have a nice warm feeling at the end, just, "Phew, it's finished." Thanx, Alex.

Splynter, a winery is the absolute last place I would have guessed. You behave! I snorted coffee onto my monitor at your "peeled" comment.

We see a WESTIE regularly on our morning marches through the 'hood. His name is Hercules.

Didn't like OARED the first time I saw it. Still don't.

There's a 1952 Skeets McDonald recording on my music server. He took Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes to #1 that year.

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning,

Hmm. . . . Sometimes I was right on but mostly not. Thanks, Alex, for some fill new to me. I liked the clues for WASP, NIP, ACS. I stalled all over the place: seaport for SEATTLE, donna for FACIE, Emilio for ETTORE, and sts for MTS. No clue on LINEAR A.

Thanks, Splynter for the much needed explications. Congrats and good luck on your new venture.

Have a pleasant weekend, Cornerites.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

No. Nope. Nada. No way. The entire west coast was a desert, except for the STD oasis. I even managed to make a mistake with the tiny amount of fill I managed - sTS instead of MTS. Maybe someday I'll be up for a puzzle of this caliber, but I doubt it. Oh well, that's what Saturdays are for.

Thanks, Alex, for keeping me from getting too big for my britches. And thanks, Splynter, for the fun expo, and especially for the Scarlet picture. I exited my job without fanfare too, although for another reason. I managed to finesse an early out, but it wasn't supposed to be voluntary so I had to dummy up.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morming:

Although there were a lot of unknowns, Ettore, Linear A, Skeets, Ansonia, etc., the long fill broke things wide open and I finished in the record time of .21 w/o any help. My only write over was Prima Donna/Prima Facie. I love the word Quintessential. And I love Westies, Maltese, Bichons, and practically every other four-legged, fur-covered, wet-nosed, tail-wagging, woof woofer on the planet! 🐶

Thanks, Alex, for a Saturday speed run and thanks, Splynter, for the expo. Good luck on your new adventure.

Have a great day.

OwenKL said...

FIW¡ Considering the difficulty, I'm glad it was only a single cell: ETTOhE + UhI. The proper name was unknowable, and I couldn't recall which was the ocean state, so went with Hawai'i. A few w/os -- NARC>WASP, ATRIA>QUADS, CAIRO>AMMAN, BABOON>BONOBO, DONNA>FACIE, LINEAR B>LINEAR A (bragging on that last one, bet most were stumped when cuNifoRm didn't fit!). A few ESPs -- COMIC (didn't know Lewis Black), ESSA, JAMIE, IS MAD, SNELL, ASONIA, and some names.

The time traveler BURST INTO TEARS!
It had happened, what a chrononaut fears!
History UNSTICKS
Like a fubar CAKE mix,
And her true love went UN-MET for years!

Hamlet is sane, but he IS MAD
An EAR DROP has murdered his DAD!
But it seems, PRIMA FACIE
The boy has gone spacey --
A ruse, so revenge can be had!

{B, A.}

oc4beach said...


Red-Letter day. So an official DNF even though I filled in all of the squares, eventually. Good expo Splynter.

Splynter, good luck in your new endeavor. You don't have to wear brown anymore and there should be some side benefits from working at a winery, like daily wine tastings. Enjoy.

Have a great day everyone.

Lemonade714 said...

Best wishes for the new endeavor Splynter; I applaud your choice and the irony.

Alex, a themeless, very bold. Since I blogged your LAT debut in 2013, I have met and married a Thai lady, who is a chef and I agree pad see ew is my favorite dish. Sadly, very few restaurants use the proper noodles. WIDE NOODLES . Have you graduated? Still in Maine?

Have a great weekend all; does anybody except the remaining retailers celebrate Colombus Day?

Yellowrocks said...

FIR w/o help. Whew! I enjoyed solving this. The east was not too difficult, but the west took patience. I finished in a tad less than my usual Saturday time which is not fast. I doubted LINEARA and ETTORE, never having seen them before. Knowing Bugatti, I am surprised that I never came across his given name.
I made an ABC run in my head to get the M in MAD and AMMAN, my last fill.
Best wishes on the new job, Splynter. It sounds more interesting than delivering packages.
I don't strive for no or few write overs. With challenging puzzles I lightly write in guesses with a 60% or better chance of being correct, then I change them as I get the correct fill. On the computer, using Master Level, I write in the same kind of guesses. It jogs my memory and helps me remember my earlier thoughts. The only drawback is that I must return to them. On paper I often circle the area to remind me.
Enjoy your weekend. Lovely day here today. My thoughts are with those in the path of Nate. Stay safe.

OwenKL said...

Good lord, the prescience of the Blog! I'm just now reading yesterdays comments and see Husker Gary's:

Hamlet: Act 2, Scene 2 "Why day is day, night night, and time is time, Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time. And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief: your noble son is mad." but with the final 5 words left off!
(I haven't started reading today's blog yet, so sorry if it's already been noted.)

MJ said...

Greetings!

My hat is off to those who finish today's puzzle without help. With more than a dozen unknowns, I needed major assistance. Thanks for the expo and links, Splynter. Congratulations and best wishes on your new job.

Enjoy the day!

Argyle said...

Did you know ASONIA? Can you find it being used somewhere?

C6D6 Peg said...

Thank you, Alex, for a challenge. FIR with some WAGS (SKEETS). Wasn't sure it would be Finished (right or wrong)!

Thanks, Splynter, for a very nice write-up. Good luck on the new job. Sounds like fun!

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-I’ll have to settle for two silly bad cells on this big challenge
-How long did it take me? Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies. I soldiered on with both ends of the pencil.
-QUINTESSENTIAL rock groups come and go and are generational
-HS’s had to wait for a sanitized version of Grease before they could perform it
-NARC for WASP, HEART for AORTA and misspelling TEA LEONI for speed bumps
-I remember TEA from when I used to watch commercial TV
-I agree with President Obama on this mountain name
-A TON - A teacher next door told me, “Gary, I don’t think it’s asking too much to have kids to write out 20 science definitions per night” I told this childless educator that she should go home with one of her students one night
-Lemon, I was being facetious yesterday and did look up Little DORRIT. No offense intended.
-Splynter, Congrats on your great, new job! My last day consisted of a piece of cake after which my colleagues raced out the door to begin summer break.

Anonymous said...

Hey Argyle:
The only place I can find "asonia" in print is on page 88 of Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language. Spell check red lines it.

Don

Anonymous said...

I was slowed/confused by having 'trace' for 'speck' and 'recoup' for 'rest up' but was able to plough on once I got those two slips sorted out.

Could someone help this non-musical person understand why 'Strings' is the Basses' section? I don't think of violins as base instruments for example.

Anonymous T said...

Hi Puzzle Pals!

Whew! That was a toughie that I Could Not Finish w/o copious cheats. Thanks Alex for a 'learning day.'

I got started easily enough in the NW w/ WASP (first thought, Narc but I knew better on a Sat) PIPE, AORTA. SNELL nor WESTIE fell b/f cheat.

Next AREA: CEDRIC The Entertainer made an appearance followed by Louis Black. I wanted COMIC but we just saw Comedian... Is that allowable? Finally, I decided, "Yes, yes it is" (wiping out EAR wash) and filled the EC. That about sums up my approach to the whole grid.

Thanks Splynter for filling in the West Central and UN STICKING poodle-skirt from my brain @ 16d. I was confusing Doo-wop w/ music at The Hop. Congrats on the new gig; sad there were no sad good-byes. I guess good riddance. I have the image of you at the winery like TED Danson's Sam at Cheers :-)

WOs: @9d was NOT Cataloni[a] which lead to Country Music Channel @7d. St.s &7d finally set me (almost) straight.
ESPs: None that I can see - I either knew it or Googled it today (see SKEETS)

Fav: I'm actually going w/ grid design b/c I'm going to try it. [I'm stuck w/ 2 15s and 2 14s and I've never grid'd - it's harder than you think!]

{A, B+}

D-O: I agree. We should moor oared.

For the IT nerd crowd... Sticker on my laptop: "Put that in your | and Splunk IT."
(See, | is pronounced PIPE... Too much of a DAD joke?)

Cheers, -T

Anonymous T said...

@12:14 Anon - Double-Bass. -T

Cellist said...

Anonymous @ 12:14

Symphony Orchestra

desper-otto said...

QUINTESSENTIAL rock groups of my ute: granite, limestone, basalt, quartz

Was not familiar with LINEAR A, but knew that Linear B was ancient Greek (Mycenaean, actually). I probably learned that from some TV documentary, maybe Michael Woods' In Search Of The Trojan War. So, if there was a Linear B, it made sense that there'd be an A.

Argyle, on the Supreme Court there's A SONIA Sotomayor.

AnonymousPVX said...

Anonymous...I think you misread the clue, the Basses are in the STRing section, not the other way around?

Rather tough, but I thought Friday tougher. Surprised when no more blanks, it sure didn’t seem like that would happen.

Misty said...

A great relief to hear I'm not the only one who found this a Saturday toughie. But I still enjoyed it--many thanks, Alex. And, Splynter, I loved your RAIN CHECK cartoon. Also, good luck with your new job!

I did actually get a bunch before I had to start cheating, including TEA LEONI, AORTA, ASPIRE, and WASP, whose clue I loved. So, a nice way to start a Saturday morning.

We have a beautiful summer day today, and I think I'll take Dusty (not a WESTIE) out for a little walk. He says hello, well, arf, Irish Miss.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Unknown said...

5 tada's in a row this week but no chance today. I had "baboon" in 1a so I was doomed. I thought I knew all the apes but have never heard of a "bonobo". I've gotten over confident in complete no help solves but Saturday grids humble me. I did get some of the long clues. I too liked quintessential which came to me as soon as I got Quads. Physics lecture were never held on the Quad but I assume philosophy or literature waxed and waned while I tried to solve partial differential equations.

Do undergrads still study philosophy and art history etc to put themselves 100k plus in debt ?

Picard said...

We had a long wait at the Jordanian border as they had to call AMMAN to approve our entry. But it was all worth it to get to Petra.

Here http://swt.org/events/israel2015/jigrobert/20150721-0515B.JPG we were at the "Treasury" in Petra. A treasure indeed.

This was really a killer. Lots of desert area for a long time. I actually knew LINEAR X but I was not sure if X was A or B. I also knew CEDRIC (I had a friend and neighbor named CEDRIC who died last year) but the other proper names were almost all unknown:

ETTORE, SKEETS, SNELL, VALENCIA, TARA REID, TED, JAIME, Lewis Black. Only know EDYS and TEA LEONI from these puzzles.

Hand up for SALESMAN before SALES REP.

Not a dog fan, so the "cute" ones like the WESTIE are just annoying to me. Sorry!

Hand up for ATONIA before grudgingly changing it to ASONIA. Anyone else put FACIA before FACIE? I suppose I feel proud that I FIR.

Good luck to Big Easy and others in the storm path.

Jayce said...

Much too hard for me. As Anonymous T said, copious cheats. Prima DONNA? Nope. GORILLA? Nope. ELLE? Nope. ROWED? Nope. At least I did know TEA LEONI and CEDRIC the Entertainer.

Gotta run. Best wishes to you all.

61 Rampy said...

Apparently, I may have been the only one to know ETTORE Bugatti. It was the fourth entry on the sea of white, along with FACIE, CEDRIC and ETA. Everything else was slow going. I had to resort to Google for at least 3 answers, something I hate to do. Even with that, still a FIW, putting ASONIc for ASONIA. Tough puzzle today.

Anonymous T said...

61 Rampy - Nice to see you drop by the Corner again. I'm impressed you knew ETTORE - looks French for 'torn' to this f*&^%#* Moron.

D-O: You got me. I was all like "I've never heard of the band 'Limestone'..." and was just about to Google when the V8 hit. Good one.

Cheers, -T

Big Easy said...

I guess Anon@12:14 has never heard of a BASS FIDDLE.

LINEAR A, LINEAR B, LINEAR X. When will a fill be LINEAR ALGEBRA?

61 Rampy- somebody coined STOG for 'straight to Google'


Splynter- why would you think anything differently about UPS? My take on them and FDX is that gas is cheap-right now- and they deliver a lot for Amazon and their competition but if the price of oil goes back toward $100/barrel, Amazon Prime won't be so profitable. They will cross reference their customers with the newly acquired Whole Paycheck customers and encourage them to pick up Amazon packages at the Whole Foods store.

Hungry Mother said...

No problem today because the perps fixed the unknowns. I puleed SKEETS out of my butt somehow and QUINTESSENTIAL was solved when I had “essential”. I feel good about this one after being nailed earlier in the week.

Lucina said...

I agree: this was tough! However, knowing TEALEONI right away and guessing LEATHERJACKETS helped get the eastern hemisphere to a good start. VALENCIA and SEATTLE also emerged quickly but like Splynter my presidents' names were on STS not MTS. Error #1. No way would I have guessed ETTORE (What were his parents thinking?) so looked it up. Error #2.

In the western hemisphere I took a long break, drove to the Credit Union before they closed, threw the towels into the dryer then resumed the agony. The SW surfaced once EDYS came into that freezer and BURSTINTOTEARS occurred to me. QUINTESSENTIAL finally came through as well. I have heard of BONONOs but it took way too long for SKIRUN to make its appearance. TARAREID was unknown so had to look her up, too. Error #3. AMMAN was a search as well. Error #4. Also I first had URI but changed it to UNY for some reason so that left ASONYA. Error #5.

My guess is that an ENT doctor would know and use ASONIA.


Splynter, congratulations on your new job and like Lemonade, I see the irony! Thank you for your Saturday interjections. I very much appreciate them and need them.

Big Easy and all those in the pathway of Nate, stay safe!

Misty and PK: I also love those furry, though loudly barking, pets.

I hope your Saturday has been joyful, everyone!

Lucina said...

Amazon has a bank of lockers at the 7/11 and purchases can be collected there. It's one stop delivery for them. Has anyone else had occasion to use that feature?

PK said...

Splynter: good luck on your new job, but I am aghast, dear boy, at your choice of employer. After all your hard work, I betcha Bill W. would not approve. Stay dry!

Big Easy: Stay safe! Weather reports don't sound good! Thinking of y'all in NOLA, especially our "baby girl" who is getting a good education, but maybe not what she expected.

D-O: I thought McDonald's name was SKEETer, but I wasn't even a teenager yet when that song was popular. Sure sang it a lot anyway. I think I must have been thinking of SKEETer Davis. Don't know that person's songs -- just the name.

I don't associate LEATHER JACKETS with do-wop groups. I seem to remember matching tuxedo JACKETS with satin lapels on the do-woppers. Lots of leather jackets on the motorcycle crowd.

Lucina, IM is the dog lover instead of me. I used to love them. Now I'm just afraid they are going to trip me up. Yesterday mid-afternoon the little rat terrier next door was loose and yapping her head off. I looked out and there was a very mangy fox scratching and scratching its itches and writhing around on the rough driveway concrete to scratch the itches its foot couldn't reach. It was doing this for at least 20 minutes. Knocking on the window didn't make it leave. The barking didn't phase it. I was sure I never wanted to walk on that driveway again and take the chance of getting scabies which cause mange. I was relieved later that evening when we had a hard rain which seemed to wash down the area pretty well. Shudder!

Bill G said...

Hi everybody. As usual on Saturday, I turned on red letters and got through this as best as I could. I'm a little better at Saturday puzzles than I used to be but I still prefer the harder (Thursday, Friday) puzzles with themes though.

Splynter, congratulations on your new job. I hope it works out well. I was sorry to hear about your send off from UPS. You'd think the people you worked with all that time would have been a bit more thoughtful.

It's fairly warm outside but I'm comfortable with the A/C blowing cool air. It seems as if we made a good decision to get solar and A/C together. We may be in for a surprise coming but so far we are spending less on electricity than we used to. Fingers crossed.

Best wishes for good health for all of us and our loved ones in the coming days...

Lucina said...

PK:
Thank you and I apologize. Reading all those posts, while amusing and entertaining, also causes me to lose track of who said what. That sounds like a bizarre experience with the fox. Do you really have foxes running wild in your area?

IrishMiss:
I join you and Misty in the dog lovers circle.

Bill Graham:
Isn't A/C the best invention for hot weather climates? I'm glad you are enjoying it.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Like Splynter I can claim no Ta- DA! today. I thank Mr. Bajcz for providing me with a true toughie for Saturday, and Splynter for his running commentary. I avoided a full DNF, but only by resorting to a few Googles; no "red letters" for me, as I'm still old-fashioned enough (one might say "purist," no?) to do my solving on the newspaper page (& in pen!).

My solving system was just like Misty's today, only in reverse. I actually did cheat before I started to get a bunch.

Strange, but of all of today's clues and answers, the one that most surprised me was 55D - PEA. Why, you ask! It was such a modest fill, only 3 letters, and yet it exemplified the best of its type, a crossword clue that seemed impossible to solve - until you solved it and had to slam your hand against your forehead for its blatant obviousness.

SwampCat said...

PK and others who care....hurricane Nate seems to be bypassing us here in New Orleans and heading for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. No doubt we'll get rain and some wind, but right now we are not experiencing any trouble. I have a daughter on the Coast and I hope she doesn't have too much trouble. It is a small storm without much fury other than wind. Keep a good thought!

Yellowrocks said...

Doo Wap brought to mind the Fonz in his leather jacket.
Thanks for the update, Swamp Cat. Glad to hear it.

Mario said...

It is WOP, not Wap. As in an Italian With Out Papers. WOP. Capisce ?

Anonymous T said...

Of course it's WOP. Dats why we's gots dees cool LEATHER JACKETS and talk like dis.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to get the Alfa to start. :-) -T

PK said...

SwampCat: thanks for the weather report of an hour ago. I hope it isn't as bad as all those excited weatherman sound like it is now.

Lucina: thanks for the apology altho it was not necessary. Who could mind being mistaken for the lovely Irish Miss. I used to have much loved dogs on the farm. Yes, we have foxes here in the center of the city. I used to see this lovely young fox daily making his rounds in my yard a couple years ago. Then we had July 4 fireworks and my yard was its safe haven with all the flash booms in the neighborhood. Then I didn't see it for a long time. Thought it was dead until I happened to look out around midnight and see it eating bugs under the street light. I hadn't seen it again until tonight. It is so thin and mangy looking with its once beautiful tail bedraggled. Poor thing was so obviously in misery. Made me sad. Animal control won't come out for wild critters.

YR: Never heard the Fonz sing. I was thinking of Motown groups.

Yellowrocks said...

Anon T, LOL

TX Ms said...

Thanks, Splynter - can't believe I solved a Sat. cw w/o help - a first. Not to pat myself on the back, but I took several bloggers' suggestions - to keep at it without throwing in the towel, slogging away, bit by bit. I think it was absolutely shameful that no one acknowledged your hard work after SEVEN years at UPS - the unconventional long hours (including holidays) and the physical labor UPS demands of its workers. BUT CONGRATS! on your new position as a Project Manager! From your previous posts of your carpentry/ practical skills, I think this new line of work is perfect for you. Please keep your occasional workplace posts coming.

Really wanted BABOON in 1A (hesitated before inking in, 'cause it didn't fit with down clues) but then I remembered that wonderful NGEO special on "bonobos" - beautiful animals.

Anon-T, FLN - thanks for your latter link, although I think the previous link, Julia Child on SNL ala Dan Akroyd, should have come with an alert to the squeamish - I CANNOT stand the sight of blood, fake or not, and certainly not before noon when I read it.

D-O, funny, "on the Supreme Court there's A SONIA Sotomayor."

Knew the comedians; finally got the c/w staple, Tea Leone, from a few perps - I don't watch the popular shows, I guess, and am not into movies until they're on cable. $10 for a matinee?

QUINTESSENTIAL helped with the long across clues (where'd the heck did that come from?!), but I struggled with TRIASSIC (never saw Jurassic Park if even that would have helped). Sighed and left LINEARA in place per previous bloggers' suggestions.

Now to read posters PM comments.



Lucina said...

OMK:
With a house full of princesses (daughter and granddaughters) The Princess and the Pea was de regueur reading so that was an instant fill for me.

Wilbur Charles said...

In Florida, an accident at a Yield sign is PRIMA FACIE the fault of the driver that didn't yield. Irregardless.

TAKE a rain check. Aarrgghh!!! Excuse. Mental fatigue. Bradenton to Tampa to the beaches to siesta key to Clearwater Beach and finally home via Madeira Beach.

I couldn't even get JAIME Lannister until I spelled QUINTESSENTIAL with a T not C. I was thinking LEASHED LEOPARDS or something.

Splynter, I recall a Wine taster who spit out the wine and stayed sober. I got a call from a van 12-step I did. I've got to follow up -same old story of course.

OMK, I stumbled on your response re. IRVINE. As the old punch line to the old (WWII) joke goes There are two of them*

Despite my mental fatigue I slogged through except for the dumb miss. I'm glad it's virtually unanimous that this was a toughie.

My Redsox and ??'s Yankees are in trouble. Splynter, I had some good hockey talk with a Canadian (-eh). Subject: Jonathan Druin.

Keep an eye on that young man.

WC too tired to sleep.

* I will tell that old joke upon request.

TX Ms said...

Oops, Tea LeonI.

Misty said...

Lucina and others, thanks for sharing puppy love this morning. Ol'Man Keith, I knew the princess had trouble sleeping on some small vegetable thing, but could not for the life of me remember what it was--PEA of course--I felt like an idiot when the perps finally helped me get it.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Wilbur Charles @9:15,

Consider this my request. Please, pretty please, what is your old (WWII) joke?!

Ol' Man Keith said...

Misty,
Got a chuckle about your knowing the princess slept on some "small vegetable thing" before PEA clicked in.
I mean, can we think of any vegetable thing smaller than the Pisum sativum?

Anonymous T said...

If you missed Picard's Link - this is it. Pretty cool dude. -T

Anonymous T said...

Over poster says...

This was my good-night funny bit I stumbled upon... Newhart, Rickles, and Carson. Not PC (it was the '70s) but it's just the QUINTESSENTIAL commedy one may need tonight.

Watching Nate says... PK, Nate missed - NOLA looks good. BigE / SwampCat - How y'all are? Nate seemed to blow by fast - very much unlinke Harvey. Good for yous.

Cheers, -T

Picard said...

Thank you, Anonymous T, for re-posting the link to DW and me at Petra in Jordan. Spectacularly beautiful and technically impressive that these structures were built so long ago.