google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, December 16, 2017, Peter Wentz

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Dec 16, 2017

Saturday, December 16, 2017, Peter Wentz

Themeless Saturday Puzzle

Hello, my puzzling friends, this is Husker Gary about to 40. Sail : GO TO SEA on the S.S. LA Crossword - Saturday edition. After years of devoted effort, Splynter has retired from the helm and I hope my blog 34. Causes to be : RENDERS a useful service to you in the enjoyment of our weekend challenges.


So let's cast off lines, weigh anchor and shove off. 




We'll miss Splynter's style but to quote my second favorite Sammy Davis Jr. Song, I've Gotta Be Me! 

Let's set sail and... (Hey, enough of the nautical metaphors already!) 

Across


1. Overwhelming place for many country folk : THE BIG CITY


11. Once-a-week mantra : TGIF - Everyday is Friday when you're retired!


15. Early second-millennium style : ROMANESQUE - Architecture characterized by Roman Arches. Ground was broken in 1063 for this fabulous example: The Dumo di Pisa. Hey, isn't the building in the background famous too?




16. Modern-day carpe diem : YOLO - According to Ian Fleming's 
007 book and his buddy Roald Dahl's screenplay, You Only Live Twice (not Once)

17. '80s scandal : IRAN CONTRA - Every president seems to have at least one scandal




18. Pro shop purchase : POLO - My golf shirts tend to be "Whatever's on sale at Kohl's"


19. Remove fluff from, perhaps : EDIT - and 22. Dispatch to the cutting room floor : DELETE. He'd be great at it!




20. Blond, in many cases : DYED


21. Moved to another table : RESAT 


24. Easy money, in theory : SURE BETS - Sonny Liston was an 8 - 1 SURE BET against Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) in 1964. Uh, not so  much.



26. Some retirement purchases : RVS - We love to walk through Recreational Vehicles but don't know if our marriage could survive living/traveling in one


27. Pinkberry competitor : TCBY




28. Hardened, as concrete : SET - Like the Hollywood "Walk Of Fame"



29. Layers : PLIES - Baltic Birch plywood in different PLIES

32. Make a mild romantic overture to : ASK IN - Said the spider to the fly


33. Eastern way : TAO


36. Anka hit with a Spanish influence : ESO BESO - "Ooh, THAT KISS!"


38. Iron-__ : ONS


39. Era, perhaps : REIGN - The Victorian Era during the 64-year REIGN of Queen Victoria wasn't a real hoot for most 


41. Place for a pin : LAPEL


42. Opening : GAP - This very famous one through the Appalachians helped open up the West

43. Facts and figures : INFO - Not DATA as it turns out

44. Physical pros : MDS - "Turn your head and cough!" 45. "Right, understood" : OH I GET IT - "I know what you're checking."


47. Fig. at the state's courtroom table : ASST DA - Law And Order had some hot ASSistanT District Attorneys



51. "Odyssey" fruit : LOTUS - When Odyessus' ship got blown off course to the land of the Lotus Eaters, his men partook of the local LOUTS food/narcotic and had to be dragged back to the ships



52. They have small roles : COGS - We are all vital COGS at this blog

54. Unlike narrators, usually : SEEN - Peter Coyote was "heard but not SEEN" narrating six Ken Burns' documentaries 


55. Duty-__ : FREE


56. Could conceivably get : HAS A SHOT AT - Nebraska HAS A SHOT AT yet another VB national championship tonight like this one in 2015 (and five others)




58. Hazzard County deputy : ENOS

59. "Is it safe to talk?" : ARE WE ALONE


60. Calls the game : REFS - Some cheat while calling the game




61. Plot markers : HEADSTONES



Down


1. Strained, e.g. : TRIED - Wonderful Paul Robeson sang: "You an' me, we sweat an' STRAIN, Body all achin'' and' racked wit pain" 


2. Large mass : HORDE - Here's the Khanate of the Golden HORDE below




3. Modern box filler : EMAIL

4. Went back and forth : BANTERED




5. Business issue : INC


6. Natural history museum objects : GEODES - A huge GEODE at the Harvard Museum of Natural History




7. "Ohio" group, initially : CSNY - The initials of the group!




8. Educational placement aids : IQ TESTS 


9. Double-stuffed holiday dish : TURDUCKEN - Yes, it's a TURkey stuffed with a deboned DUCK and a deboned chickEN. Voila, you have this portmanteau 




10. Pro's call : YEA - As opposed to the anti's call of nay 


11. Generally unstressed : TYPE-B - Working for a TYPE-A person can make you 13. Twitchy : ILL AT EASE


12. Stiff-legged stride : GOOSE STEP - Ahhh...




14. Chair accessory : FOOT STOOL

21. Big name in aluminum history : REYNOLDS

23. Pilot's ideal outcome? : TV SERIES - Despite a lousy pilot that simply copied the British version, this show adapted and became a great TV SERIES. Clever clue!


25. MLB stats : RBIS

29. FedExCup seeker : PRO GOLFER



30. Subject of the biography "Stormy Weather" : LENA HORNE - Her biography was named for her signature song

31. Notwithstanding : IN SPITE OF

32. "Big deal" : AS IF I CARE - One must judge if this phrase is bantering or bullying

35. Let out for a time : RENT - My friend LETS out his winter Texas home in the summer

37. Jazz club highlight : BASS SOLO

44. Ordinary people : MASSES - I needed two more letters for HOI POLLI 


46. One may be educated : GUESS

48. Western Wyoming county : TETON


49. Revolutionary diplomat Silas : DEANE - He was a hero for negotiating an armament deal with France and then was disgraced by accusations he profiteered

50. Opening stakes : ANTES

53. "Oh mah __!" : GAWD - A Valley Girl term of amazement

56. "Unlikely!" : HAH

57. Banded Wonderland wear : HAT - The numbers on the Mad Hatter's hat indicated it cost 10 shillings and 6 pence



Ok, lower the gangplank and transfer over to the comment area!

DA GRID








51 comments:

OwenKL said...

DNF The NW corner defeated me. The other 5/6ths of the puzzle I got, but when I gave up, the only things I had there were INC, TURDUCKEN, apTEST, and bigcItyaT_. With red-letter help and a couple WAGs, I filled in the rest, but C-NY, Y-A, & ROMAN E-QU- stumped me even then.
[A few wild-WAGs, and I'm guessing Cosby-Stills-Nash-Young, and ROMANEsQUe is one word, not two as I was sure it was. But I still don't get YeA. I hope the explication will explain it.]
I think the clues for 1, 2, & 6 down were misleading or vague enough to be unfair.
3d I wanted either bubble-wrap or styrofoam peanuts, but couldn't get either to fit.

A thief from TETON COUNTY
Was chased by a Canadian Mounty!
He tried to stay FREE,
But it wasn't to be --
The county paid the Mounty a bounty!

{B-.}

Argyle said...

yes/no, yea/nay

Anonymous said...

It is a tragedy that Paul Robeson's life and accomplishments have been nearly erased from our history. The mans lifelong quest for peace and justice has been reduced to the guy who sang in Showboat... if you have heard of him at all. The result of real witch hunts against the American left.

TTP said...


Thank you Peter Wentz, and thank you Gary. We've been seeing you in all these different places (days). Now you have a home on Saturdays.

On a winning streak again, albeit it's just two.

Iron AGE to IRON-ONS with IN SPITE OF. No hyphen needed in Iron Age and I should have noted that. Also had to change PGA to PRO.

Nailed "Ohio" group CSNY. The quotes gave it away. TURDUCKEN was quick, but first thought was Oreos for some reason.

ARE WE ALONE ? And so we're running just as fast as we can. Holding on to one another's hands. Trying to get away, into the night, and then she puts her arm around me and I say, "I think we're alone now. There doesn't seem to be anyone around."

Smart Alec TYPE-A boss question: "Did that occur because of you, or IN SPITE OF YOU ?"

Unlike narrators, usually = SEEN. Nice. MASSES and a HORDE. YOLO on POLO. Sweet.

Couldn't build anything around DATA. Changed it to INFO. If it doesn't fit, you must dispatch it to the cutting room floor.

"Some retirement purchases" went from CDS to (eventually) RVS. Jinx !

Pittsburgh HAS A SHOT AT getting home field advantage in the AFC.

OwenKL, PROponent rather than PROfessional, to add to Argyle's explanation.

See all y'all later n'at !

Anonymous said...

It is not THE BIG CITY but my mind went right to the city by the bay.

Not K-pop but definitely pop

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Loved this one, probably because I FIR without help. But also because it is one of those puzzles that I think I'll never complete, but thought I would plug away until I was stymied. Before I realized it I was out of blank cells. I can't believe that the "V" in RVS was the last to fall. I've been planning our coming escape to Ocala in our RV for the last month. Can't wait!

Erased cut out for DELETE, flirt for ASK IN, aye for YEA, eras for RBIS and data for INFO. I spent the week teaching my students that facts and figures are data, which are analyzed into INFO, and the results are communicated as reports.

I got TURDUCKEN once I had TURD. John Madden made it famous, but a meat shop in Sarasota claims to have invented it.

I used to live in the city of Hazard (one Z) Kentucky, the seat of Perry County. The economy there was driven by coal mining, so I assume that it is even more impoverished now than it was when I lived there.

I'll miss Splynter, but I'm glad that you are on board, Gary. Good start for your Saturday reviews. And thanks to Peter Wentz for today's sneaky-fun puzzle.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

I really struggled with this one. Finally got it, but it went into extra innings, and liberal quantities of Wite-Out (10 word's worth) were required. Iron went from AGE/ORE/ONS. That Hazzard County dude: OTIS/AMOS/ENOS. IRA/CDS/RVS. SAFE/SURE BETS. LENT/RENT. HIT ON/ASK IN. YOU GOT IT/OK, I GOT IT/OH, I GET IT. I can't remember the last time I found so many ways to go wrong in a single puzzle. Thanx, Peter (I think), and thanx, Husker, for 'splainin' YOLO. Got it, but didn't get it.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This offering is a perfect example of the perils of "Be careful what you wish for." Lately, I've been all puffed up about how easy (easier) the Saturday puzzles have become. Well, Missy, you got your comeuppance today! I started out like a house on fire in the NE corner and then worked my way around until I came to a dead halt in the NW. Among my many w/os were: IPO/Inc, CDs/RVs, Bartered/Bantered, Tiers/Plies, Data/Info, and Tomb instead of Head Stones. Pinkberry was an unknown as was the "Ohio" group but perps took care of those hiccups. BTW, my solving time was double what I've been averaging over the last several weeks. (Time only matters to me as a gauge of how difficult I found the puzzle.)

Nice job, Peter, and welcome to Saturday's slot, HG. Your debut is as impressive and appreciated as every expo you do.

Have a great day.

D4E4H said...

Good Morning you who have a Corner on the CW market,

Where do I begin? On May 3, 1944, in Elyria Ohio, a son was born to Stanley and Evelyn. They named him David because "He just looked like a David." Elyria is the county seat for Lorain Co. west of Cleveland.

I spent the first 21 years of my life there so when I saw the clue " 'Ohio' group, initially," I expected to suss it. I missed the quotation marks, but that would not have made any difference, I only understood CSNY when I saw the album cover. Thank you Gary for so much clarifying info, and to Peter Wentz for a CW where I continuously felt I would have to BAV and yet with WAGs and Perps I FIR.

GOOSE STEP with a gaggle of real geese. What city? What instrument is the leader playing? Is the trailer playing a drum? How do they stay in a row? Where is the gooser pooper scooper?

A woman getting off the bus told the driver "I've been geesed." He replied "That's goosed." She said "I can count."

"Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) in 1964" AKA the "Louisville Lip" was born in this city where I live now.

"GAP" The Cumberland Gap opens on the west into the land that became Kentucky, and contains Louisville.

"Khanate of the Golden HORDE" Khanate is a LIU, new to me.

I hope I BANTERED in a friendly way.

Dave 2

jfromvt said...

Had trouble with the NW corner until I got IRANCONTRA. Kept thinking it had to be "something"GATE. A good Saturday puzzle.

Spitfire said...

Hey Gary. Welcome aboard. Too much pressure for me so it is great to have all the answers especially when they come with clever videos and stills.

Spitfire said...

BTW. It is Hoi polloi I believe.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

HG - Great job today with your new gig. I think you like it. Es gefällt dir.

My 2¢ for the hot wash-up. Peter pitched an eclectic fill to us today. From HEAD STONES to ROMANESQUE, and from TCBY to COGS.
Thanks HG for clarifying some of the more obscure fill.

Thanks for the map of Ibn Battuta's travels. I wonder why he doesn't get the same exposure as Marco Polo.

Tinbeni said...

Husker: Wonderful write-up ... Glad you mentioned that you were doing it.
(and NOW I remember why I seldom solve the Saturday Crossword puzzle).

BTW ... this Florida native will be rooting for Nebraska in tonight's Women's Volleyball Championship game on ESPN-2 @ 9:00 pm.
(Hey, I went to USF and the U of Miami ... I'm NOT a Florida Gators Fan)

Cheers!

Big Easy said...

Oh GAWD! ARE WE ALONE? Good. I wouldn't want this INFO to spread too far, IN SPITE OF this being a Saturday that had a puzzle that was not so difficult as to make people ILL AT EASE. At least everyone initially HAS A SHOT AT completing it without going STOG. Unlike some of the GOOSE-STEPping people out there, I am a TYPE-B, which RENDERS me as harmless as ENOS in the Dukes of Hazzard show chasing the boys in the orange Dodge with a rebel flag on the roof. So laugh at me ( or pity me), AS IF I CARE.

"Early 2nd millennium style" I thought it was the DARK AGES. ROMANESQUE was mainly perped.

"Once-a-week mantra"- BATH was a nice fit but I had to go with the restaurant chain TGIF.

"Make a mild romantic overture to"? ASK IN is a little more than mild, especially if it's a HOTEL room. It's a SURE BET(s) that it isn't 'mild'. And the dumb-blond who DYED her hair said, after 20+ years, OH I GET IT now. Sexual Harassment? I call it BS.

I had to make a couple of changes to complete Mr. Wentz's puzzle. Iron-AGE to ORE to ONS. DATA to INFO. I was thinking CDS instead of RVS until I BANTERED it around and had to DELETE that thought. "Pinkberry' was the only unknown; TCBY I know.

Yellowrocks said...

Gary, superb! Great humor and info. I worked this in horizontal thirds. The eastern third was a piece of cake for me. The central third and the NW corner were just a tad easier than the usual Saturday, but the SW corner was a disaster. Incomplete.
I blush to say I couldn't remember LENA HORNE, one of my favorite singers, for Stormy Weather. I looked her up and still failed to see IRON ONS, TV SERIES and IN SPITE OF.
In SPITE of my fail this was a wonderful puzzle.

C6D6 Peg said...

Thanks, Peter, for a great Saturday puzzle, and Husker Gary, for a great write-up. You both did an excellent job!

Puzzle was challenging but doable. The write-up was outstanding with all of the pics and clips!

Have a great weekend all!

WikWak said...

Whew! Thought I would never get this finished. WEES. I usually start in the NW but today that was the last to fall. Hand up for taking nearly double my usual time. It's been quite a while since I last got this stuck. Thanks to Peter (I think) and to HG; I always enjoy your write-ups.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! This cw was not on my wave length but I managed to fill it at midnight. WEES. Everyday slang phrases are my least favorite puzzles but at least I get my daily puzzle fix. Thanks, Peter. Very good expo, Gary. Especially liked the map with the Golden Horde.

I'd heard of TURDUCKEN but really that is so ridiculous. People shouldn't play with their food like that. Sounds like a case of Salmonella waiting to happen if not heated completely through.

Good thing I did the puzzle at midnight. I woke up with a nosebleed followed by a bout of diarrhea. The rest of the day just has to get better. Right? Right? I know my mood can only get better.

AnonymousPVX said...

A tough crunchy Saturday puzzle, themeless (thanks!) with some tough but fair clueing.

Again Big E with his posturing...no such thing as sexual harassment?...I guess he doesn’t know many women, not surprising.

Please keep the politics out. Please.

D4E4H said...

Picard 1123A
-You reported that Allison Krause is dead. I am unable to find info on google. Please guide me.
PK 1130A
-May you feel better when next you post.
Dave 2

Argyle said...

Ohio ... The Cost of Freedom

desper-otto said...

D4, the Allison Krause mentioned was a 19-year-old Kent State student who died in the 1970 campus shooting. The singer spells it Alison Krauss.

Yellowrocks said...

Still not with it. Of course when I solved, eastern, central and then western thirds is was vertical thirds not horizontal. I am well, just not too smart today.
Feel better, PK.

Jayce said...

I had a very hard time solving this puzzle and had to look a lot of stuff up. Had to do an alphabet run at YOLO and sure enough it was the next to last letter in the alphabet. Over-confidently put in TUMOR for large mass and RELICS for natural history museum objects; wanted IRANCONTRA but stymied myself with said incorrect entries. Eventually I turned on red letters and there were lots of them! I was so wrong in so many places. The only entries I got right the first time were ESO BESO, LENA HORNE, TETON, and HEADSTONE. Irish Miss, you got what you wished for, missy!

My BP meds are working well, too.

inanehiker said...

I definitely wrestled with this one especially in the SW. Eventually ended up with one off letter - I knew COLS wasn't right for small roles - but LAWD seemed to fit - so came here to clear it up - changed the L to G for COGS and I had the spirit of the answer- but LAWD became GAWD!


Thanks HG for taking the Saturday helm! and thanks Peter for a challenging puzzle!

Unknown said...

a rare Saturday TADA ! Probably because there wasn't any foreign phrases or classical music references. As a relative noobe I am still confused by when the clue must indicate its an abbreviation like TGIF or YOLO. It seems somewhat arbitrary. I didn't like "yea" for a Pro's call. If it is referring to a vote I have never seen the colloquial used. The vote would be a YES not a yea. RBI is already plural so RBI's have fallen into disuse.
Last to fall for me was 23d. Doing these puzzles for a couple years has apparently rewired my brain to recall (eventually) the second or third meaning of a word. I shoul be doing differential equations to stay sharp but xwords are more fun. Thanks to all the creators !

What's a puzzle nanny ? I do agree that polite references to politics should be allowed.

"BOO ALABAMA" ;)

Yellowrocks said...

Short cuts that are used in everyday language are not necessarily indicated in crosswords, especially in late week puzzles. TGIF, NIMBY, YOLO, NATO, APB, BOGO, AKA, NATO, NASA, FBI and many others are readily understood and articulated shortcuts.
Roll call votes are reported as the number of yeas and nays.

Lucina said...

Late again. Often on Saturday puzzles I solve parts of it then go on about my work. Today the SW and the NW fell quickly. PROGOLFER and LENAHORNE did that while in the NE TGIF gave me FOOTSTOOL and ILLATEASE to finish that quadrant.

Later while listening to WWDTM on NPR TURKDUCKEN was mentioned repeatedly but it didn't dawn on me until IRANCONTRA was filled. That got me cracking on the NW. For some reason I was looking for something more difficult than THEBIGCITY.

The SE proved to be more elusive especially since I had "mah DEAH!" Once I erased that, the rest came along. TETON was easy and I thought of Howard Dean though likely no relation to Silas DEANE but it helped to fill it.

YOLO and CSNY were meaningless to me.

Thank you, Gary, and what a splendid debut for you! Thank you, Peter Wentz, for the challenge.

I hope you are all enjoying a magnificent day!

Ol' Man Keith said...

Don't have time today to give it real attention, so after filling my only "gimme" - LENA HORNE - I went straight to Google.
It took four cheats to finish Mr. Wentz's opus. That's a record for my recent solvings, but I guess it isn't fair to score oneself when in a rush.
Bye, all!
Off to see the matinee of Sugar Plum Fairy at South Coast Repertory!

D4E4H said...

What headed the listing of info on Google:

Including results for alison krauss

Search only for Allison Krause

I did not notice the above portion in bold. Thanks Argyle for the video. From it I found the names of the students killed, Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandre Scheuer, and William Schroeder. Thanks D-O for reporting the difference in spelling. A Google review found Allison as the final entry on the first page.

Please forgive me for dredging up details of this tragedy.
Dave 2

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

OM GAWD, like, I was totally on Peter's wavelength today. Usually I spend 2+ staring down a Sat pzl before crying uncle. Not today. Had everything but the SW done in <25 min.

CSNY was my first fill. YEA then THE BIG CITY. Took an educated GUESS at TGIF, YOLO and was mostly off to the races. Even RVs was a good guess after thinking IRAs and needing one letter less.

Biggest WO-fest b/f the SW... Gosh->GoWD, GAWD.

After returning from the grocery store (no LOTI there), I tackled the SW; it was the hardest for me - probably another 20min alone... Hold ups: Piles b/f PLIES, Ok, I GET IT, Lend->lent->RENt. I knew ENOS, FREE, REFS but LOTUS took 3/5 perps.

SO, thank you Peter, I passed your IQ TEST today. I'm so excited to score 100%, on a SAT!, in ink!, w/ no Googles!

Fav: I'm going w/ RENDERS. The word brought back memories of grad school ray-tracing renderings like this image. Ah, the early days of computer graphics on a Sparc10. We were sooo cool.

HG - Welcome aboard - Saturday's helm's in good hands. Enjoyed the expo (esp. while seeing my vowels were right!). It was all you as it had to be :-)

{A-}

Houston Chron subscribers - am I the only one that had 12d clue'd as:
12 Stiff-legged s
        tride
? - what's an 's'-tride? GOOSE STEP was ESP (um SS-tide? :-)) and fixed ESO BaSO. Thanks HG for clearing that clue up.

PK - First, I hope you're feeling better. That you've never had TURDUCKEN (w/ oyster corn-bread stuffing!), may I suggest you get Truckin' down to New Orleans [Dead - 4:30]... Or, just have Grand MAIL you a frozen one. Can I get a "Dat, Dat" BooL and SwampCat?

YR - thanks for the INFO on why no indication of abriv for TGIF, etc.

ChuckL. I guess you don't turn your TV SET to C-SPAN oft. It's a SURE BET you know how that SERIES of votes end.

Cheers, -T

CartBoy said...

Anybody know or check on ?

Always first to post and nothing since Monday of this week.

Anonymous T said...

Lucina - HA! I'm listening to WWDTM RE-play on SAT. Radio (S/XM122) and just heard the whole TURDUCKEN bit. I'm still not going to Subway soon :-)

Oh, ChuckL - the C-SPAN image was inre: YEA.

Cheers, -T

D4E4H said...

CartBoy 439P
-I think you are asking how / where is "Fermatprime?"

Is my guess correct?

Dave 2

PK said...

Thank you for the good wishes for my health. I went back to bed and slept until now, but I'm not sure I want to eat yet. Maybe tomorrow. Water sounds good tonight.

Yes, where is our esteemed Fermatprime? Hope you are okay, dear lady.

Tony, I had to laugh at the thought of my Granddaughter sending me a TURDUCKEN. She is a vegetarian who convinced her parents & aunt & uncle to have a TOFU and gluten free Thanksgiving one year. I had a previous engagement. Three dead birds in one dish would reduce her to tears.

SwampCat said...

Anon T...dat dat? Who??

TX Ms said...

PK, that's hilarious - FROZEN turducken at that! Tofu/gluten-free Thanksgiving?-yecch! At times, I wish I could go vegan but forgot about Thanksgiving-nah. Hope you'll feel better tomorrow and not coming down with a stomach bug.

Anon-T, blurry eyesight in the mornings so didn't notice "stiff-legged s
tride". I've gotten used to the Chronicle's errors not only in the cw, but also in its articles. Even the AP, WaPo, NYT-supplied articles have grammatical errors and terrible sentence structure sometimes.

WEES, "data" caused a write-over, along with "iron-age". Shoulda noticed the hyphen in the clue (see above), but since I had "plies", I thought it was a PG(A) golfer. Never heard of "Stormy Weather," but with the L and RNE in place, I WAG'd Lena Horne, and iron-ONS appeared. Thought "some retirement purchases" would be CDS or something, but I had the R in place. Wow, instead of a financial savings vehicle, it became a gas-guzzling vehicle. Certainly, no offense to our Corner RVers - it does look like fun and carefree. I was always amazed, as a child on our annual summer trek to the Rockies, at the bravery those RVers had, navigating hairpin turns, steep grades, and narrow winding highways pre-guardrails.

HG, I always enjoy your witty/whimsical/educational recaps, i.e., HORDE. Heard of the Golden Horde but never googled it. Thank you, our now-Saturday host!

Argyle said...

And a glockenspiel shall lead them.

De Ganzenfanfare (The Geese Parade) Clip

Wilbur Charles said...

I should LIU but I'll guess it was ONeill who authored "Long Day's Journey into Night" the story of Wilbur's slog through the Saturday grinder. It started early: after a PERFUNCTORY* glance at sports, agony,comics and bridge I got started.

No pen. Okay, I'm pressed for time anyway I'll try to find a foothold. And I did, ASSTDA,DEANE and more. So...

At noon, I buy two pens and before I know it the entire east is filled and the entire west is white. FedEx Cup? I only watch every hole the PGA plays.
I had UMPS so I figured Peter wanted the name of a golfer, last letter U. Yes, there's one: LPGA. Ok. REFS "Officiate" games. Close enough, eh YR?

End of Part A. The NW is all white.

Tbc. WC

* Chuckle, eh Steve?

Lucina said...

One of our HOA board members has one daughter who is vegan and another who has celiac disease. After each holiday (Thanksgiving and Christmas) she regales us with the tales of preparing separate dinners for herself and each of her daughters. It does reduce us to tears (of laughter) though not funny for the daughters, I'm sure.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous at 4:06PM

Next time you want to share a photo of you with one of the most famous musicians in the world, we will be sure to pass over your post, too.

I think it is pretty cool that Picard got to meet David CROSBY of CSNY. The Crossword Corner is about sharing in each others' life experiences as well as sharing the crosswords together.

Wilbur Charles said...

Ok. Now it's six pm and I can't crack the NW. I want IRAN CONTRA but I can't perp anything. Second millennium??? Yesterday it's opera, today medieval architecture.
Aaarrrggghh!!

So, with Misty's advice in hand I Google IC+xword and yes IC is correct. Can we convene the old jury: Lucina, Misty, Irish Miss, YR... Owen, C-Moe, D4... Tony

Can I get a huss?*

So, I'm on the way home. On the Skyway bridge and eureka! BAROQUE. I can't wait to get back to the xword. Sure..

But, per OMK's advice I persist. WITE-OUT couldn't help the mess I've made but finally it all comes together. TaDa.

PostScript. In hindsight a lot of fill wasn't so difficult but it was mixed in with tricky stuff. Fe. I had ARBY before TCBY. And, I tried TINT and PIED before DYED. Also. PRO was correct; not all FedEx Cup seekers are PGA ers.

Well, that was the short version. Every perp and WAG had a story. Speaking of...

* Huss. Def. A favor. As the Group Disbursing Office I was the huss-master. I've got a great story. Should I tell it?

WC who needs ztime

Anonymous T said...

Swamp - I can't tell if you're riffin' on "Who Dat?" or I was just too cute-by-half again...

I meant: "Get a hear!, hear!", "a YEA, YEA," or "A Wha, Wha!", up-in this house? for TURDUCKEN (w/ oyster stuffin'). Got dat? :-)

@10:32 - "Dat, Dat!" Plus, I donno about you, but I feel blessed and humble'd with the opportunity to learn from the Cornerites. I just hope I give back some of that.
OH, and, @4:06 - no one compels you to click and, if you did, no one wants to hear you kvetch. PRO-tip: Your mouse should have a scroll-wheel to pass by what you don't want to read; use it.

WC - As a nowly-designated member of the "old jury," I hereby declare that: A Google will not stand in xWord competition. And, in so far as, we don't compete in those, 'Tis more like GOLF - you're your own judge and score keep. Rock-on [oh, and BAROQUE is close but no Hanukkah-chocolate (still crackin' me up Argyle!)]

PK - RE: grand sending you NOT-Tofurky - That's too funny. I'm sure your "prior engagement" that year was immediate :-)

Cheers, -T

Bill G said...

I have become a BIG fan of Huell Howser's California's Gold show on PBS. I just watched the episode on big trees which included the fig tree in Santa Barbara. I've been there and even climbed on and over the surface roots. I would like to visit the second big tree featured; the equally-large California Live Oak tree in Temecula. He also visited the General Grant sequoia tree, a beautiful and majestic behemoth close to 1500 years old. The closing credits were accompanied by Paul Robeson singing "Only God Can Make a Tree." I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff...

Michael said...

Wow, another opportunity to auger in!

Thought 23d would be 'go ... TO SERIES', and ROS would be some obscure retirement thingy. And YOLO is the next county east of here, so no way could that be a 'carpe diem.' Etc., et gruesome cetera.

BTW, I'm not really interested in people's political opinions -- I've got my own, of course, but I'm not here for that. What good does it do to stay caught up in actions of someone in office three decades ago, and dead over a decade? Is there anything we can change now? Undo now?

Since I'm on the soapbox, so much of what passes for news and opinion is stuff I can't do a SINGLE THING ABOUT. The very definition of frustration. No wonder 1/3 of Americans have high blood pressure, and another third are working on it.

Lucina said...

WC
I second AnonT; you are your own judge. Use Google or not; it's your choice. Research is how I've learned and I'm glad I went through that phase. It helped. At some point, and it might take a few years or months, you will realize that you don't need it, you'll suss the solve on your own every time, or almost every time. I still every once in a while get stymied by one of our brilliant constructors.









































Wilbur Charles said...

Lucina and Anon-T, I actually did a Jayce-check. ie I was pretty sure of IRAN CONTRA, so I checked it as opposed to doing a straight lookup. Or was that OMK?

My foot(see Fri), actually I posted Friday morning on the Thur blog, woke me up. It had stopped it's pulsating but I guess that's because I was taking Advil.

So, when I went to sleep the Advil wore off and the pulsating woke me up. Or...

Perhaps it's a gout situation.

Well it's late and the "nannies" are asleep and with all the politics perhaps a story that occurred 40 - nope, 38 right about the time of Kent State- years ago will get a laugh.

So. The mess Sergeant decides to buy a huss in advance and says "Lt. do I have a deal for you. Six steaks, they're all yours. Enjoy".

So I take the steaks back to my hooch, days go by, oops they're getting old. I tell the mama-san "they're all yours".

She's overjoyed. But. Next days she says "come eat,, you're number one, now".

Well, I'm still alive and I'm guessing that all the herbs and spices RENDERED that beef edible. There's a moral to that story.

What goes down in DaNang doesn't necessarily stay down?

The ol' Louie

Wilbur Charles said...

Or perhaps "Hoist by my own Petard"

WC

Anonymous T said...

Michael - Perhaps I'm still an idealist or still too young (in spirit) to have bestowed upon me the 'brain' Churchill intimated I should have in my 40's...
For What It's Worth, the vote in AL just showed what one can do when you speak up and show up; an echo of "Ohio." The Arc of History is long but it tends to bend towards justice - then backlash, chaos, more justice than before; rinse and repeat. At least that's what I've seen in my modest lifetime observing history best I can. Bread and Circus does not appeal to this MASSES*. It can get, little by little, a little better. #MHO

WC - I know you got stitches but, still throbbing? Is it the driving that's exacerbating your foot? Stay off your feet tomorrow mate.

Back to Peter's Puzzle - I just re-reviewed it and I'm still in awe of the grid. Too, I'm giggling at the c/a for TV SERIES. I had the V, tentatively placed from RVs, and, after watching some TV last night re: retirement of the 747, kept thinking 'evervescent' [sic - s/b effervescent] landing as a pilot's ideal outcome. LOL ensued when the penny dropped. Thanks again Peter & HG.

That's 5, -T Out.
*Hands up - who else wanted to fill AveJoe(s) @44d?

Anonymous T said...

Sorry - Overposting 'cuz I forgot to say; CartBoy - I emailed Fermat earlier today. She doesn't know me so I'm not expecting a quick response. I'll let the Corner know if I hear anything. -T