google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday April 24, 2018 Bruce Haight

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Apr 24, 2018

Tuesday April 24, 2018 Bruce Haight

Theme: Over and Over Again

 I’ve been called up from the minors to pinch-hit for TTP who’s been standing in for Argyle (How ya doin’, Marine?). Bruce gave us a nice early-week challenge with “over” split within the theme answers – twice as O-VER and twice as OVE-R: consistent.

17. Video game preview: DEMO VERSION. No “beta” this morning.

23. Exemplary: ABOVE REPROACH.

38. Romantic jewelry item: LOVE RING. Is this really a thing?

48. Latin phrase about certain effects of alcohol: IN VINO VERITAS. (Words that Tin lives by.)

And the reveal…

59. Social sin ... and what 17-, 23-, 38- and 48-Across are guilty of?: OVER SHARING. 

 Let’s see what else Bruce has hidden in the grid for our amusement.

Across:

1. __ jacket: soldier's protection: FLAK. 

5. Reeded woodwinds: OBOES. Hello again, old friend.

10. Like some humor: WRY. Could’a been DRY – I waited for the perps to decide.

13. NASA prefix: AERO.

14. Grow fond of: WARM TO.

16. Elisabeth who played Finlay on "CSI": SHUE. She was good in the role. You may remember her as Jennifer from Back To The Future II and III. She was a little younger then, but so were we.

 https://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTg5ODk5OTU3MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjM1NDUxMg@@._V1_UY317_CR15,0,214,317_AL_.jpg


19. Window section: PANE.

20. Naturally bright: SKYLIT. My thoughts were in the intelligence vein.

21. College sr.'s test: GRE. Anyone else misread the clue and ink in SAT?

22. Elevator name: OTIS. He had his ups and downs.

27. Commercial cow: ELSIE. She’s buried in New Jersey.

30. Before, in verse: ERE.

31. Many Louvre paintings: OILS. Perhaps the most famous is the Mona Lisa. She’s hung in the Louvre for more than 200 years.

32. Columnist Maureen: DOWD. NYT readers know her well.

33. End of most work wks.: FRI. Unless you’re a homemaker...

34. Arresting image?: MUGSHOT. Tried GUMSHOE first. Don’t ask why.

37. Boxing legend: ALI.

40. "A Wrinkle in Time" director DuVernay: AVA. She was the first black woman to direct an Oscar nominated film. Here’s a short two-minute film about that.

41. Sewer entrance: MANHOLE.

43. Past its prime: OLD. CSO to moi, among others who hang out here.

44. "My turn!": I’M UP.

45. Soccer score: GOAL.

46. Mineo of film: SAL. Best known for his role in Rebel Without A Clue with James Dean.

47. Muse of memory: MNEME.

52. Johns, to Elton: LOOS. Similar to “John of London” – Elton.

53. Finish in front: WIN. I was looking for a prefix which meant “finish.” D’oh!

54. Long look: EYEFUL. 

58. Riga resident: LETT. Riga is the capital of Latvia, one of the Baltic states. Latvians are called LETTs, and a third of ‘em live in Riga. I always get those three small countries mixed up: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

62. Significant others, in modern slang: BAES. Was sure this had to be wrong. Nope. Urban Dictionary says it’s a dialectical pronunciation of “Babe.” Others claim it’s an acronym for Best At Everything. I don’t plan to use it anytime soon.

63. __ Creed: NICENE. The Apostle’s Creed is a watered down version.

64. Windy City daily, familiarly: TRIB. The famed Tribune Tower had been home to the newspaper since 1925. The Gothic spires at the top look like they belong on a cathedral. At street level the facade is decorated with 149 stones from around the world – places like the Taj Mahal, the Hagia Sofia, the Parthenon, the Great Pyramid and the Alamo. If there’s a “the” in the place name, there’s probably a stone from it in the tower. The building was recently sold. It’s to be turned into condo units.

65. Take a wrong turn, say: ERR.

66. "Spider-Man" actor Willem: DAFOE. He’s originally from Appleton, not far from where I grew up.

67. Racy Snapchat message: SEXT.

Down:


1. Passing fancies: FADS.

2. Oniony soup ingredient: LEEK. It’s an onion relative. They’re both alliums; garlic is too.

3. Military force: ARMY.

4. Powdered drink mix brand: KOOL-AID. 6. Place for mixed drinks: BAR.

5. Be a debtor of: OWE TO.

7. Surgery ctrs.: ORS.

8. Political refugee: EMIGRE. Our shores are not as welcoming as they once were.

9. Shop: STORE.

10. "Such sad news!": WHAT A SHAME! Bummer was too long.

11. Written in mystical, ancient letters: RUNIC. 

12. "Holy moly!": YEESH. I’ve heard sheesh (hiya, Jayce), but I don’t recognize yeesh.

15. Candy box size: ONE POUND.

16. Thread holders: SPOOLS.

18. Vague sense: VIBE.

24. Liveliness: VERVE. Verve records has the worlds largest jazz catalogue including the likes of Stan Getz, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald.

25. Of the Great Lakes, only Ontario is smaller than it: ERIE. And it’s back again!

26. Diana of "Game of Thrones": RIGG. I remember her best as the alluring Emma Peel in the ‘60s TV series The Avengers with Patrick Macnee.

27. Mild cheese: EDAM. 

28. Kinks title woman with "a dark brown voice": LOLA. In one episode Patrick plays Basil and Diana plays Lola, “a slutty, gum-smacking, ale-swilling tart.” Those Brits have a way with the language. 

29. Campaign ad target: SWING VOTER. 

33. Naturally evolving: FOLLOW ON. Awkward.

34. Pop's __ Vanilli: MILLI.

35. Fertility clinic egg: OVUM.

36. Sticky strip: TAPE. So easy. Why couldn’t I think of it?

38. Interlibrary __: LOAN. There must be a better way to clue this.

39. Strong sound from the savanna: ROAR.

42. Raises, as a sail: HOISTS. That word always makes me think of “Hoist by one’s own petard.” After reading the explanation, I still don’t know what it means.

44. Newspaper extras: INSERTS.

46. New York lake named for a Five Nations tribe: SENECA. One of the “Finger Lakes” (Hi, Spitz and I.M.)

47. Yucatán native: MAYA. One of five major Mexican civilizations. How many of the others can you name? (Answers below)

48. "Gee!": I'LL BE.

49. Musical shortcoming: NO EAR. I have a good ear, but I can’t carry a tune. I used to play a mean phonograph, though.

50. Brightly colored: VIVID. NEON was too short.

51. Snicker: TEHEE.

55. Send packing: FIRE.

56. Computer operating system: UNIX. Created in the ‘70s by AT&T’s Bell Labs. It’s still around with several spin-off descendants.

57. Pride Month letters: LGBT. Lesbian, Gay, Bi- and Trans.

60. NBA official: REF.

61. __ Balls: Hostess treats: SNO.

The other four civilizations are Olmec, Teotihuacan, Toltec and Aztec.

With C.C.’s help, the grid will now magically appear below. Desper-otto OVER and out.



69 comments:

  1. Greetings!

    Thanks to Bruce and Desperotto!

    (It's A CAUSE, not a CLUE.)

    No problems!

    Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry I've been absent for a few days. Deep blue funk over weird marital problem I've mentioned before going to new level, plus doing poorly on puzzles left me in no mood for light verses the past few days. A dirge about suicide I might have managed. Haven't kept up with the blog, so hope I haven't missed anything (other than b'days, which I abjure). Slowly surfacing, but still can't rhyme, so will submit something else today.
    Jumble fans will like the first haiku (wry-ku?) with the first 2 lines from that puzzle last week.

    Jokester's favorite
    Sandwich was pun-pernickel --
    (Really, WRY bread)!

    Skylight is SKYLIT.
    Glass PANES highlight vodka glass --
    Low-cal drink: Skyy lite!

    Mrs. Peel's spy VIBE
    Was VIVID in black leather RIG!
    Her nerve showed her VERVE!

    MNEMOSYNE, Goddess
    Of Mem'ry, Mom of Muses,
    Needs no mnemonic.

    (MNEME, ni-mi was one of an early triad of Muses. Later, she was renamed Mnemosyne, pronounced like knee-money, and was promoted to mother of the 9 Muses.)

    {Bx4.}

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wonder which entries necessitated a 16x15 grid. Or was a combination of factor?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can’t believe I'm up this early! Seems closer to bedtime... need for Norco got me up today. O-KL, I hope things look up soon.

    Some thoughts:
    2D—if the soup has LEEKs, how does it stay in the bowl?
    7D—a little too close to home just now.
    51D—TEHEE? Really? That looks like it should be pronounced “Teh-hee”. I would write it as TEEHEE.
    54A—EYEFUL is probably correct but to these eyes it wants another L.
    62A—BAES: don’t think I have ever seen/heard this.
    MANHOLE again? Didn’t we just have this?
    47A—looks OK to mne.
    12D—I have heard this fairly often, pronounced with a doubleyee: “EEYEESH”.

    Done thinking. Have a great day, all!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good morning everyone.

    Tuesday easy. No look-ups were needed. Theme OK; it just didn't particularly move me. BAES - Does putting it in the urban dictionary lift it to being 'in the language'? Not sure. Perps nailed it though. Good thing I got LETT.
    ERIE - 9900 sq, miles. AVG depth about 60 ft.
    SENECA Lake - As part of a limnology course in graduate school, we did weekly field work on the southern sector of the lake.

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  6. Started fast but slowed down as I descended to the South. First pick up was there were a lot of "V"s in this puzzle, then VER then finally saw the OVER-- brain needs to wake up today!

    Thanks D-O for helping out today - enjoyed your blog- and to Bruce for a fun puzzle!

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  7. Good Morning.

    Been off the Corner for a bit. Hope all is well. Argyle, keep up the hard work.

    Yesterday and today were a nice return for me. Pretty breezy, but it took me awhile to get my gears oiled.

    Thanks Bruce and D-O for making today fun.

    Have a good day, everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks, Bruce. DO, great job, so good of you to step in. I found this easier and faster than yesterday's puzzle. Last fill was I'LL BE. I pondered LOOS for a bit. Oh, those johns. BAE was new to me. I think that Bruce or Rich justified it by adding "modern slang" to the clue. I was so pleased to get the last L and B, I forgot to look for the theme.
    I don't believe "in vino veritas." When people are very emotional, either euphoric or angry, they tend to overstate their feelings, hyperbole. The same goes for those who are "lit" or "well oiled."
    After my fellowship all-expenses paid visit to Japan, I was expected to write and carry out a FOLLOW ON to promote understanding in our schools between the two cultures. In this case it was not naturally occurring, but, rather, hard work.
    One L in eyeful, one L in careful.
    NO EAR, that's me. Formally, I should say I, but it sounds pretentious here.
    WIKWAK, I hope your pain soon lessens and that you heal quickly. Those first days are tough.
    OKL, I am sending happy thoughts your way. I enjoyed your poems.
    Hi, Scott. Miss you.
    Wikipedia: Shakespeare's phrase, "hoist with his own petard," is an idiom that means "to be harmed by one's own plan to harm someone else" or "to fall into one's own trap", implying that one could be lifted (blown) upward by one's own bomb, or in other words, be foiled by one's own plan.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good Morning:

    While I always enjoy seeing Bruce's byline, today's offering was sort of meh, lacking his usual word play, IMO. I saw the "over" repetition early on but the reveal was a surprise. I had Dry/Wry and BFFs/Baes but everything else filled in smoothly. I've never heard of a Love ring, only a Friendshio or Promise ring. I thought of Jace at Yeesh but, as DO, pointed out, Jace says Sheesh. I don't have to mention who I thought of at Erie.

    Thanks, Bruce, for a Tuesday treat and thanks, DO, for relieving TTP. You done good! (I love your dry, wry sense of humor!)

    Madame Defarge, nice to hear from you.

    Owen, we're here for you.

    FLN

    WikWak ~ Glad to hear the surgery went well and that you're in such fine spirits.

    PK ~ You have a lot to be proud of with those two grandsons. Hope Aaron is improving daily.

    CanadianEh ~ We share your sorrow and pain.

    Vidwan827 ~ So nice to hear from you. I still remember Anonymice.

    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sal Mineo was in "Rebel Without a Cause" - not "Rebel without a Clue".
    I guess that title may be more appropriate for the crossword puzzle crowd.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Where is everyone this morning?? I found this one to be a little tough. SW corner was the last to fall. Thanks for the fun, Bruce and d'otto.
    I did get the OVER theme.

    Hand up for waiting for perps to decide between Dry/WRY; I also thought of IQ for "naturally bright" especially with GRE right underneath. I didn't know BAES.

    GOAL is also the score for hockey. Toronto Maple Leafs have clawed their way back into a seventh game vs. Boston. Huge security at last night's game.
    I fought the double consonant of MNEME.
    Why is a "Riga resident" a LETT and not a Latt?

    Canada accepted over 40,000 Syrians in 2016/17. We called them immigrants/refugees not EMIGREs although I suppose their reason for leaving was political. Stories vary as to their transitioning to life in Canada.
    Here is a success story.
    PeaceByChocolate

    I fought ERIE as clued because I don't think of it as bigger than Lake Ontario. Technically by area, Erie is bigger but Ontario is deeper. I'm at the mid-point between the two lakes.
    LiveScience.com says "Ontario. . . is the smallest of the Great Lakes when measured in surface area (7,340 square miles/18,960 square km). While it is similar in width and length to Lake Erie, it is much deeper and holds about four times the water volume (393 cubic miles/1,640 cubic km).

    "Such sad news". Thanks for the thoughts and prayers for terrible tragedy in Toronto.

    Feel better soon OwenKL.
    Heal well WikWak. LOL re LEEKs.

    Enjoy the day.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I enjoyed this one, but nothing particularly stuck out as special. I laughed at LOOS. Thanks, Bruce, for yeoman service. DO! Such fun!

    Hoist is familiar from that petard, and also the song that implores, "Hoist up the John B's sails. See how the mainsail sets....." I remember it because the refrain is ..."I wanna go home!"

    Owen glad you are back. You were missed.

    Hi , Argyle!"

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  13. OWEN K L before I comment on the puzzle I want to wish you happier times . I’m reminded of an old country tune about a bluebird on a windowsill and sunshine after rain . I hope your clouds have silver linings and sunshine will cheer your soul.

    The puzzle seemed too difficult at first but slowly came together, except for the South West. I was convinced LATT was what you would call someone from Latvia . As a result I missed NO EAR and BAES wasn’t ln my wheelhouse . ( a new word - wheelhouse - since I first saw it on the blog I hear it all the time it seems , especially in sports play by plays. )

    Other unkowns solved via perps and crosses ok.

    Thanks for the workout .

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  14. Not much time because I have to leave soon but had to say how much I enjoyed this puzzle! Short and sweet; just the way I like it.

    I really liked the fresh cluing and easily grokked long spanning fill.

    Thank you, Bruce Haight and Desper-otto! D-O, you really should do this more often; you're a natural!

    Have a sensational day, everyone! Later.

    ReplyDelete
  15. An emigrant is a person who leaves his country to settle permanently in another country. An immigrant is a person who comes to live permanently in another country.
    They are emigrants as they leave and immigrants as they enter.
    IM, touching story of Peace by Chocolate, IM.
    This mowing down of pedestrians is so scary and horrible. My heart goes out to the Canadian families and victims who were involved.
    This morning I took Alan to an interview to be qualified for his sheltered workshop for another year. It is a marvelous program that NJ bureaucrats are trying to eliminate. We parents are fighting back and winning so far.
    This afternoon I begin my PT. My orthopedist believes my bad lumbar discs throw my body out of alignment and cause leg and knee pain. I also have a chronic IT band injury. PT has helped a great deal with all of this in the past.
    I am still euphoric about the 60 degree sunny weather. Perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  16. "Puzzling Thoughts":

    Not much time to visit today; lots of fun SO's to Tin and Abejo, et al. My only WO was choosing ONE DOZEN > ONE POUND. I must've had donuts on the brain ...

    OKL ---> the correct term is MOE-ku's!! 😜 Flattered that you've enlisted in the 5-7-5 punny format. Keep 'em coming ... Here are my two entries for today, plus a limerick from several months/years ago:

    The espresso at
    Philadelphia Starbuck's
    Now called a MUGSHOT

    Happy Days, The Fonz,
    Most naturally enjoyed
    Drinking his "KOOL"-AID

    And the not so politically correct lim:

    Queer cross-dresser let out a big sigh;
    Census Form asked THIS question, but why?
    After thinking a sec,
    These three boxes were checked:
    "Lesbian", "Gay", "Transgender"; not "Bi"

    ReplyDelete
  17. Fun, mostly smooth ride. Enjoyed the theme. But I was seriously stuck in the SW.

    Here is a Latvian lady friend I went out with for awhile in the 90s. I never heard her use the word LETT.

    I was sure it had to be LATT, which made it hard to see NO EAR. When I gave in and put NO EAR, I decided to leave LETT and BAES which both seemed utterly wrong. But I was wrong. FIR.

    Nice to see MAYA again. Most of you have seen my Chichen Itza photos. And I mentioned that one of my closest friends in grad school was a MAYA from Yucatan. I did pause when LOLA was referred to as a woman.

    CC: Thanks for stepping up for the review today. I especially appreciate that you linked to the only role I will ever remember for Diana RIGG as well: The Avengers. I am pleasantly surprised that you knew this series! Sad to hear that most of the early shows were lost. Somewhere I think I have some tapes and/or DVDs with her.

    From yesterday:
    PK: Glad you enjoyed my Chichen Itza photos. What was the bad experience there?

    AnonT: Glad you enjoyed the SNL FRANCISCO FRANCO is still dead mash-up. For our family fascism was a real threat so he was a dark cloud when I was a child. I was very grateful when he finally died.

    Not sure I am ready to be a master Wiki updater, but thanks for the suggestion!

    ReplyDelete
  18. A bit of a challenging Tuesday, thank you Bruce. Anyone,should 47D be MAYAN? Seems to me when we have had a "native" clue in the past the answer is Italian, Russian, American, Mexican, etc. Why is MAYA acceptable here? Thanks for your input, have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  19. CC: The HOIST in “Hoist by one’s own petard” is a different meaning from HOIST a sail. As noted by Yellowrocks, it refers to being blown up by an explosive charge. It is a term lost to history.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A petard is a small bomb used to breach a door or wall e.g. during a siege.

      I don't remember where I learned this but supposedly some petards were lifted into position by rope and hook and some unfortunate might be hoisted with (as in alongside) the petard.

      However Wikipedia only suggests blown up by one's mechanism.
      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petard

      Delete
  20. I think that the Maya is the name of the people and if you are one you are a Mayan. I know it does’t follow a general rule , but these irregularities make language study interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Woohoo! Woohoo! I got a Bruce Haight puzzle with no mistakes or cheating--although I had to really struggle in the southwest (had LATT before LETT, like others, and have never heard of BAES). But a fun puzzle, all around, thank you, Bruce. And enjoyed your write-up, Desper-otto, thanks for filling in. Other unknowns included MNEME, SHUE, AVA, but I got items like DAFOE and NICENE without any problem. Really enjoyed your TRIB discussion, Desper-otto. And I liked the OVER theme and finding the word in all the theme answers. Anyway, my week has finally gotten off to a great start--great relief. To make things even better, I also got the Sudoku, Kenken, and Jumble this morning. Yay!

    Fermatprime and Anonymous, thanks for confirming CAUSE.

    Stay strong, Owen, and I liked your wry-kus. And have a good recovery, WikWak.

    Have a great day, everybody!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Perhaps with another boxing clue in mind I tried "Apollo" as the initial response to "Crred." I think NYT has yeesh as a response last week, but I'm to lazy to dig through the puzzles to find it. Don't recall seeing it outside of crosswords. I'm not a fan of 16 x 15 grids, but that's just the grumpy traditionalist in me.

    ReplyDelete
  23. DNF,

    hit a blank at "Gee" = I'll be crossing Lett & Baes

    However I did play with "Rueful" being the answer to "Long Look"
    instead of eyeful...

    Yesterday, Woodie,
    today, Manhole? 41a sewer entrance, eye of the needle?
    (hmm, I think the new "John to Elton" = Loos has put my mind in the Crapper...)
    but with LGBT, it made me wonder.
    If Women perform jobs previously occupied by Men,
    for equal wages,
    perhaps we should rename "Manhole."

    However, "Womenhole" just sound wrong...

    Can anyone think of a better Gender equivalent name for Sewer entrance?

    (Will be back to overshare later...)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Several gender neutral term for manhole exist, and many if not all of them are more descriptive of the structure's purpose. Of the ones I encountered "access chamber" sounds the most natural to me, but many others are reasonable.

    ReplyDelete
  25. YR- Thanks for the immigrant/emigrant clarification. It seems that émigré is a further distinction.
    Merriam Webster - "Related to these is the émigré, which is an emigrant, but more fully defined as “a person who emigrates for political reasons.” An émigré may also be a refugee, which is “a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution.” There are also some situations in which émigrés and refugees are not entirely synonymous, as one may be a refugee due to environmental factors rather than political ones."

    Interesting perspective on the Toronto van attack
    TheCopWhoDidn'tShoot

    ReplyDelete
  26. I was solving a Tuesday xword and a Friday broke out. FIW. I had NOAIR to match LATT. Internet slang, music, pop-cul* are my weaknesses. No sports today so Misty etal sailed.

    Let's face it . If you want to play Tuba NOAIR is a big issue .

    In a comic book from my 'ute was a picture of the SHAD rowing a boat . And

    I yield here to Spitz, but the PETARD is a pennant flown from the mast which is HOISTed up . If one ERRED he might hoist himself with said PETARD .

    Oh yeah, Diana Rigg. 😍

    C-Moe, QUEER is acceptable now, it has a specific definition .

    Owen, in the words of Argyle, semper Fi .
    Or as I over heard at the laundry: It all comes out in the wash**.

    WC

    * Tm
    ** At the dryer end they claimed "What goes around comes around"

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh yeah, I think D-OTTO was having fun with us re. CLUE.

    WC

    ReplyDelete
  28. Rats, forgot to complete 10a and 12d. Enjoyed the puzzle - thought it wasn't the usual Tues. speed run. Yeah, D-O, as Lucina commented, you're a "natural." When I read "I used to play a mean phonograph, though," I thought Desper-otto, is that you?

    Canadian Eh, thanks for the article on "Peace by Chocolate" - very upbeat story. My thoughts for the victims and their families in Toronto.

    ReplyDelete
  29. TADA but very tough for a Tuesday. I had a Latvian girlfriend in high school and never heard anyone in the community refer to themselves as "Letts". Bae slowed me down as well but at least I had heard the term. But what always stumps me down is proper names. Do most casual movie fans remember films and their directors ? I am only a little better with actors and their roles unless its Star Wars/Trek. Books and authors I have an outside chance but columnist other than Siskel and Ebert fuhgetabouttit!

    I was totally surprised by the grid size comments. I didn't even notice.
    87 with a birdie on 18 yesterday....shooting for an 85 today.

    Have a great spring day everyone !

    ReplyDelete
  30. I sometimes read the blog on my Nexus 5x phone, using Chrome. Lately it has been displaying popup ads claiming I have Won a prize at Amazon or some other store. This doesn't happen with any other browser I use to read the blog. Has this site been hacked?

    TinoTechie (Greg)

    ReplyDelete
  31. Ta- DA!
    Yes! - a happy Ta- DA! despite that dratted SE corner!
    Thanks to Mr. Haight for a tough but engaging and worthwhile time with today's pzl.
    I am not entirely sure what the "Social sin" of OVERSHARING is. Is it when someone takes another into his/her confidence w/o the latter's permission?
    Or is it when a person replicates another's Facebook posting w/o asking if it's OK?
    Are both considered sins? Or is it something else?

    Thank you for stepping in, Desper-otto! Your description of the TRIB's building offers some nice details.
    I don't know much about the Tribune, except through second-hand reports. But I am glad that its ownership of the LA Times is coming to an end. As a transplant to SoCal, I at first resisted the lure of the Times, but over the years I have grown very fond of the paper.
    It will never replace the SF Chronicle in my heart, but I have gained a great deal of respect for its investigative reporting and thorough coverage of the local, national, and international scenes.
    And now that LA Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong is buying the Times from its Chicago overlords, I have great hope that the paper will grow to even greater stature!

    I'm heading out for my ultra-sound in an hour. Wish me luck!

    ____________
    Diagonal Report: Another day with no diagonals!
    Is this becoming the new normal?!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Northwest Runner,
    I agree with you. I don't care for the unbalanced 16x15 grid. It screws with the diagonals - and just lacks the elegance of our usual 15x15 daily pzls.

    ReplyDelete
  33. YR @ 11:09 ~ I think you meant to thank CanadianEh for the Peace by Chocolate link. 😉

    ReplyDelete
  34. Kind of sailed right through this, the only ? was the last vowel in 48A and MAYA took care of that.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Musings
    -Spring is here, golf is here and a fun Bruce puzzle!
    -Scroll down to see FLAK Jackets in this profession
    -We tried hard to WARM TO my daughter’s first husband but failed. She soon saw what we did…
    -DOWD is a wonderful read whether you agree or not
    -Remember the scene in Ghost where the bad guys get pulled down into the MANHOLE COVER?
    -BAES takes its place in our acronymic world
    -I still don’t know why a girl would SEXT a picture of herself and not foresee the consequences
    -Ed Norton to Ralph Kramden, “YEESH, what a grouch!”
    -INSERTS are bad enough, but when they area a half-page wrap around the front page, YEESH!
    -We have a Cantor who has the voice of an angel but her “NO EAR” son sang with her Sunday
    -Good effort off the bench Manny Mota, er, Desper Otto!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Desper-otto, thanks for pinch hitting for the guy that is pinch hitting for Argyle !

    52A Johns, to Elton. What did one john say to the other john ? "Are you okay ? You look flushed."

    Thank you Bruce Haight and thank you Desper-otto. No complaints from me. I liked it.

    I'm guessing that Tawnya was around, and she saw "Rebel Without A Clue" she'd link Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Into The Great Wide Open.

    TinoTechie Greg. Nope. This site is secure. Problem is on your end.
    1) Suspect recently installed Apps on your phone.
    2) Check your Chrome settings. Don't allow popups. That's under Advanced, and then Content Manager (or some words to that effect).

    Gotta run. See all y'all later n'at !

    ReplyDelete
  37. TinoTechie(Greg)@12:47
    The only Ads on this site are to the right on the main page,
    they do not Pop Up.
    However, they are tailored to individual users...

    I do not know why I always get Bikini Swimwear Ads
    (Though I am not complaining.)
    But when I got an Ad from a Camping Company I had never heard of
    until I recently purchased something from them, I began to
    get suspicious...
    It was The Sears Ad for a very obscure Craftman Snowblower Clutch cable
    that I had to purchase, even though I did not need this $28- item.
    (I only needed the custom 50 cent spring on the end...)
    AAND NOW THEY WANT TO SELL ME ANOTHER ONE?
    Yes, the Ads are custom tailored.

    But Pop Ups?
    On your phone??
    I would be concerned that your user info has been purchased.
    (I would blame Facebook...)

    Anonymous T, what do you think?

    Oversharing, (A sin?)
    to me would be telling you that after walking the neighbors
    Siberian Husky today, I tracked down an unusual odor to A
    pile of shit on their living room carpet, which I picked up,
    cleaned, and deodorized.
    I believe the sin would be making you wrinkle your nose as much as I had to...

    ReplyDelete
  38. TinoTechie - I can’t explain the problem on your browser, but I can offer the news that such “You’ve won!” Pop-up ads show up randomly on my iPad. It’s a pretty strong hijack, which can’t be dismissed; I have to close the tab it shows up in (annoying when I’ve just typed a post on Blogger, for one thing).

    ReplyDelete
  39. IM and Canadian Eh, sorry I ERRED. I did have Canadian Eh! in mind, as I had just mentioned the sidewalk massacre. My excuse, I was rushing off to PT.
    Canadian Eh! thanks for the further info on émigrés.
    Oversharing is to reveal an inappropriate amount of detail about one's personal life. The TV talk shows are examples of this. "My mom dresses like a hooker." "My daughter took my boyfriend to bed." Yada, yada, yada. What a turnoff.
    HG, I hate those half page wrap arounds.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Well, today I can't honestly say I liked this puzzle. I didn't dislike it either. Kinda neutral about it. Definitely didn't like BAES or LOVERING. Likes include KOOLAID, MUGSHOT and its clue, and RUNIC. MNEME (along with BAES) just don't seem to be Tuesday level. I shot myself in the foot by misspelling NICENE as NICEAN. Sheesh. Agree that I prefer the spelling TEEHEE over TEHEE, but I've seen teepee spelled as tepee (and even tipi) also, which equally wrinkles my nose. By the way, I recall a character in the movie Live and Let Die called Teehee Johnson. There was another character called Whisper. I get a kick out of character names like that, such as Oddjob and, of course, Pussy Galore in Goldfinger.

    ReplyDelete
  41. D-N-F ... never got off of DRY (for WRY) @10-a, Like some humor.

    Was surprised that my guess @ 16-a, SHUE for Elizabeth who played Finlay on "CSI" was correct.

    Fave today, of course, was the theme IN VINO VERITAS ... go figure. LOL

    A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Wilbur, you're probably right that the lack of sports references was a huge help to me this morning. I should have gotten into sports more when I was young, shouldn't I?

    ReplyDelete
  43. Oversharing?

    I can't think about Willem Dafoe without thinking about
    his penthouse in Spiderman.

    The stock footage of the outside of this impressive penthouse
    is Windsor Towers, 5 Tudor City Place, NYC.
    I used to live there, on the 14th floor, in a one room furnished
    studio with a Murphy bed for $140-month in 1966.

    When I was 12 I played in that green belltower (it's empty)
    by climbing up the slate roof...

    I played with Charlton Hestons son who lived in the penthouse on the left.
    Their outdoor patios looked like this...

    In a similar penthouse 2 blocks North, I watched the 1st screening of
    Fahrenheit 451 in the Producers living room. ( I knew his son.)

    It looked something like this,
    The stairs did not go upstairs, but to a balcony library overlooking the living room.
    These were the stairs that actually went upstairs...

    ReplyDelete
  44. oops, I left out the belltower pic.

    Here is where I am getting theses pics, if you want to see more...

    ReplyDelete
  45. Hi All!

    Rich, stop sparing with Will - this is the LAT not the NYT :-)

    I too found this a bit crunchy for a Tuesday, especially in the SE (Hi OMK!). Thanks Bruce for an OVER the top Tuesday.

    D-O, how nice to have you come UP from AAA to take a swing. You hit it out of the park, Bro, with both the TRIB trivia and "stereo" as your instrument of choice [my forte too!]. And, y'all may be OLD, but I'd not put any of the Cornerites in the "Past Prime" bucket; y'all is sharp and WRY.

    The SE: ---RS--RING was sitting there with a lightly ink'd ruEFUL (Hi CED!). TEHEE only had the E from DeFOE, so that was blank as well as MAYA. Finally, the V8 hit along with MNEME's 1st M as I thought "mnemonic's root?". MAYA fell as did OVER SHARE then seeing the theme (I was only looking at Vees) filled VERITAS. The rest filled and I changed DeFOE to make SENECA make more sense.... Whew!

    Fav: UNIX. I'm playing w/ my Raspberry Pi which has a mini-me UNIX on it. //NERD ALERT:
    I've got an ssh server on the Pi and want to get X11 forwarding to my laptop for TE-HEES. I did this on my Linux box at the office and can make xEYEs appear at will - On a Windows box! :-)

    {ha!, B, B+, A}. //nice to see you back. {POLITICS! :-), cute, LOL}

    Spitz - somehow I knew you'd know 46d. I kept thinking, "If I needed a LifeLine on that, I'd call Spitz." TGFP (Thank goodness for Perps). [for the record, SAL's S was a WAG - it was that or TAL as in TAL's [former] Hill at Minute Maid Park]

    @6:12 and all the others inre: 16x15 (I didn't notice) would be the only way to get the 8-ltr'd LOVE RING centered. //Something about LOVE RING seems wrong, esp. above MAN HOLE...

    HG - Hand-up with YR, I too hate the 1/2-page wrap-OVER "INSERTS."

    TinoTechie - That smells like AdWare that infected your 'Droid via a recent app install/update. Why Dudley is getting pop-ups on iOS is a head-scratcher.

    TTP - You beat me to Tom Petty! Now what will I link?

    Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  46. Whew! Today I had to drive into Phoenix, twice! With its horrendous traffic, it's never a picnic but especially objectionable during the lunch hour. Or any hour. Then, even with hundreds of parking spaces around the VA hospital, I finally found one at the extreme end. So, now I have that off my chest. No one is ill, but my "charge" whom I drive around needed to go there.

    WHAT A SHAME that so many disliked this puzzle. I liked it with words like WRY, ELSIE, Maureen DOWD, LOOS (fun as clued), SKYLIT and MNEME. It's a WIN in my opinion.

    As for the NICENE creed, at my church, the Apostles' Creed has been substituted instead and I don't know why. If an explanation was given, I missed it. Has that happened at other RC churches?

    Canadian Eh! you and all your fellow country have been in my thoughts over that heinous event yesterday. What a tragedy!

    OwenKL:
    I'm so sorry for the sadness in your life and hope things get brighter for you.

    I haven't read any links yet so can't comment on them. We have an HOA meeting today so dinner will be early.

    Hi, Argyle! Are you better yet?

    ReplyDelete
  47. CED - That patio looked like the one in the TV show White Collar, so I looked it up. It IS! . That's pretty cool you lived there - what racket were your parents in ? :-). Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  48. Canadian Eh!:
    Thank you for linking "Peace by Chocolate". What an inspiring and heart-felt story! I can only hope that all who come to our countries from their war-torn ones will have the same level of success and be at peace with themselves and their new home. Obviously the van driver was not.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Bruce! Desper-otto, I'm so proud of you for getting the theme since you say you rarely do. Thanks for the expo.

    Is Rich OVERdoing the imbedded word theme lately? He'll probably find something new since I finally caught on to this trick.
    The puzzle wasn't easy but it was interesting.

    Owen: Forget suicide. Don't give her that power OVER you. Kick her to the curb & let her hitchhike. Bet you can survive despite the handicaps. She likes to yank your chain, doesn't she?

    ReplyDelete
  50. OK, I've worked the Wednesday and Thursday puzzles, when do I get the Monday and Tuesday ones?
    I don't watch movies, don't keep up with sports so I've been at a loss for a lot of clue/answers. Thanks, Bruce H., for the challenge. Thanks, D-O, for the explanation of my mess.

    OwenKL, I hope you feel better soon.

    YR, it's good to hear that Alan is doing better.

    Canadian Eh, I'm sorry for the recent tragedy in Canada. What possesses people to do these heinous things?

    Argyle, hope your recuperation/rehab are going well.

    Spring is going to arrive someday. Here's proof Spring (North of Traverse City, MI this past weekend.)

    ReplyDelete
  51. Thanks all for the thoughts on my pop-up problem. It is funny that I only experienced it on the crossword corner pages, and only on my Android phone? Anyway, I uninstalled the Chrome browser, and reinstalled it. So far, no more pop-ups.

    I really appreciate the thoughts and comments expressed by the majority of the posters on this site. I have learned a lot from the group and it has helped me become a better crossword puzzler.

    TinoTechie

    ReplyDelete
  52. I am back from my ultra sound appointment.

    The paperwork was silly - once again. It drives me batty that each and every separate medical office needs to have fresh paperwork filled out. Why, oh why, can't we have a centralized file containing all our data? All we should need to report is a change of address or medication.
    Some offices now offer their questionnaires on line. That's a little more convenient, but it only muddies the issue. We shouldn't have to repeat and repeat filling out the same records.
    A central file could store our data accurately, and not depend on our ever-shifting brain cells to remember
    what diseases or procedures we had
    and
    when we had them.

    Do we have to wait for a single payer system? (No political intent here, just a sincere query....)

    The rest of today's procedure went smoothly.
    News Flash! - They now warm the gel!
    Happy Day! Hallelujah!

    ReplyDelete
  53. ANON PETARD LINK

    Dave1, you obviously have some stories to tell.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Dave1?

    (Just call me CE:D..:)

    Anonymous-T,
    What did my parents do?
    My, that would be a long story.
    Suffice it to say, we were the Dead End Kids of Tudor Place.
    I have lots of stories,
    but most would get me into trouble.
    We just happened to live below rich peoples penthouses...

    ReplyDelete
  55. Just found out Daughter#1 won "another" singing competition.

    I do not think Facebook will allow a direct link,
    but if I can get a copy of her singing I will post it for you...

    ReplyDelete


  56. Congrats to your daughter CED. The link "a direct link" doesn't work, but you'll get it.

    Anonymous T, did you see Johnny Depp in that Tom Petty video ? I thought he was easy to spot but but I didn't recognize Faye Dunaway. Nor the other "famous" people in the vid.

    Wile E. Coyote is the epitome of someone being harmed by their own petard. #Anvil-falls-on-head. Acme was Amazon before Amazon. You could/can get anything there.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Here's a video of my new little granddaughter Bella laughing at her mother and brother's antics. In my unbiased opinion, she's a real cutie.

    BELLA LAUGHING

    ReplyDelete
  58. Bill G:
    Your granddaughter is a cutie!

    CED:
    Your link sent me to my Facebook page.

    ReplyDelete
  59. I lost my previous post. Re. The pop-up..
    Mine was advertising a Walmart gift card.

    I'd fallen for that once. They just want your tel-no . But I couldn't use blogger, the pop-ups kept repeating . With my son's help I found the pop-up setting.

    It allowed pop-ups but only for blogger-crossword corner . We shut it off and I've never seen the pop-up again .

    Reinstalling Chrome was another simple solution . Theres probably only a few of us blogging from Android using Chrome .

    Anon-T, thise are the facts . Feel free to speculate.

    Misty . I've been a sports nut since age seven. Not untypical for a Bostonian . I think your time was much more profitably spent on Joyce and the Beasts .

    Ironically, the sport I loved in the 70s was college basketball . I consider it the Golden years . There were about a dozen elite teams and the players played 3 then 4 years .

    The Bill Walton, UCLA teams were professional caliber . I find the sport nearly unwatchable today .

    WC

    ReplyDelete
  60. TTP - Now I do but I didn't. I'm so bad a recognizing people, DW laughs at me.

    To wit:
    Exhibit A) [insert movie] women goes into the bathroom and comes out toweling her hair - "Is that the same girl that went in?" I'll have to ask.

    Exhibit B) for 2 hours I sat behind Robert Dinero while we were both getting our kids Christened in NYC. I had to be told later who he was. [I know who Dinero is, I just didn't recognize him; he looked like all my Italian uncles]

    Exhibit C) In NOLA, I went to the balcony w/ my coffee. Guy on the neighboring balcony was cleaning up after what looked like a fun party. I say "Hi" and watch the people on the street.
    My coffee kicked in so I hit the LOO and then took a shower. About 30 minutes later I poke my head out to the balcony and say "Hon, we going out?"
    DW: "Oh, yeah, sorry I was just talking with Ethan Hawke." Fortunately he moved rooms that night and DW stayed with me :-).
    //Oh, she she'll deny it, she was smitten. "I just love the Indie movies he does..."
    Riiiight.

    Bill G: LOL and what a cutie.
    I studied AI (Artificial Intelligence) in grad-school and was very interested in actual learning. I watched my Girls learn and tried to figure out what was going on in their little monkey brain. What struck me watching Bella (also my niece's name) was how she'd stop and "calculate" what's going to happen next -- and then her excitement when it did.
    Neurons reinforcing connections -- the basis of NeuroNets in AI and maybe us.

    Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  61. Ol'Man Keith, hope your ultrasound results will be good.

    Wilbur, you are so incredibly kind--thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  62. Anonymous -T: Sounds like you share an affliction with me -- prosopagnosia, colloquially known as Face Blindness. Lots of info on it all over the Net once you start looking. Oh, the stories I could tell. For a couple years I alternately dated a pair of twins. NOT identical, tho both same contours. On more than one occasion I didn't know which I was with!

    ReplyDelete
  63. OMK: Ultrasound? You're pregnant? Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  64. Those half-page advert wrap-arounds universally condemned above, led me to a decision.

    Offered for your consideration: if the advertising/spam/bogus phone calls turn out to be accessible one way or another, just DO NOT buy from them. The best reward we can offer such critters is to shun them, as antisocial and hostile.

    ReplyDelete
  65. I rode an elevator with John Lennon. Muhammad Ali got in my way.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Anon 3:23, thanks for the SO. I am impressed how much you remember.

    ReplyDelete
  67. It was easy to remember since you mentioned it so often.

    ReplyDelete

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