google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, January 5, 2018, C.C. Burnikel

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Jan 5, 2018

Friday, January 5, 2018, C.C. Burnikel

Title: Letters rip.

My 2018 begins with a C.C. special in which initial-isms are unwound to create whimsical new clues and fill. I think this is my 4th or 5th Friday from C.C. solo, though she has done some Friday collaborations. It is interesting to watch her growth as a constructor, and the layers of subtlety she now includes in every effort. She makes clues difficult without making them either unfair or the fill obscure. I also think her exposure to other editors and styles of puzzles has helped that growth. Let me know what you think.

ALFREDO, ATE DIRT, KARAOKE, PANACEA, RADIATE, SEDATED and NICE GOING are all fun fill, but TEARSTAIN is wonderful.

The themers:

17A. Attire with a spreadsheet design? : EXCEL SHIRT (10). XL SHIRT gets repurposed.

24A. Disreputable court proceeding? : SEEDY CASE (9) C.D. CASE gets repurposed.

50A. Extracts from Wrigley Field's walls? : IVY FLUIDS (9). I.V. FLUIDS gets repurposed.

61A. Transports for fertilizer? : PEATY BOATS (10). P.T. BOATS gets repurposed.

Across:

1. Fey of "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot": TINA. A spectacularly hidden hint to the type of puzzle.

5. Ready to rock: EAGER. The "E" was my last fill. Sometimes we make the easy hard.

10. Mug shot subject: PERP. C.C. slipped in a Corner word.

14. "I got this!" : ON IT.

15. Wheels since 1986: ACURA. This car was in Monday's first puzzle of the year.

16. Adidas rival: AVIA. I think Nike is a bigger rival.

19. Minor points: NITS. The lifeblood of much puzzle discussion and another C.C.inside joke.

20. Under: SEDATED. Good Friday deception; I can hear the doctor asking, "Is he under yet?"

21. More than tickles: ELATES. I think this is one of C.C.'s favorite words.

23. Liquor in a Singapore sling: GIN. I have had this before - I will always remember Albany.

26. Unskilled in: POOR AT.

29. Hebrides tongue: ERSE. Scottish Gaelic spoken HERE.

30. Arrived, in a way: ALIT.

31. Hardly an original: APER.

34. Office administrations: OATHS. I love this clue/fill; perfect deception. At every level government officials are sworn in; after a while, many are sworn at.

38. Superstation that broadcasts some Cubs games: WGN. TV independent owned by the people who syndicate the LAT.

39. Old Testament prophet: EZEKIEL. I spent way too much time trying to squeeze this into being a theme fill, but "KIEL" just did not fit the pattern of the others.

41. Creature for whose shape Anguilla was named: EEL. Named by COLUMBUS?

42. "Broca's Brain" author: SAGAN.  The entire BOOK.  Or WIKI.

44. Speed away, with "out": PEEL.

45. Syrup brand since 1902: KARO.

46. Cuts (off): LOPS.

48. Sacred crawler: SCARAB. Do you remember this SCENE?

55. Monopoly quartet: Abbr. : RRS.






56. __ network: NEURAL. Good solid Friday clue/fill and a mini-theme with 42A.

57. Emit: RADIATE.

60. Greased auto part: AXLE. I am so not an auto mechanic type.

64. Scholarship consideration: NEED. Sounds counter-intuitive doesn't it?

65. Umbilical variety: INNIE. I was an innie, but now I have an umbilical hernia.

66. Lover's greeting: KISS.

67. Old U.S. pump sign: ESSO.

68. Bluto and Pluto: TOONS. I like the rhyme but it took me a while to see what a sailor from Popeye and a Disney dog had in common.

69. "Echoes in Rain" singer : ENYA.

Down:

1. Ring site: TOE.

2. Sydney band originally called The Farriss Brothers: INXS. If you want to listen- do so HERE.

3. "Good work!" : NICE GOING.

4. Swallowed one's pride: ATE DIRT. Hmm.

5. Needle point? : EAST. Simple, but this took so long as I to get away from sewing.

6. Soreness: ACHES.

7. Museum offering: GUIDE. Another good example of Friday deception in clue/fill.

8. Miss on "Jeopardy!," e.g.: ERR. Pretty much amiss anywhere.

9. Involving nudity, maybe: RATED-R. The rating can be earned by hard language, or tough violence, or nudity within sensual scenes, or drug abuse or other elements, or a combination of some of the above. MPAA.

10. Cure-all: PANACEA. I have always loved this word. Panacea comes from a Greek word meaning "all-healing", and Panacea was the goddess of healing.

11. 1980 Tony winner for Best Musical: EVITA.

12. Bat mitzvahs, e.g.: RITES.

13. So yesterday: PASSE.

18. Superboy's girlfriend: LANA.          Pretty girl. LINK.


22. Disinfectant brand: LYSOL.

25. Like many "Buffy" settings: EERIE.

26. Kittens play with them: PAWS. Again, a small head fake- not toys.

27. Lingerie brand: OLGAHISTORY.

28. Whirling toon: TAZ.

32. Drink with a Zero Sugar variety: PEPSI.

33. __ out a meager existence: EKE.

35. Mark on a Dear John letter, perhaps: TEAR STAIN. Fabulous clue/fill.

36. Zeus' jealous wife: HERA. She is back.

37. One who doesn't pick up much: SLOB. Not a dolt, but a messy one.

39. __ Gay: ENOLA. I am tired of this reminder.

40. "The Complete Short Game" author: ELS. How many three-letter named golfers are there?

43. Fettuccine sauce: ALFREDO. I add tuna and peas for a complete meal.

45. Bar attraction: KARAOKE. Kara 空 "empty" and ōkesutora オーケストラ "orchestra"); the same kara as in karate (empty hands).

47. Ministry: PULPIT. Is this a stretch?

49. Bed with enclosed sides: CRIB. I hope no other answer came to mind. They are getting fancy.

50. Absurd: INANE.

51. Annoys: VEXES.

52. Celebrated seasons: YULES.

53. Pipe cleaner: DRANO. Not the one you fill with tobacco.

54. Chemise fabric: SATIN.

58. Salon assortment: DYES. Beauty salon, not parlor.

59. Site for handicrafts: ETSY. Another HISTORY.

62. "Reflection" musician: ENO. Last week it was emo.

63. Issuer of five million-plus IDs annually: SSA. Social Security Administration.

This puzzle was so clean, I really do not have much to say, or maybe I am just tired. Thank you C.C. and my official Happy New Year to you all.


85 comments:

OwenKL said...

EZEKIEL swore a great OATH
That henceforth he'd drink PEPSI, not Coke!
Not LYSOL, nor DRANO,
Nor unleaded ESSO;
Not awful much KARO,
On pasta, ALFREDO,
And GIN just in bars with KARAOK'!

{C.}

fermatprime said...

Greetings!!

Thanks to C. C. and Lemonade!

Nice puzzle!

Spelled EZEKIEL incorrectly at first, but didn't know aLS, so it was easy to fix. Love C. C. puzzles!

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

fermatprime said...

From yesterday:

I have a heated pool in my pool house. A huge mortgage also.

My caregiver, who comes for 2 hours a day, helps me get in and out.

I try to swim 20 laps (80 ft. each) and do the exercises recommended by my K-laser doctor.

I was put on the ketogenic diet by my holistic cardiac specialist.

xtulmkr said...

Didn't catch the theme even after completing the grid.

Hesitated on 5D. The needle always points north. Unless your compass is broken.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Zipped right through CC's offering today. No NITS, and I even got the theme! Read the clue as "Fettuccine source," so ALFREDO was a little slow in arriving. Broca's Brain was also the title of a Stargate-SG1 episode. The only OLGAs I'm familiar are Korbut and Kurylenko. Thanx for 'splainin', Lemonade.

I definitely don't consider KARAOKE to be an "attraction." More of a repellent.

Yes, I remember that SCARAB scene from The Mummy. Are you scarab scarabs?

Jinx in Norfolk said...

When I saw that this was a CC special, I expected it to be fun and I wasn't disappointed. Favorites were "kittens play with them" for PAWS and "needle point" for EAST. Xtulmkr, as a recovering sailboat racer we referred to the "points of the compass" as N, S, E, W, NE, SE, SW, NW, NNE, ENE and so forth. It would probably have been more accurate had we said "points of the compass CARD", but we didn't.

I erased ON me for ON IT, rum for GIN, and I should have fixed cAReOKE, but I missed the "c" crossed with cARO for my only bad cell. I grew up in a ma and pa restaurant and KARO syrup was an ingredient in a lot of our offerings. Can't believe that I missed that one, with all the other potential sources to ERR.

D-O I also avoided KARAOKE bars like the plague. I wonder if I would like them better now that I am perpetually sober. Drunks CAN be funny.

FLN - TTP, thanks for the etymology of "FLN".

Thanks to CC and Lemonade for a fine Friday effort.

billocohoes said...

My paper didn’t have the plural s in the clue for 12D, so RITES looked like a mismatch.

PULPIT is sometimes used symbolically (bully pulpit) so not much of a stretch

KARAOKE should be clued “Bar attraction, to some”

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Clever theme and great puzzle, C.C.! I got the theme with IVY FLUIDS, but still needed perps for PT BOATS.

Great expo, Lemony. I had never seen that scene from the mummy. Hope I don't get a rerun in my dreams tonight or whenever I finally sleep.

Ncentral block was last to fill. EAGER isn't in my vocabulary apparently. The needle didn't point me to EAST because I couldn't stop sewing. ACURA was a mystery. I forgot museums sometimes have GUIDES -- I always just roamed.

Karaoke is an attraction if you like to sing. Most fun I ever had in a bar was at Crested Butte, Colorado when a couple of old miners would bring in their accordion & fiddle and we'd all sing old popular songs. That was before the developers & yuppies found the village. We'd never heard of Karaoke then.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. I got the EXCEL SHIRT, but initially thought the theme was a pun on Excel Sheet. It wasn't until I completed the puzzle and said aloud the theme answers that I caught on to the theme.

I immediately wrote in TOE for the Ring Site, then tried to over-think the clue and went with TUB. (I start the puzzle with answering 1-Across and 1-Down.)

My favorite clue was Mark on a Dear John Letter = TEAR STAINS.

Pipe Cleaner = DRANO was a cute clue.

Stay warm and safe.

QOD: The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else. ~ Umberto Eco (Jan. 5, 1932 ~ Feb. 19, 2016)

TTP said...

Good morning. Thank you CC and thank you Lemonade. NICE GOING !

Good Friday puzzle. I was EAGER to hear the TADA. But I ERRed by entering KAyO instead of KARO. Nuts ! Got my KARO and Maypo mixed up. Good thing you don't eat at my house.

No NITS though. It was my own INANE ERRor that led to the failure. TEAR STAINs on my computer because I am so POOR AT checking the PERPs. Not a good trait if you want to EXCEL at solving crosswords.

Lemonade, here's my favorite:INXS - What You Need

Shameless plug for my g-g grandfather's book From The Plains To The PULPIT

Due to the spectre of having a meltdown, I've been updating my PCs this morning. One more left.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Yes to Lemon’s summation – difficult without being unfair or obscure! I had to really work to decode some areas.
-SEDATED – Going “under” sans clothing and waking up to find myself fully dressed with no memory of how that happened still amazes me
-Great WGN/Cubs memories for many of us
-PEELING out is less, uh, appealing when you’re paying for the tires
-I felt we qualified for scholarship money for our girls on the basis of NEED but the counselor practically laughed at us
-Senator Sasse’s aide was our personal Capitol GUIDE but she was too soft spoken and untrained
-As near as I can tell, RATED-PG13 allows one bare breast and one f-bomb
-Overcrowded shelters in this weather still manage to find room for those who EKE out an existence
-Hubris in the PULPIT
-Karo was always a poor substitute if we were out of Aunt Jemima
-I’m off to give an astronomy lesson to sixty second graders!

Hungry Mother said...

Very crunchy for me, but doable and enjoyable. I remember KARO syrup from my youth.

jfromvt said...

Fun puzzle. I'm a Vermonter, so have never had KARO, we only use Real maple syrup!

Big Easy said...

'What The F___!' I guess 1A was a movie and how many people are named FEY. I'm slow on catching this theme (or any theme). After completing the puzzle, I was looking for some misdirection as in EXCEL SHEET & SEED CASE and didn't notice the word replacing the initials. "Master of Ceremonies becomes M.C. become EMCEE." Never figured that one out. How did TOON(S) make it as both a clue and an answer? INXS-didn't know but with the Aussie clue it was an easy guess.

I had to finish with a WAG on the cross of OLGA (I'm not into women's underwear) and SAGAN. I'm glad my wife had a '89 ACURA because I was POOR AT filling in that region.

Three-letter golfer besides Ernie ELS. Michelle WIE. Se Ri PAK.

desper-otto said...

It appears most of you recognize "short game" as golf parlance. I was thinking of a poker player who couldn't pay. Or maybe pin the tail on Jeff Sessions.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I like seeing CC's offerings on Fridays and Saturdays because her clever cluing really stands out, compared to the necessarily easier, more straightforward clues required in early-week puzzles. I caught the theme with Excel Shirt and then, Seedy Case. Peaty Boats wasn't as obvious as the other themers. Ministry=Pulpit is a little off, to me, but was easy to suss out. Kittens play with them=Paws was smile-inducing. (Hey there, CED!)

Thanks, CC and Lemony, for a pleasant diversion from our wicked weather conditions. Just looking out the window makes me shudder and shiver!

Have a great day.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

TTP's aide-memoire of 0638 (today) FLN on the catch-fire usage of FLN brought a TEAR to my eye. Kinda makes you think of starting a Wisconsin engine on a hay baler after wintering over in a lean-to shed on the back end of the back forty. Who knows where 2018 will go?

Great puzzle today. No NITS, no searches, no wite-out. Some really neat deceptive cluing. Hardest to fill was center North. Couldn't get a foot-hold, but then closed my eyes and inserted ACURA. What a WAG! Nailed the theme with EXCEL shirt, and SEEDY CASE.
Lemonade is spot-on with his enunciation of C.C.'s development. I think this one rates a big BRAVO ZULU.
PEAT - I don't think of it as a fertilizer but more as a mulch. My grandparents used it as a heating fuel.
German for PEAT is Torf; L. German is Törf. Seems akin to English Turf, which looks a lot like it.

Bill G said...

Hi everybody. As is sometimes the case, I seemed to 'get' the theme without being able to explain it in words. A fun puzzle. Thanks CC, Rich and Lemon.

I feel sympathy for those people dealing with snow banks, icy roads, power outages, sub freezing temperatures... Good luck to all of you. I hope you are doing and coping OK. It looks as if we might get some welcome rain next week.

I think I'll have some oatmeal with brown sugar and a little half-and-half.

Argyle said...

Lois says "Hi" to everybody.

Yellowrocks said...

Lemonade, great expo. CC, so much fun. I sussed the clue after 2 theme answers. This was Wednesday-like for me with a little added crunch in the NW quarter. The only unfamiliar clue was OLGA, all perps. With the W start, I remembered WGN.
Being a PK I realized that pulpit and ministry can both mean the preaching profession.
JINX, I agree that compass point is better than needle point, however that did not deter me. Billocohoes, I, too, was surprised that RITES was a plural.
KARAOKE - The Japanese like to shorten loan words. Their version of our orchestra is okesutura, shortened to OKE (oh key) in karaoke. I was told that the orchestra is termed open because there is no singer. The singer's spot is open for volunteers.
Other times, words are lengthened because every consonant includes a vowel sound. What is mack u do nu ru do? Mc Donald's.
We survived the storm very well. Just one day being house bound. Have a pleasant Friday. Stay warm.

C6D6 Peg said...

Really liked this puzzle by C.C. Great fill, cluing, and theme! Nice going!

Thank you, Lemonade, for a very nice write-up. Agree with your thoughts on the puzzle!

Montana said...

Thanks CC and Lemon. Good start on a Friday.
I usually don't do well on Friday puzzles, but if CC constructs it, I do.
I tried to spell EZEKIEL with an A, and SEGAR with an E. perps fixed them.
Fun, Friday crossword.

It's 40°! Nice.

Montana

Lucina said...

Very NICE GOING, C.C. and Lemonade! Fair, fun and fulfilling is my rating for this puzzle.

TINA Fey is fast becoming a CW staple though I've never seen any of her movies.

EAGER/EAST was my last fill, also, because like PK and others I insisted on sewing or knitting. Finally, EAGER/RATEDR appeared on the horizon and it was finito!

Laughter ensued when SEDATED emerged because "under" had me submerged in synonyms which didn't fit.

DRANO was another great misdirection; I could only think of smoking pipes then recalled how often I have to use either DRANO or Liquid Plumr in my bathroom sink. Hair, you know.

My lingerie drawers are filled with OLGA underwear so no problem there. PULPIT gave me fits but I guess it can be considered a ministry. I would say preaching or sermonizing but can't be limited.

I love EVITA and enjoy the DVD as well as the soundtrack often.

Yea! TEARSTAINS on a Dear John letter. Love it!

Nope. Didn't parse the theme, so thank you, Lemonade, for illuminating that. So clever, our C.C.

Please stay warm, everyone in the blizzard covered north and south!

CanadianEh! said...

I am ELATEd when I see a C.C. puzzle. Thanks for the fun and thanks to Lemonade for explaining and the observation about the theme hint at 1A. Clever!

I got the theme. Hand up for the E in EAST and EAGER being the last to fill.
G in OLGA and WGN was an educated WAG.

At 4D, I entered ATE and waited for Crow or DIRT to fill.
At 20A, Beneath changed to SEDATED . . . eventually!

I LOLed at NITS=minor points after my ERRor yesterday with Miner/Minor. Prescient?!

Enjoy the day. Stay warm.
We have an extreme cold warning for tonight of -30 to -35C (-22 to -31F).
Currently a balmy -18C (-0.4F) with wind chill of -28C (-18F) but no blizzard.

WikWak said...

Very fun puzzle today. Thanks, C.C. and Lemonade. This one took me a bit longer than the usual Friday time, but I still FIR. Took about 15 minutes.

It seems that C.C. Must use EAT DIRT in her own conversations, rather than EAT CROW. I don't recall ever having heard anyone using DIRT in this phrase; it's always been crow.

-5 F here now, with a wind chill factor of -17. If this keeps up I'll have to find a heavier coat!

Misty said...

Well, like CanadianEh, I'm always ELATEd when I see a C.C. puzzle. But since it's a Friday, also a bit SEDATEd. But, happily, I got almost all of it on my own, and had to cheat on only a few small items. Woohoo, even if it wasn't perfect. Many thanks, C.C.

I didn't get the theme mainly because after getting 'SeedYcase', 'IvYfluids', and 'PeatYboats' I was sure we had a Y theme in play. But then no more Ys, so that wasn't it, and I had to wait for Lemonade's explanation to get the theme.

Curiously, I got EEL right away because that was the answer to an Anguilla clue on "Jeopardy" just a day or two ago. And, even more curiously, C.C. mentions "Jeopardy" in today's puzzle. Sometimes, coincidences can be a hoot.

So, many thanks for a fun Friday puzzle, C.C. and Lemonade.

Have a great weekend coming up, everybody!


CrossEyedDave said...

Excellent puzzlement! I got the theme at Excel shirt/Ivy fluids,
(or at least I think I did, not so sure now...)
Seedy case & Peaty boats did not fit what I thought the theme was.
(hmm...)

My only nit was 12d rites clue not being pluralized.
(Learning moment: Pluralized is a real word...)

Anywho, an FIW for me, I filled in "Panecia."
(29a Hebrides tongue = Ersi?)
Where do they speak Ersi? India?
(Hmm, maybe I was thinking Farsi?)

Star Ledger Thought For Today:
"Wisdom is divided into two parts:
(a)having a great deal to say, and
(b)not saying it."
- Author unknown.

Of interest (to me,)
Karo syrup has to be one of the most obscure things on the planet.
I had never heard of it, or used it, or know how to use it,
until one day I was traipsing around Harriman State Park/Bear Mountain
and came across some ruins.

Fascinated with these ruins, and anything to do with this gem of a
wilderness area in the middle of a very populous State,
(ask me anything about Harriman, If I don't know, I will find out...)

Why the heck was it called "Orak?"

Turns out, before the park was commissioned, the owner/creator of
Karo syrup built a large Mansion in the park.
& what did he call it? Orak! (Karo backwards....)
(I think this guy had a screw loose...)

Roaming these extensive ruins, I came across what was left of a room
that was shaped like a football. Perplexed, I investigated further
and found out that this rich Dude had built the mansion with
a dining room that was shaped like a ship!
(The windows were portholes!)
Not only that, the floorboards were anchored to rollers
so that the entire rooms floor could be rocked back and forth
to simulate the motions of a ship.
(Methinks he wanted to get his diners seasick...)

(Yes, this unbelievable nonsense is absolutely true!)

Anyway, to see these ruins involves some serious hiking,
so here are some pics from people that could not believe it either.

(P.S. - I never said I was wise...)

OAS said...

Thanx again for a good workout. Slow going today .McD's coffee cooled off before I looked to google for some help. Never did get the theme til I saw IV Fluids, for a while wondered if it would be ivy fronds. Got some company at my table that slowed me down a little as well. I'm usually early enough that I can do the xword with only a good morning nod to other early bird patrons. Cold here today -25F. Van idling in the parking lot. No idling zones are for warmer weather.!

Yellowrocks said...

In the protestant churches "THE" Ministry, not "A" ministry, is the work or vocation of a minister of religion. It is common for us to say both my father and my brother were called to the ministry. Although The PULPIT is a piece of furniture, it sometimes is used as a metaphor for the ministry as a vocation, especially in non-liturgical churches where preaching is primary, rather than the Sacraments. Luther held the Word and the Sacraments to be co-equal. Sometimes "The PEW" is used as a metaphor for the laity.
In the same way, The PRESS does not necessarily mean the actual printing apparatus, but is a metaphor for newspapers or journalists.

Misty, hand up for AGUILLA=EEL because we saw it in last night's Jeopardy.
BTW Alex Trebek is recovering from a brain operation. The prognosis is good. He has many episodes filmed in advance. There should be no lack of new shows. The College Championship has been postponed until spring.

Ferm, so glad you are back to swimming and dinners.

CE Dave, very interesting about ORAK. Too bad I can no longer hike.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi Gang -

Wonderful entry by our own C. C. today.

Tough catching onto the the theme, but loved it when I did. First catch was IVY FLUIDS. Eh? What? OH!

Top center was the last area to fall

Lots of tricksy cluing, but as Lemony said, all fair.

Masterful job.

Happy weekend, everyone.

Cool regards!
JzB

Yellowrocks said...

Oops, typo. ANGUILLA= EEL

MJ said...

Greetings!

I simply could not parse the theme today, so thanks for explaining, Lemonade. Some great cluing--favorites were "Office Administrations" for OATHS and "Needle point?" for EAST. Thanks, C.C., for the fun Friday fare.

Hahtoolah--Congratulations on your retirement.

Fermatprime--So glad you were able to swim and have assistance from Harv.

Enjoy the day!

Picard said...

Fun, creative puzzle theme! Thanks, CC! I have to admit I was slow to catch on to the theme.

Hand up EAST seemed wrong. I thought of a compass needle which will always point to magnetic North. As xtulmkr noted. Thanks for explaining the sailing use of compass points, Jinx.

Last to fall was WGN/PAWS/OLGA. As Big Easy noted, those of us with Y chromosomes are not expert at lingerie brands.

"COMPLETE SHORT GAME" was an utter mystery to me. For all I knew they were talking about a bridge game. Learning moment. KARO and SINGAPORE SLING also unknown.

I was privileged to meet Carl SAGAN in the early 90s. In his Cosmos series he made a chilling point: Rough estimates of the probability of intelligent life in our galaxy would indicate that we should have received a signal from them. Unless these civilizations destroy themselves within about 100 years of inventing radio. It seemed to be a warning to us.

When I met him it was soon after the Berlin Wall fell. I thanked him for his fascinating analysis about our survival. And asked if he was feeling better with the end of the Cold War. I was shocked when he flew into a rage. He said "everyone" thinks he said that, but he never did. I felt terrible that I had upset him. I paid to get a tape from PBS and I still think what he said there is what I understood.

In any case, he was a brilliant man who brought the wonders of science to millions and I honor him for that.

Here is one of my photos of the ENOLA GAY at the National Air and Space Museum

I was with my best friend from high school who lives near there in Northern Virginia.

D4E4H: Thank you for the kind words about my posts yesterday. I will still refrain from using FLN as long as Google can't find its meaning!

As for my former girlfriend Ms RAMOS, I think you are confusing her with another Southeast Asian lady who is now my wife. Two different wonderful people from the same part of the world. By the way, Ms RAMOS was standing next to me when I took the ENOLA GAY photo.

Rick Papazian said...

Perp is a word in the dictionary, but not recognized in Mircosoft's Word.

Thanks to Steve and C.C. But honestly, C.C.Burnikel (and other constructors) are genius at this art. This puzzle must have taken a hundred hours to think up, research, construct and edit (edit by Norris and company). And we do the puzzle in sometimes twenty minutes.
This one took me (on and off) two hours.
I loved and hated every minute of it!

Misty said...

Yellowrocks, so sorry to hear about Alex Trebek's brain operation. Hope he has a good recovery and that we won't be missing any "Jeopardy" episodes. It is one of my very favorite programs.

Unknown said...

tougher than yesterday. I had to say the theme fills out loud get it. XL Shirts (too big but comfortable)...CD Case ( never was any good at keeping track of cases). IV fluids (chemo..YECCH),PT Boats ( what presidents used to command before bad feet made some 4f). I'd give this a 8 on chuck's difficulty scale.

BTW KARO was a popular baking ingredient when I was a kid. I was NOT allowed to put it on pancakes !

5 TADA's in a row.

Unknown said...

by the way...only 75 here today. May just play 9 holes. My old bones warm up much better in the low 80's. Hope no one gets cabin fever with this storm. Blizzards gave me the fever back in Michigan after a day or two. Normally we could get out and gouge the neighbors for snow shoveling within 48 hours. I think I got a buck a sidewalk if we had 6" or more.

Lemonade714 said...

Big Easy, I am not surprised you know two other three letter named golfers.

Alex Trebek learned one of the important lessons of aging - be careful and avoid falling. We really do become more fragile.

Karo was on the grocery shelves as I grew up in Connecticut and it still is here in Florida

Lucina said...

CEDave:
Many of us here who are of a certain age can recall KARO syrup from our youth. For baking, it was a staple in the pantry or cabinet. In fact, I have some now for occasional use in a recipe. Thank you for the interesting information and pics on Harriman Park and Orak Mansion.

Sometimes I wonder about the quirkiness of geniuses. Consider the Winchester Mansion in San Jose. That's another strange one built by an eccentric millionaire augmented by his wife.

YR:
All that you explained dawned on me slowly as I thought about PULPIT being a ministry. It's all about thinking outside the box, isn't it? For me, anyway.

Lucina said...

Lemonade:
You are so right! Yesterday while carrying a 3 gallon bottle of water I tripped and fell though fortunately nothing was damaged, not even the bottle which is of course, plastic. Also, I was wearing jeans so that likely helped to prevent bruising. In summer I wear shorts and that would have resulted in a much different story.

It pays to strengthen one's balance which I do with yoga.

D4E4H said...

Dear Treasured Cornerites, and Cornerettes,

At 330A EST when I opened the CW online, I saw two initials, C.C., and knew I was in for a treat. I was satisfied with a FIR. Anything I could say has been said better than I am able to say so WEES.

Lemony,
I was following your review until I watched the video of ENYA. Next up for her was
"Enya Relaxing Music 2 Hours Long" which is now playing in the background so I have made a list of links to review later. She has such a beautiful clear voice.

OwenKL,
You came close to being my new mentor yesterday, but C E D came thru with his "Wisdom" quote today to maintain his ranking.

"Wisdom is divided into two parts:
(a)having a great deal to say, and
(b)not saying it."

I hold you up as my "God Mentor" ready to point the needle of my comment compass in the correct direction when needed.

Picard 100P
Thank you for telling me about having a wife.

I'm not feeling well today, so to each of you Ague.

Dave 1 3/4

Hahtoolah said...

kARO was for the pecan pies. Vermont maple syrup was for the pancakes

Ol' Man Keith said...

Knocked off by one error. Lemon's last fill was my last - and wrong - fill.
I didn't get EAGER, but cast my vote for WAGER. (Yes, yes, I know: WAST at 5D made no sense to me either.)

But I did manage to complete today's opening diagonal before proceeding to the rest of C.C.'s fine offering. Gimme a Ta- DA! for that!
For those wondering why I bother with this additional challenge, this is one of the reasons. It saves face when you miss the grand prize.

And like Yellowrocks, Misty, and other Jeopardy fans, I was struck by the EEL/ Anguilla coincidence.
It couldn't be that C.C.'s a fan too, could it?
Just wondering ...

Unknown said...

Maybe I'm weird or just reaching but Ezekiel could be "easy kill"....

Lemonade714 said...

Mr. Blevins, welcome. As I said in my write up, I hard time giving up on EZ ekiel being part of the theme. However, in each of the themers, the remaining part of the word was not changed.

There really are coincidences. Puzzles are submitted, approved and published over a period of time longer than a few days. ANGUILLA which looks nothing like an eel to me, just happened to appear in both places.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Lemonade714:

I agree about coincidences. And isn't it just another one - that E.Z.KIEL happened to appear in a pzl devoted to homonymic initials?

Picard said...

As long as people are fascinated with EZEKIEL today.

Who remembers this song "Dry Bones"?
It is about EZEKIEL's vision


Thanks, D4E4H.

CC: Are you recovering from your influenza? Hope you are feeling better.

Misty said...

Ta-DA! Ol'Man Keith. (I can't do bold lettering here, for some reason)

Tinbeni said...

Lemon: Nice, informative write up.

C.C. Thank you for a FUN Friday puzzle.

Geez, 5-d, Needle point, EAST took all the PERPs, then a V-8 can smack.

Also needed ESP (Every-Single-PERP) to get OLGA, guess I am not up on Lingerie brands.

Well tomorrow is EPIPHANY, and here in Tarpon Springs that means "The Cross Toss" into Spring Bayou.

Hope those 57 young men don't mind the cold.
It will be around 50 degrees (air temp) and 55 degrees (water temp.

But it is one Great Greek Party ...
Ouzo will be flowing.

Cheers!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Late again. Been out trying to tolerate the merciless wind chill.

Clever puzzle from our leader today! I grokked the theme early on, which probably sped up the solve, but I can’t remember for sure. The last fill for me was Olga; apparently I’m not up to date on women’s undergarments.

KARO syrup: my mom kept a bottle of the stuff in the cupboard, but really it had only one purpose: it made pecan pie. My grandmother, in West Texas, had a superb pecan tree, and every now and then a big ol’ box of pecans would show up at the post office. Mom was quite good at baking a pecan pie!

By the way, we’re just one state south of Vermont, so we share the ethos. Only real maple syrup is allowed on pancakes. If you’re all out of syrup, you don’t have pancakes. Simple.

Avg Joe said...

Thank you thank you, Hahtollah and Dudley. My Mother always had Karo in the pantry, but I couldn't remember why. Pecan pie, of course. Being from Nebraska and also of seriously limited means, we never once had real maple syrup as I was growing up. It was discussed in whimsical terms at times, but never made it to the table. But we always had "a reasonable facsimile". Karo was never allowed on pancakes. Period!

Roy said...

For the first time in quite a while, DNF. (I usually keep chewing and chewing until I get it all down.)
Two letters missing--could not get the cross of EAGER, EAST, and RATED_R. "Ready to rock" and EAGER are a good clue/answer. I have the same qualms as others about "Needle point?" for EAST. I kept trying to think of some type of doctor (DR).

Dld not get the theme until Lemonade explained it. I was looking for the "Y"; EXCEL SHIRT left me confused.

TEAR STAINs on a Dear John letter? Only if the writer is not ecstatic about the new relationship; or are the tears John's?

My mother used KARO syrup; I also keep a bottle in the cupboard for when needed. I agree, KARO is no substitute for maple.

Bill o' Cohoes: Yes, the TU did omt the "s", but "e.g." (for example) implies the clue was one of a list of RITES.

OwenKL said...

This was an odd one for me in that I never did figure out the theme until it was explained to me! SEED CASE and IV FLUIDS were obvious (I thought), but PEAT BOAT's definition fit the clue for PEATY BOAT, so that wasn't right, and EXCEL SHIRT (which started as EXCEL SUITS, a supposed pun on EXCEL SUITE) wasn't anywhere near!
EZEKIEL also didn't fit (one of my failed l'icks today was using "easy kill"), but I looked up EZ KEEL and found gold!

Sad since there were other hints in the puzzle: INXS (pronounced "in excess"), ESSO (Standard Oil), KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and possibly some of the brand names (LYSOL, KARO, PEPSI, AVIA, DRANO, ETSY, ACURA, WGN).

Anonymous T said...

Hi All! And Lois!

What a plethora (you know what one is?) of C.C. Puzzles this week in all the major venues (did you get a Chron of HighEd that I missed? :-)). You Go Girl!. So much fun; Thanks C.C. You too Lem, I really wanted confirmation that OLGA was some German-brand undies, your link said "um, close." I did w/o the Mummy scene... I saw that once at a neighbour's backyard viewing one Halloween and never need to see it again; EERIE.

What others said, N. Central was the hardest/last to crack. I took a WAG at ERR & ACHE- and then another w/ ACURA. Finally, everything filled and down went my pen.

I groked the theme at IV(y) FLUIDS and that helped understand EXCEL----- and -----CASES. Didn't think of EZ Kiel as anything 'cuz no '?'.

WOs: C, Eh! wins for waiting... ATE crow [what's with DIRT recently; Rich gone Vegan?]; HaRA, KyRO, PANACiA, ALREaDO [do I have to turn in my Italian card?]
ESP: EEL as clue'd; Sagan took 3/5 PERPs
Fav: c/a for SLOB. I was thinking DOLT doesn't "pick-up" much...
Sparkle: VEXES, NEURAL nets [AI!], EAGER as clued (I was ready for a mine(o)r pun), and, while it gave me no pause, enjoyed c/a for TOONS.

{C+}
Bill-O: I had the same lack of plural @12d.
@9:39 D-O: LOL pin the tail on... I can't get the image out of my head - Love it!

Thanks Hahtoolah- I was hoping the near-NOLA contingent would pipe-up on Pecan Pie as the main use of KARO. ChuckL - um, yech on pancakes.

FLN - sanfranman - I wasn't implying you stop posting; I was asking if the tracking was towards a goal like competing in competition. Though your numbers put me to shame it's an interesting bar to compare my puzzle thoughts / effort.

Speaking of FLN; TTP it looks like you have a near air-tight CASE against me. I NEED to consult council. In the meantime, thanks for the INXS tune.

Only Yankees!...No Coke, PEPSI.

Cheers, -T

Lemonade714 said...

Damn, HI LOIS (bad comic pun?) good to hear from you.

Misty- in order to get bold, or italics in your comment you need to use XTML commands. They are listed in the HOW TO section OLIO
Ignore the P just followed by the word you want Bold the

Yellowrocks said...

Real maple syrup was too expensive for us growing up. We preferred Karo to ersatz maple. In the early years we had light and sweet molasses which became unavailable. I used to love it.
FLN is Corner family shorthand. At least CC supplies a decoder list.
Eat crow. Eat humble pie. Eat dirt. I think of eating dirt as being forced to admit you are wrong.

Anonymous T said...

Refreshless'd -T says...

Dudley gets KARO v. Syrup too
I see Ave Joe knows what to do
One for the Pecan Pies
Thanksgiving that
While flapjacks get
Vermont Maple Sap

//Coda: Tin - no comment on Gin?

Misty - to make it easy... Type: <b>Bold stuff</b> to make it so.

-T

oc4beach said...


A great Friday C.C. puzzle that I was able to finish, but didn't get the theme until Lemon explained it.

Some things I knew and others were filled in with the perps.

I knew OLGA right away. DW used to love Olga bras, especially the ones that hooked in the front. I enjoyed them too.

I also knew KARO right away because it has always been a staple in our pantry, both light and dark. It is used in baking pies, cookies and making Christmas candies. I also use dark Karo syrup in a barbecue sauce that I use with various meats and some sausages. My wife uses it along with molasses in her baked bean recipe. Karo is corn syrup, but many people confuse it with HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) which has been used in place of sugar in many products, and has been labeled as unhealthy. Karo doesn't have HFCS in it. We never used it on pancakes and waffles, that is what maple syrup is for.

I did try SNAKE before DRANO for pipe cleaner. There were a number of things that I wanted to put in for Museum offering, like OILS, STATUES, EXHIBIT, DOCENT, etc. but none of them would fit.

Like a large part of the country, it has been cold and windy here and is scheduled to be even colder tonight and tomorrow. I hope everyone is safe and warm.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Misty,
Are you trying the HTML code? Look below the composition window to see some example HTML tags. To do boldface, enclose a "b" inside angle brackets in front of the word, and then follow the word with "/b" inside angle brackets.

TTP said...

Jinx, thanks. Spitzboov, thanks. I have visuals of your hay baler aflame.

To clarify, usage counts were based on day counts rather than distinct counts of FLN. i.e. FLN may have been written multiple times on any one of those 105 days.

Namely, FLN has been used every day so far this year, and distinctly used 32 separate times. That count does not include the 9 times I used it in my 6:38 AM comment, nor in this comment. If so, at this point in time, it would be 41 times in 5 days.

Anon-T, you are a trendsetter. A mover and a shaker. You are setting new standards. Raising the bar. Moving the needle. Breaking paradigms. Now, let's assume for a moment that we're in this business to make money. Peel back the onion and figure out how to monetize it ! Dashboard your progress. Pick a couple of the new hires to mentee and mentor them on how its done. -- OK, I'll stop :>)

I thought we had KARO in one of the cupboards, but couldn't find any. I have never heard of having it on pancakes, but it is an essential ingredient in pecan pie. Probably in fruitcake as well. I thought DW used it in some of her cookie bar recipes that she used to make for the holidays; I'll ask her when she gets home.

I just read that KARO no longer uses high fructose corn syrup. Just corn syrup. Did PEPSI and Coke and the rest quit using HFCS in their sodas ? We don't drink any them and haven't for years and years. Too bad for your health.

Lucina said...

TTP:
Very funny you are!

I think we may have used KARO syrup to sweeten the baby's milk. It's a vague, and maybe incorrect, memory. I'll ask my sibs tomorrow. All five of us will be together (two are gone, R.I.P) with the family for the 12th day of Christmas annual party with White Elephant Game. Always fun!

Anonymous said...

Mom used to make a couple variations of rice krispy treats. Not the marshmallow ones. If I remember correctly butterscotch or peanut butter ones iced with a thin layer of chocolate. I think both called for Karo light syrup.

Anonymous T said...

TTP - Thinking out side the box; Just spitballing here... Conceptualize monetization: FLN© [go ahead, click it :-)]

Jayce said...

Excellent puzzle! C.C. sure has The Knack.

fermatprime, email me if you wish to further discuss ketogenic diet.

Best wishes to you all.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

We used Karo in the milkshakes we sold. As a kid I preferred DQ's Blizzard shakes to our hand-dipped, mixed-to-order ones. I also liked store-bought milk, butter and bread better than the stuff from a friend's family farm. My tastes have changed with age.

I do enjoy my DW in lingerie. In fact, I can honestly say I like nothing better.

Avg Joe said...

Footnote to the earlier comment. For dinner we had pepper steak and potato pancakes. .....with real maple syrup. So the real deal has passed my lips....Just not when I was a lad.

Misty said...

Oh, dear, O'Man Keith. I appreciate the detailed advice but have no idea what an HTML code is or how to begin. I'd best put this off until my tech helper, who comes by only rarely, can maybe give me a hand with this. In the end, the bold print isn't that critical to my messages, although I sure do like seeing it in yours.

Yellowrocks said...

Beautiful Epiphany Eve. I turned on all the Christmas lights, threw a log on the fire, lit all the available candles and turned off the other lights. Relaxing and warming. If the live tree were fresher I could continue this for another week or two. Tomorrow brings the three day work of packing it all away. Goodbye to Christmas.

D4E4H said...

Epiphany came a day early to me. TTP 502P wrote "....DW used it in some of her cookie bar recipes .... Dear Wife, Woo Hoo! I thought those were her initials.

I googled, and found "Epiphany Friday, January 6, 2018, oops!"

Dave 12 Days

PK said...

I always had Karo in the cupboard, but didn't make pecan pies. Must have used it in peanut brittle, fudge & divinity at Christmas. Karo doesn't turn grainy like melted sugar does. Doesn't seem to get old either after years on a shelf.

Bill G said...

OK, so I'm trying the lesson on how to make words bold. Now I'll go to Preview to see it it worked.

Woohoo!

Thanks.

Ol' Man Keith said...

You do not need to know anything about HTML, Misty. Just follow the guidance of my 3rd sentence above.

Or copy exactly what Anonymous T has written to you above, at the end of the 4:51 posting. Copy it out, each and every letter and symbol, and look at the result in "Preview."

Misty said...

Like this--/b/Ol'Man Keith/b/? Tried it, but it doesn't seem to have worked.

Anonymous T said...

Misty - close.

<b>bold goodies</b>

When you post, you wont' see <b> nor </b> To see < & > is special Ninja magic :-)

-T

Wilbur Charles said...

I've been doing the xwords but the blog occupies to much of my scarce time.

I was half way through this morning and I had an AHA moment: CC! This was excellent combination of trickery and fairness. eg perps available where clues like "Needle point" mis-directed.

Write-up was entertaining too.

WC

Anonymous T said...

On KARAOKE...

I'm going to brag on Eldest for a moment. Her KARAOKE go to (if Ave Maria or Abba isn't at the ready) is Bohemian Rhapsody.

Being a vocal major, she blows everyone (and the paint off the walls) away as she gets to:
"Oh, mama Mia, mama Mia (mama Mia let me go)....
Beelzebub
has a devil put aside for me,
For me, //building...
for [now she hits C, High and Loud] Meeeeee!" //paint PEELs, plaster falls.

C'Mon, how proud can a dad get when his kid can out-falsetto Freddie? :-)

Cheers, -T

Misty said...

A last try, Ol'Man Keith. Let's see if it works.

Misty said...

Woohoo! Woohoo! It worked.

CrossEyedDave said...

Sorry anon-T

this is the only Bohemian Rhapsody I can relate to...

As I Boldy go where no man has gone before...

CrossEyedDave said...

I recently got a "looper,"

so I could play guitar "with myself."

But basically, this is what happened..

Anonymous T said...

Overposter says - Whohoo! Misty! You got it! CED, that rendition was too funny as it went meta w/ Kermit; Thanks. -T

D4E4H said...

C E D & Anon T
Just the fellows to whom I would like to suggest, please make your links bold before inserting into the link lingo. i wouldn't want to miss anything you link.

I watched the Muppet version, then found Queen's. The first scene in silhouette is funny, and one note is so high that a soprano would strain to reach it. The story line is very dark.

Dave 2

Ol' Man Keith said...

Thanks, Anonymous T, for setting our Misty on the right path.
Misty, as you see, it was only a matter of exchanging your slashes (//) for angle brackets (> <)!
Next, when you want to put something in italics, do the same thing, but with "i" instead of "b."
Sehr einfach, nein?

Michael said...

And a big Woo Hoo! to all, and to all, a good night!

TTP said...


Y'all are night owls !

Lucina (FLN), I sure ERRed on mentee. Shoulda been, "... pick a couple of the new mentees and mentor them."

Dave 2 (FLN) yes , Dear Wife. MY DW said she used KARO for candies and the peanut butter fudge recipe. Haven't had that for a long time.

Anon -T (FLN) ! I clicked. I noticed that copyright too. BTW, with all of the news on Spectre and Meltdown, I had this vision of you on Friday... Email and phonemail overload. Can't get down the hall without being asked about it... Probably didn't happen that way for you, but that's what came to mind.

Avg Joe (FLN), we had the "reasonable facsimile" growing up as well. I think it was Log Cabin, but maybe that's what I wanted it to be because the bottle was so cool. Then one time when we were traveling, dad stopped at a Perkins Pancake House or IHOP. Don't remember which one, but they had fruit flavored syrups ! What a treat ! Now I know how cloyingly sweet all those syrups were.

Jayce (FLN), "The Knack". I get your point about CC and agree, but the capital letters brought "My Sharona" to mind. The Story Behind The Knack's My Sharona.

PK (FLN) that's what DW said. KARO is needed for that silky smooth peanut butter fudge she used to make.

Congrats to all the new HTML coders !