google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday April 2, 2018 Brock Wilson

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Apr 2, 2018

Monday April 2, 2018 Brock Wilson

Theme: LEADING QUESTION (62A. It's designed to elicit a certain answer ... or where the end of 17-, 25- and 47-Across may be found) -The end of each theme entry can precede "Question".

17A. Made it possible (for) : LEFT THE DOOR OPEN. Open question.
 
25A. Reason for "Fahrenheit 451" fires : BOOK BURNING. Burning question.

47A. Achieved desired results : DID THE TRICK. Trick question.

Boomer here.  Pleasant thoughts for Argyle and best wishes to all for a pleasant Easter season.  Here in nasty old Minneapolis, we had about three inches of the white stuff on Saturday with a harsh cold wind.  Still waiting for Spring.

Across:
        
1. Smallest chess piece : PAWN - I have to admit that I have watched "Pawn Stars" on the history channel a few times.  Chumlee is pretty disgusting as well as the old man.  I drove by the place a few years ago when in Las Vegas, and there was a line to get in.  Curiosity seekers I suppose.  Back to chess - if you can get that pawn to the other side of the board, it becomes a queen !  A much biffer piece.

5. Intl. alliance with a phonetic alphabet : NATO - A treaty formed by 29 nations.  I think Russia is ticked off because they won't let them in.

9. Test for fit : TRY ON

14. Where to find Columbus : OHIO -  I am not so smart so I googled this and found that there are nine states in the US with a city named after Christopher.  One is in Minnesota!  Don't ask me where, I was surprised to learn this.

15. Surrounded by : AMID

16. Like a wolfman : HAIRY - Not Wolfman Jack of American Graffiti fame, and definitely not Harry Truman.
 
20. Bit of campaign ugliness : SMEAR - It was pretty ugly in 2016, could get worse in the future.

21. In a jittery way : NERVOUSLY

22. Food storage cover : LID - I use mine to cover my eyes at night.

24. Big pic from a small neg. : ENL - sigh, abbreviations

31. Yr.'s dozen : MOS - This is also an acronym for your job in the military service.  Stand for Military Occupation Specialty, I think

34. Smoothie berry : ACAI

35. Pet store cry : MEOW - There is a pet store in a mall near our home, but all I ever see in there is dogs.  Maybe the cats are in a cradle ??

36. Resell exorbitantly, as tickets : SCALP - I guess this is now legal and can be done on line.  For the recent Super Bowl in Minnesota, I think some tickets were going for over $3000.

38. Iowa crop : CORN - Since Iowa is just South of me, I have been there many times.  The corn fields stretch for miles.

39. Extreme fear : PANIC

41. First website page : HOME

42. Last Greek letter : OMEGA - There is that word again.  The acronym for older, more energetic Graybar Associates.  (Gathers every year around February at the Orleans in Las Vegas.)

44. Lucy's sitcom partner : DESI - It's interesting how sitcoms of yesteryear differ from today.  I think Archie Bunker changed things.

45. Neighborhood : AREA

46. Stark in "Game of Thrones" : NED

50. Math basics: Abbr. : NOS -- Another Abbreviation !

51. Tweeter's titter : LOL - I think "Laughing out loud" preceded twitter by 15 years or more.

52. White ursine critter : POLAR BEAR - You crossword experts must have known what Ursine is.  I thought it was something you asked a prospective date regarding the month that they were born.

58. Hand prettifiers : MANIS - Another strange animal not found in Minnesota.

64. Dickens' Drood : EDWIN

65. Garage goop : GUNK

66. Opponent : ANTI

67. Hit __: ran into trouble : A SNAG - I thought this was something that occurred in nylon stockings.  Do women wear them anymore ??

68. Wise, as advice : SAGE - I call this a spice that I load up into turkey stuffing.


69. Twice-monthly 7-Down : NEAP - It's amazing how the moon affects the ocean.  What's even more amazing is how they came up with a word like neap to describe it.

Down:

1. Seasoned senators, say : POLS

2. "If I may say something ... " : AHEM

3. Edith, to Archie : WIFE - Boy the way Glen Miller played, Songs that made the hit parade, guys like us we had it made, Those were the days.

4. Teacher's "Shh!" : NO TALKING - In high school when the room got a little noisy, I had a teacher that would say, (" I don't think I said talk, I might have, I'm not sure.")

5. "Uh-uh" : NAH

6. Confirmation from the congregation : AMEN

7. Ocean phenomenon : TIDE - Named for the Tide brothers, Spring and Neap.

8. Reason for a diaper change : ODOR - A second baseman for the Texas Rangers.  If you think that surname stinks, his given name is Rougned. 


9. Big crowds : THRONGS

10. Phantom's rival, in "The Phantom of the Opera" : RAOUL

11. Pet store cries : YIPS - I knew they had puppies in those places.

12. Baseball's Hershiser : OREL - Probably more amazing than even Sandy Koufax.  I still remember 1988 when Hershiser went 59 INNINGS without allowing a run !  He passed former Dodger Don Drysdale who had 58 2/3.  Orel went to the playoffs that year and threw 8 more zero innings but they are not a part of the official record.  There was a debate about whether the streak could be extended into 1989, but Hershiser ended the issue when he gave up a run in the first inning of 1989.

13. Big Apple address letters : NY NY.  Start spreading the news.

18. Chicago paper, for short : TRIB

19. Toaster __ : OVEN

23. Dilapidated joint : DUMP - I thought the clue was about my knees.  I have never heard a dump called a joint.  (Although there are several beer joints which could be called dumps).

25. Breakfast partner of 55-Down : BACON. 55. See 25-Down : EGGS - Forgot the hash browns and pancakes.

 26. "__, all ye faithful ... " : O COME - More of a Christmas clue than an Easter Monday clue.

27. Rowed : OARED - I am sorry but I never heard anyone say they oared a boat.  P.J. Fleck, new football coach of the Minnesota Gophers is using "Row the boat" as a team spirit slogan.  I'm sure if decided on "Oar the boat" he would be looking for a job.

28. Verify, as totals : RE-ADD - In restaurants, to verify the bill.  Many people do it on their phone.  I remember when phones had dials and were used to talk to others, from your home or office.  NOT WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING YOUR CAR !!!!

29. Octet plus one : NONET

30. "If only" : I WISH - When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are... Jiminy Cricket.

31. New Zealand native : MAORI

32. Early Mesoamerican : OLMEC

33. "Bark, Bowser!" : SPEAK - Jon Bauman is a baby boomer, only six weeks older than I.  You may know him as "Bowser" the lead singer of the group Sha Na Na.

37. Phony : CHARLATAN

40. Sky over Paris : CIEL

43. Loving and devoted, as fans : ADORING

48. Library vol. ID : ISBN - an acronym for book identification that is news to me.

49. Gobbling guys? : TOMS - Wasn't Turkey Lurkey a pal of Henny Penny ?

50. Gymnast Comaneci : NADIA - Everyone remembers Nadia.  I am surprised we don't see Olga in puzzles much.

52. Ardent request : PLEA

53. Voluminous syn. and etym. sources : OEDS. Oxford English Dictionary.

54. Mowed expanse : LAWN - Golf course has too many letters.  I would not call my lawn an expanse.

56. Water color : AQUA

57. Ladder step : RUNG - May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung, and may you stay... forever young.  (Minnesota's own Robert Zimmerman.  You may know him better as Bob Dylan)

59. 29-Down count : NINE

60. Kappa preceder : IOTA - Finally, a four letter word with three vowels

61. Barbershop sound : SNIP

63. Barely make, with "out" : EKE

Boomer


47 comments:

Anonymous said...

I imagine i have missed something. Argyle seems to have had a serious medical episode. In backtracking I have deduced he has lost a limb. Is there any more news?

D4E4H said...

FLN:
PK at 9:02 AM
Talked about the draft. Here is a true story that may be hard to believe. I was from a rural community which I use as an excuse somehow, My father did not serve in the military so there were no war stories. The only time I heard boys at school talk about a draft card was when they were going to use an older friend's card to get drunk. Ergo, and it was an errant ergo, I thought the word "draft" meant beer on tap.

Second errant ergo, and the big one, I noticed at OSU bulletin boards Uncle Sam urging me to register for the draft. When I checked into it, I was at least 19. I could have been fined, but they saw my rural innocence, and waived it.

Ron E at 9:49 PM
welcome to the Corner.

Today:
Thank you Mr, Brock Wilson for this Easy Peasy Monday CW. I FIR in 20:48.

Thanks Boomer for your excellent review except for 52A, groan. She might reply "Ursa Major, or Ursa Minor, Minor your own business or I'm open for business." Oops, these are just constellations, not signs of the Zodiak.

7D - You forgot their sister Ebb. She goes out with the TIDE.

10D - we met ERIK just yest.

25D - Mine will be to me soon. ¡Yum! It is 613A EDT. It is still pitch black, and yet birds are singing their little hearts out. ¡What a joy!

6D - The faithful come out at Easter also.

27D - Oared, Oared, Oared the boat gently up a creek. I'm not looking for any more jobs.

Ðave

KS said...

Monday speed run. Easing into the week. Ahhhhh.

OwenKL said...

Rabbit, rabbit, since I didn't post yesterday. Still having a hard time getting my head turned around to a creative state.

When the teacher commanded NO TALKING
The class got so quiet, it was shocking!
Well, except Al the geek
Who continued to SPEAK!
Who stayed out of detention? NOT AL KING!

The beach was crowded, a bathing THRONG.
Some were HAIRY, some wore just a thong.
The swimming season
Would be an Eden,
If the men were hairy, and women in thongs!

{C, B-.}

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Nice softball from Brock for this early Spring day. Nary a write-over anywhere. I could tell from Boomer's expo that I'd missed reading lots of clues along the way, answers were already filled in.

We have a Columbus in Texas. It's an hour west of Houston on I-10.

My military MOS has been retired. But then, so am I.

I remember reading about the OLMECs. They were the forerunners of later meso-American civilizations like the Mayas and Aztecs. The most famous OLMEC was Donald.

Oas said...

Thanks to Brock Wlson for the puzzle and boomer for the review.
FIR with no probs .
A small hiccup at MANIS till I realized it was the partner of Pedis . DW likes to spend time there.
MAORI was a little unfamiliar but something told me I’d seen it before.The crosses filled ISBN and OEDS .
The grid crossers almost filled themselves and were helpfull to facilitate a quick solve . Nice way to start the week. Blue Skles and sunshine makes me smile. :)

Jinx in Norfolk said...

I favor Dives, but settled for DUMPs for my only erasure. Didn't know NED Stark, EDWIN Drood or OLMEC, but was rescued by the perps. I will learn not to hate rap music before I stop hating guttural clues like "uh-uh".

Still a fun puzzle to start the week. Thanks Brock and Boomer.

Oas said...

DO got it

Spitzboov said...

Happy Dyngus Day everyone. Guessing that Misty waxes nostalgic today remembering her Buffalo sojourn.

Bravo Zulu to Boomer for a great intro, and Brock for a pretty good puzzle. (Inspired by the NATO clue)

No searches needed but did have 'dive' before DUMP as did Jynx.. I like DUMP for this clue. Alphabet stuff: OMEGA, NATO, IOTA.
NEAP tide - Opposite of spring tide. (Has nothing to do with the season.).
Tides along the US Atlantic coast are semidiurnal, while Gulf coast tides are diurnal. Sorry, West Coasters, your Pacific tides are mixed.

Unknown said...

Pretty much a speed run here on a sunny Easter Monday morning. Only slowdowns were OLMEC (first thought was Aztec) and MANIS, which I had difficulty parsing notwithstanding the fact my DW just got one on Saturday. Have never indulged myself to a MANI nor PEDI; maybe someday I'll throw some money away and offer up my appendages for beautification, but that would be close to the ultimate "lost cause." Have a great day, all.....

oc4beach said...


Truly a speed run today from Brock. It took longer to read Boomer's great explanations than it did to solve the puzzle.

Perps fixed the few unknowns of NED, EDWIN and OLMEC. And as DO said a lot of the down clues weren't read because they had already been filled in.

Here we are in the season called Spring with 5 inches of new, wet, heavy snow on the ground. It's really pretty with the sun now shining on the snow-laden branches. I was at the beach last week where we had temperatures that ranged into the 70's. Now it's 32° with snow. It appears that Mother Nature is pulling a belated April Fools joke on us. ENOUGH ALREADY.

It's National Peanut Butter and Jelly day. How many days did you take a PB&J sandwich to school for your lunch? Or was it a Bologna sandwich?

I hope you all have a great day and let's hope that the baseball games in this current snow belt get to be played today.



Yellowrocks said...

It's spring! April Fools! Sixth inches of snow on April 2.
Fun puzzle. Funny expo. Yes, Boomer, I, too thought of dilapidated joint, as my knee before replacement surgery.
When I attended school in suburban Baltimore, we were dormed in a lovely old southern mansion with a huge expanse of lawn in front. I think, even in those days, the lawn was mowed by gasoline powered mowers.
I see OARED as a verb in books, more used in written English, as a opposed to spoken English.
Neap vs spring tides

CanadianEh! said...

MANIc Monday. Thanks for the fun, Brock and Boomer.

Steady fill today and no SNAGs. As stated by others "a lot of the down clues weren't read because they had already been filled in". Perps were needed for OLMEC.
Hand up for thinking of Knee and then wanting Dive before DUMP.

I was held up at 4D trying to parse NOT A word? before NO TALKING appeared.
CSO to HuskerG with CORN. Also to our TOMS.

And of course, there was some fill for our animal lovers, with equal time for all, with YIPs, SPEAK, and MEOW. We even had POLAR bears! They have been declared a vulnerable species due to melting sea ice.
PolarBears

Anon@5:20 - I believe that the last news from C.C. re Argyle was March 29/18 "Argyle is out of the hospital. He has moved to the Wesley Center on Lawrence St. in Saratoga Springs." He continues to be in our thoughts and prayers during this rehab period.

Enjoy the day.

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning,

Thanks, Brock, for quite a nice Monday challenge. I had lots of false starts: blue for ACAI, dive for DUMP, and so on. . . . Mostly corrected by crosses throughout. After I settled down, I had some fun.

Thanks, Boomer, for the tour and subbing for Argyle. No snow here in the Chicago area, but my weather app informed me it was 29 degrees yesterday. Mid-week, I bought some pansies for my patio table to pretend. . . . It appears they are surviving. P.J. Fleck played college ball at our Alma Mater--Northern Illinois University--we saw quite a few games during his career. He was quite well-respected for his leadership, also. No OARing.

Be well, Argyle. I'll be thinking about your rehab. Like YR--no fun, but so essential!

Have a sunny day. So far that's possible here.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

As already mentioned, this was an easy, peasy romp. The theme was well hidden until the reveal, at least to these eyes. Needed perps for Olmec, although we've had it before, I'm sure. Didn't care for oared, either. CSO to Mr. Meow and to DO and TTP at Toms, although they're not turkeys!

Thanks, Brock, for en easy start to the week and thanks, Boomer, for the witty expo and for filling in for our much-missed Argyle.

Sometime during the night, the snow fairies paid a visit but with only a dusting of the white stuff. Still, it's April: April, as in Spring!

I don't remember a lot of PB and J sandwiches from my school lunches but definitely a lot of bologna and tuna or egg salad on Fridays. A big treat in the high school cafeteria was pizza on Fridays. My grade school was close enough that I could walk home for lunch. Lots of days my mother would have a big pot of homemade soup but I would turn up my nose and ask for Campbell's instead. (My mother was a saint.)

Have a great day.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Sorry I don't have more update on Argyle. I'll update you whenever I'm updated. He still does not have a phone or internet access. I've been depending on the generosity of his friend Jennifer for news. I've been pestering her almost daily.

Lucina said...

My company is still abed, exhausted from their late night arrival, I'm sure, so it gives me time to play and post.

Thank you, Brock Wilson, for a gentle but amusing puzzle. Not being a chess player I wasn't sure which piece was the smallest but quite certain about POLS so PAWN started me on this quick romp. How vividly I recall reading about the BOOKBURNING in Fahrenheit 451 and being shocked. Who would do that?

The OLMEC are a vital part of Mexican history as are the MAORI to Australia and New Zealand.

Since sky in Spanish is cielo, CIEL made sense.

Well, I hear stirrings of someone awakening.

Boomer, thank you for subbing; I enjoy your wit and wisdom. You must have an entire repertoire of oldies songs at hand. Nice.

Have a happy day, everyone! I'd like to send you our mild spring morning.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-TRICK QUESTION – “When did you stop beating your wife, Senator?”
-AMID is the third word in one of my favorite poems
-Nebraska CORN is less vulnerable to drought
-Jittery describes my first few nights with a CPAP. Now I hardly notice it and appreciate the benefits
-Bye, bye Bam Bam
-Golfers know of YIPS of a different type
-A famous “What a DUMP!” (:25)
-My P, B and J breakfast staple. Jars must say Skippy and Welch’s Grape

Bill G said...

In my opinion, a definite step up from 'Welch’s Grape' is Smuckers' Boysenberry. Really good!

Misty said...

A total Monday delight--many thanks, Brock! I too sailed through this fun puzzle with only a few tricky moments here and there. My only total unknown was OLMEC. Never heard of it and kept wondering if it was right, but it had to be, judging from the across answers. Also, fun reveal and theme answers, Brock. Great write-up, Boomer. You made my day by giving us Archie Bunker and Edith's song! Haven't thought of it in years, but the melody was right there, in my head.

Thank you for checking on Argyle and giving us the regular updates, C.C.

Nice that you pointed out all the animal references, CanadianEh.

Spitzboov, what is Dyngus Day, and what does it have to do with Buffalo? You can tell my education must have been a little incomplete.

Have a great week, everybody--with, hopefully, better weather.

Anonymous said...

Greetings, corner friends!
A very, snowy day in Montana—up to 6” more are forecast on the plains. So, a good day to curl up with a crossword.
This was a nice typical Monday puzzle. Thanks, Boomer, for your expo. Lots of information.

I see that I’ve been away so long I can’t automatically post, so I’ll need to be anonymous today. I’ll look up user name and password later.

Have a good week, everyone!

Montana

AnonymousPVX said...

Breezed through this, but had to check 58A....MANIS.....oh, short for MANICURES....slang.....not indicated in the clue...MANI is defined by the OED as a prayer wheel...I call this a faulty clue.

Otherwise, no issues.

oc4beach said...


My Mother (not a Saint but a good cook) made elderberry and wild grape jelly which was really good and we ate a lot of it. DW makes Strawberry preserves and peach jam/jelly which are also really good. I used to pick the elderberries and grapes when I was a kid and now I buy the berries and peaches from the local Amish farm market. I still get to eat the "fruits" of my labor.

D4E4H said...

Your HTML cannot be accepted: Tag is not closed: B. ¡Oh boy, a posting puzzle too!

oc4beach at 9:23 AM
- - ¡Hurray for the Bread Brown, and Blue! That's whole wheat, whole grain bread, Peanut butter with honey, and grape jam, but wait add a slice of American cheese, and warm slightly to bring to room temperature 'cause I wouldn't be able to wait for it to warm up. ¡Yum, it's fun to need superlatives!
- - School was where I learned to enjoy cafeteria style dining. I never, nada, zilch, took my lunch. The Peanut butter at school had honey mixed in it. I thought it was so good. The ladies from "Lunch Lady Land" turned the heel slice so the cut edge was out, how clever.
- - To generalize I enjoyed and appreciate all aspects of my education including the courses I take each day at the Corner. Please stand for the "Corner Alma Mater," but don't put your hand over your heart. The EMTs will think you're having "The big one."

- - BTW Bro, I'm having trouble reading the important sign in your Avatar let alone recognizing why it is important. Please edify me. A magnificent study just now shows what might be a symbol for NASA, and _______ _______ Flight Center. If I can get my eyes to uncross, ¿how did I do? My own private Uncrossed word puzzle.
- - The perps helped me solve as "The Goddard Space Flight Center," named for Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945), considered the father of modern rocket propulsion. ¿What did he think he was, a rocket scientist?

- - I was going to read the freeway sign in the background, but why bother. There are at least 6 sites. Now for Lagniappe, Fans of the television program "Seinfeld" may recognize the restaurant on the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, (GISS) building's ground floor as the exterior of the diner frequented by Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer in many episodes of the show.

- - On a related note, C.C., Profiles have our Avatar with a caption saying "For a good time, call Ðave." Oh wait, that's only mine. All others say "View Full Size," Who do I sue for faulty advertising. One click and the image stays the same size. Size does matter, especially when "Full" has been advertised. Someone will be hearing from my lawyers as soon as I can hire them away from the POTUS.

Yours till the cow jumps over the moon,

Ðave

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts":

Today's was more of a stroll in the park than a sprint; but all solved pretty easily, with no LU's or WO's. I didn't PANIC when I saw MANIS for 58a, though I thought initially this might be my sole error. Maybe if Brock had used abbr. in his clue, but a minor but at best. Overall, good puzzle for a Monday; Boomer, excellent job of pinch-hitting while Argyle is on the DL

61d ---> nowadays, barbers use more clippers than scissors. I almost put CLIP into that space but saw 58a was plural

Interesting that OKL used "thong/THRONG" on his limerick today, as I, too was looking at that pun possibility ...

So I decided to go off on a different tangent; hoping this doesn't get the ire of those, "pc":

Do you think the Dutch
Bought Manhattan Island, from
The first, true SCALPer?

Groan away, Tony!! 😜

CrossEyedDave said...

Open Question?

Burning questions?

Trick question?

Leading question?

And, did somebody say Boysenberry jam?

Spitzboov said...

Misty -

“Dyngus Day is a Polish and Polish-American holiday observed the day after Easter Sunday and celebrating the end of lent. It is a joyful tradition that involves parades, parties, music, dancing and food.

The biggest celebration in the United States takes place in Buffalo, New York, which has a large Polish-American community and is considered the Dyngus capital of America. It started there with the Chopin Singing Society in 1961. Smaller Dyngus Day celebrations take place in Chicago, Illinois; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Bristol, Connecticut; Elizabeth, New Jersey; and South Bend, Indiana.

Dyngus Day is an occasion to eat traditional Polish foods including pierogis, kielbasa, stuffed cabbage, ham, eggs, breads and lamb-shaped butter.” Newsweek

Also see A newbie's guide to Dyngus Day in Buffalo

BTW - I think your education is just fine.

Tinbeni said...

Good job on the write-up Boomer.

Brock: Thank you for a FUN Monday puzzle.

Needed ESP (Every-Single-Perp) to get MANI'S off the cluing.

No booze ... so there wasn't a "fave" today.

NY Yankee -v- Tampa Bay Rays game was cancelled today due to snow.

That doesn't happen here ever!

Cheers!

D4E4H said...

¿Dare I write more? I do, I do.

- - We interrupt our regularly scheduled blogging to bring you a ¡FRAUD ALERT! Your credit cards may be mating in your wallet. When they do, the chip no longer works. Take it from the Lynn who just got off the phone with the Fraud section of said offending credit card. What are we to do, LIU. We find there’s card abuse, which can render all sorts cards useless. Friction can cause a magnetic stripe to wear off. Bending a card could crack a chip or break antennae used for NFC.

- - Payment cards are manufactured to last, but just like anything else we use on a daily basis, materials break down, and the way we use them has a large effect on how quickly that happens.

- - one site reports mbna CREDIT CARD - chip defective 15 comments in 2014.

We return you now to our regularly scheduled blogging.

Yellowrocks at 9:36 AM
- - Linked us to "Blessed be the Tides that bind." Of interest is the Solar tide influence of which I was unaware.

CanadianEh! at 9:57 AM
- - "North of the border, up Canada way." "Elvis Aron/Aaron/AAAron has left the planet." Perps filled OLMEC for me so I came to the Corner unaware of it. I did not understand "Early Mesoamerican" literally, "middle America" in Greek. "No Ðave, don't LIU." But I must, I must, right after "I increase my bust." The Olmecs are even older than Ol' Man Keith. They were the earliest known major civilization in Mexico following a progressive development in Soconusco. I ain't LIU Soconusco.

And so to press.

Ðave

PK said...

Hi Y'all! I struggled on this one for a Monday, but persevered and filled it. Thanks, Brock! Boomer, you make me smile!

I was completely asea with the theme. Somehow I thought of taking the endings and putting them together which got me OPEN ING TRICK for the theme. Since I was having trouble in the NW again, sounded okay to me. Rook before PAWN. (Haven't played chess since my 20's.) Edith to Archie = WIFE. Duh, I was trying to think of the unflattering name he used to call her instead and WIFE never crossed my mind.

This was just rife with abbrev. & init. on which I do not thrive. Never can remember ISBN. Put in ICBM knowing it wasn't right.

OLMEC was a gimmee. One of my all-time favorite books from about 30 yrs. ago was "The OLMEC Head" by David Westheimer. Found the paperback for that a while back. It is one of the few books I own that is tattered, coming apart & dirty. D-O: OLMEC Donald? I get it. Groan.

The BURNING QUESTION of the day: What is Dyngus Day? Spitz, thank you for answering that. Any excuse to eat hearty.

MANI: never had a professional one nor a pedi. Am I a discredit to womanhood? Nope, just a do-it-yourselfer. I can still cut my own toenails but raising the foot to workable level gets harder every year. Now I can only do one foot and done until another day.

D4: Boy are you wound up today. Somebody double your meds? LOL!

Ol' Man Keith said...

A solid Monday pzl from Mr. Wilson!

- A Ta- DA! for yrs truly,

- And kudos to Boomer for a witty response.

Is it smug of me to announce that none of today's fills was unfamiliar? I even knew OLMEC, kids! Don't despair: when you reach my age, you'll know it all too!
(All in fun; on other days, when the challenge level isn't so easy, many of you have the advantage of me, so I guess we all get our turn.)

Meanwhile, I feel sorry for oc4beach, Yellowrocks, Irish Miss, Anonymous, and all those suffering snowfalls elsewhere in the country while some of us sit smugly in SoCal enjoying the brighter side of spring weather.
But no apologies from this ol' gent! I put in my years in NW Massachusetts where it was not uncommon to see our final deep snow in early May.
Indeed, we often inserted a special season of our own between winter and spring, a season known locally as MUD.

Now I just like to think I've earned a place in the sun.

____________
Diagonal Report: The mainline 3-way (NW to SE) joins with the main mirror line (NE to SW) for a total of four diags today.
There might be a hidden message, but four diagonals leaves us with too many anagram possibilities to conster!

Spitzboov said...

PK - Re Edith: Dingbat maybe?

Ol' Man Keith said...

Keep well, Argyle, and pace yourself through rehab!

Forgot to mention I did have one erasure, one minor hiccup on my slide to home base. I can't imagine I'm the only one, but no one else has posted anything about 60D.

How many others had BETA before IOTA? "Kappa preceder" did not put me in mind of alphabetical linearity, but of the major Greek academic fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa.
Ergo, BETA was a natural fill.
The perps saved OMK's butt.

PK said...

Spitz: that's it. But too many letters, aren't there. So WIFE it is.

Keith: I'm older than you so that's why I knew OLMEC?

oc4beach said...


D4 - You got it right. The sign is at the entrance of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. I spent the majority of my career there working on sending spacecraft and men into space.

Yes, Robert Goddard was the quintessential Rocket Scientist. There were and are many Rocket Scientists, but he was the first to prefect and launch a liquid fueled rocket.

OMK - Thanks for the sympathy on the snow. Today's 5 inches of wet, heavy snow stopped about 9:00 am and as of 6:00 pm is mostly gone because of today's temperatures in the 40's and bright sun. However, more is predicted as part of a wintry mix forecast for later this week.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle but didn't understand how the LEADING QUESTION mechanism worked until coming here. Boomer, witty and informative write-up; thank you. Desper-otto, excellent! Best wishes to you all.

Misty said...

Spitzboov, many thanks for the very helpful and informative explanation. I'm afraid I never heard of Dyngus Day during my time at the university in Buffalo--or, maybe I did, and it just slipped out of memory after nearly fifty years. Again, many thanks.

Wilbur Charles said...

Now this was a Monday xword worthy of the name. Because of OMK's urging I decided to solve via the diagonal . I got stopped at Gobblers. I went conventional from that point on.

Quickly re. READD. In the adding machine age we had a "Rule of NINEs". Anyone know what that is?

Boomer, I love your write-ups.

Oh yeah, re. Sunday . I was stumped .I couldn't grok TARS. But I'd put SCRAP instead of SCRUB. So... Did they name the LATTE joint after the mate?

WC

PS. CC, USMC (R). 1968-70 .MOS 3400

Wilbur Charles said...

Ok here's a hint.
74
+25
+56
+29
+73
-----
257. 221

I added this column twice and got those two totals . How do I know what my mistake was?

WC

D4E4H said...

Wilbur Charles at 7:38 PM
- - Yes the LATTE joint was named after the mate.

Ðave

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Thanks Brock for a fine Monday puzzle. Flew through it until 31 & 32d - ??. Thank goodness for 5x2 solid perps.

Entertaining expo Boomer - I liked the SAGE's advice :-)

WOs: Started w/ Thesaurus b/f OED. I always misspell NaNET.
ESPs: Both 31 & 32d were news to me.
Fav: I partial to BACON and EGGS.

{B, B-} {groan :-)}

Hey Montana! Welcome back.

I enjoyed reading everyone but break's over, so, back to work.

Cheers, -T

D4E4H said...

PK at 2:48 PM
- - Wrote "D4: Boy are you wound up today. Somebody double your meds? LOL!"

Thanks for appreciating my effort. It was lots of fun.

Ðave

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks to Brock and Gary! Read both blogs today (Sun. and Mon.). Enjoyed them!

Nothing new here.

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

Bill G said...

Wilbur Charles, I kinda remember that since the two total differ by a multiple of nine (36), your error was likely to be in transposing the digits in an addend, such as 25 for 52. Close?

D4E4H said...

Wilbur Charles at 7:38 PM, and at 9:05 PM, and Bill G at 12:35 AM

I'm not a math whiz, and LIU the "Rule of NINEs" with no aha moment. When I saw your hint, I was tired so I saw nothing. Bill's hint of transposing the digits in an addend caused me to look again. The mistake was transposing 37 for 73.

Ðave

Wilbur Charles said...

BillG and Dave. Exactamundo . When the two totals' difference was divisible by nine, 73-37=36÷9=4, the "Rule of Nines" suggests inverted digits.

It actually was helpful. I might as well add for posterity that many clerk's handling money will arrange the bills bills face up. There often told to do so but never told why..

The reason is that money counters arrange the wad between the middle fingers and flip through. To ensure that no one is pulling the old trick of folding a bill so that 49 ones would count as 50, the counter checks that the eyes of the presidents* are looking the same way.

Dave, thanks for the info on Starbuck, the mate who became so famous . What was(later today on the Tuesday posts) the name of that harpooner? Assuming that the Pequod was the Whaler.

My work week that I cram into a three day weekend is over. I've slept in and missed Mass. But I got the FIR on Sunday because I learned my lesson from Saturday

Yep .When P&P don't work, apply more P&P

WC

* I'm not forgetting Alex. He didn't qualify because of the born in the USA provision, possibly directed at him personally.

Magilla Go-Rilla said...

49D: Not to mention Chicken Licken, aka, Chicken Little; depends on which version you read.