google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, May 10th 2018 Jeff Stillman

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May 10, 2018

Thursday, May 10th 2018 Jeff Stillman

Theme: Career Path. Navigating the shark-infested corporate world.

17A Start of a business journey: ENTRY-LEVEL

24A. Way to get from 17- to 39-Across: CORPORATE LADDER. Here's a different take - fortunately I don't think I was in that word:


39A. Pinnacle of the journey: EXECUTIVE OFFICE. I wanted "CORNER OFFICE", except that corner was three letters too short. That was a clue.

52A. Way to get from 39- to 63-Across: GOLDEN PARACHUTE

63A. End of the journey: RETIREMENT

I enjoyed this theme from Jeff. The trick with these types of puzzle is to get enough crosses that one of the entries becomes apparent - in my case I got RETIREMENT when about six crosses were completed. From there it was a question of working backwards to guess at or solve the rest.

I like how the three "stages" were linked by two "how to get there" entries. Very elegant.

Across:

1. Bookie's concern: ODDS

5. Wedge-shaped bones: SACRA. Took me ages to tumble to this one.

10. Elite Eight org.: N.C.A.A. From the March Madness college basketball tourney organized by the N.C.A.A.

14. Bygone depilatory brand: NEET

15. Cantilevered window: ORIEL. I didn't know these were cantilevered. I do now.

16. Panhandler's income: ALMS. I see alms as more given to a charity, rather than an individual. I guess it's fine.

19. Watery defense, perhaps: MOAT

20. Hustle: HIE

21. First name in bike stunts: EVEL. Knievel.

23. Phased-out Secret Service weapon: UZI. I never knew the Secret Service used these. Wasn't there an acceptable US-made alternative?


29. Doce meses: ANO. Twelve months, one year. Spanish lesson for the day.

30. Roll of bills: WAD

31. Woolly mammal: EWE

32. Seasonal song ender: SYNE. I tried "TREE" as in the Partridge in a Pear one at first. I was wrong.

34. Proceed tediously: PLOD

37. Like pals who go way back: OLD

44. Three Gorges project: DAM. A big-assed dam spanning the Yangtze in China.

45. Wail: BAWL

46. Former autocrat: TSAR. __AR and wait for a cross to decide between TS and CZ

47. Stat for Miguel Cabrera: R.B.I. Runs Batted In. Baseball, natch.

59. Site with digging: RUIN

60. Witty remark: MOT. Doesn't it have to be a "bon mot"? I'm not convinced by "mot" flying solo here.

61. Word with work or play: BOOK. Workbook, playbook.

68. Field of work: LINE

69. Food poisoning cause: E. COLI. Nasty.

70. Times past: ERAS

71. Place of bliss: EDEN

72. Summer Triangle star: DENEB. Thank you crosses, completely unknown to me. Per Wikipedia:

"Deneb, also designated α Cygni, is the brightest star in the constellation of Cygnus. It is one of the vertices of the asterism known as the Summer Triangle and forms the 'head' of the neck-less Northern Cross."

73. WWI battle river: YSER

Down:

1. Top 40 title for Metallica or U2: ONE. Here's the U2 version.

2. Resting place: DEN

3. Overthrew: DETHRONED

4. Las Vegas feature: STRIP. Las Vegas Boulevard, officially. I'll be back in Vegas for another conference in a couple of weeks.

5. Peruvian currency: SOL. I swear I'll never remember this. I always rely on crosses.

6. Occur: ARE

7. Catlike carnivore: CIVET. I can never see "catlike" without "With catlike tread ... " from the Pirates of Penzance playing in my head.

8. "Deathtrap" actor: REEVE. Christopher Reeve in the 1972 movie adaptation of Ira Levin's stage play.

9. Gene variant: ALLELE. Thank you, crosses.

10. '60s hot spot: 'NAM

11. Data storage medium: CLOUD. Nice! With the C in place I was sorely tempted by CD-ROM but curbed my enthusiam.

12. Render speechless: AMAZE

13. On the move: ASTIR

18. Cry of pain: YEOW! That's my toe! A rather fun trait of the English is their tendency to apologize when some steps on their toe.

22. __ gravity: LAW OF

24. Wholesale quantity: CASE

25. Figurine material: ONYX

26. Mesmerized: RAPT

27. Wing it: AD LIB

28. Dutch earthenware city: DELFT. Why did I think it was DELPH? It's not, obviously.

33. High-tech greeting: E-CARD

35. Fertility clinic specimens: OVA

36. Big name in whisky: DEWAR. They make Teacher's. I mean Bell's. I mean Dewar's.

38. Naysayers: DISPUTERS

40. Darker-than-ocher pigment: UMBER. My watercolor paints sets as a kid always had "burnt umber".

41. Cantina cooker: OLLA. Big clay pot.

42. Threw: CAST

43. Pelee Island's lake: ERIE. Yay! Nailed it!

48. Toughened: INURED

50. Top of the heap: ACME

52. Triangular part of a house: GABLE. There's a mountain in the Lake District in England called Great Gable - you can see the triangular resemblance. I hiked up it a few times back in my youth.


53. Roundish: OVOID

54. Sierra __: LEONE. I stuck on MADRE and couldn't let it go for a while.

55. Pizza slice, say: PIECE. Also gable-shaped, if you think about it.

56. Playwright Chekhov: ANTON

57. Comfortably familiar: HOMEY. I'm more familiar with the British English variant "HOMELY".

62. Understanding: KEN

64. Seine site: ILE. The natural islands île Saint-Louis and île de la Cité and the man-made one île aux Cygnes

65. Corduroy feature: RIB

66. "Dream on, laddie": NAE

67. Original Dungeons & Dragons co.: T.S.R. Thanks, crosses. We've seen this before but it doesn't want to stick in my mind.

Here's the grind - I mean grid! (I'm on the daily grind). EWR to LAX later today. Home for the weekend!

Steve



49 comments:

D4E4H said...

- - I have just the strength left to greet you Corner People on this Thursday when Mr. Jeff Stillman attempted to make a still man of me. I hope he stops by the Corner so I can give him what's left of my mind, 'cause it is a terrible thing to waste, and there is not enough left to use.

- - Whew, what a difficult Thursday Puzzle. For once, when I recognized the theme, Career Path, I was able to fill in the last three themers with only a few letters to look at. This helped considerably. Still every cell had huge holes. The P & P Principal, or is it "le?", pulled me thru. I was eventually able to FIR in 44:18.

- - I know it doesn't show on the screen, but it is now hours, and a nap later. My offer to donate my brain to science is hereby rescinded. It's all back. It has pondered the "al or le conundrum", and le won. I used a principle in my solving.

- - I didn't dislike school, just the Principal of it. I did like the excellent review by Steve.

- - As a former Physical Therapist, I was frustrated that I did not instantly recognize 5A Wedge shaped bones: SACRA. The English word sacrum was introduced as a technical term in anatomy in the mid-18th century, as a shortening of the Late Latin name os sacrum "sacred bone." Wiki.

- - 55D - Pizza slice, say: PIECE. Also gable-shaped, if you think about it. Let's stop thinking about it, and eat it before it gets cold.

Ðave

OwenKL said...

T.S.R. started out as Tactical Studies Rules.
Tactics are what armies use, else they are fools.
Study is when a gamer looks
Thru D.& D.'s odd ODDS BOOKS
For Rules to play a game, where dice are CAST as tools!

There once was a TSAR in SIERRA LEONE
His enemies into the MOAT were thrown!
But revolt was ASTIR,
DISPUTERS were INURED,
By his own HOMIES he was DETHRONED¡

At ENTRY LEVEL he seemed not to matter¡
He persisted and climbed the CORPORATE LADDER!
The EXECUTIVE OFFICE in time was his,
With a GOLDEN PARACHUTE for how far he'd riz!
But after RETIREMENT he seemed not to matter¡

{all C-. Not a laugh among them¡}

D4E4H said...

Misty FLN at 12:04 AM

- - Please check Wed, 5-9 for the 3 posts after yours.

Ðave

Big Easy said...

YEOW! An ENTRY LEVEL puzzle today? NAE laddies.

Good morning. I was ASTIR early today. Finally understanding the tricky clue for the 'Times past'-ERAS let me finish it because TSN was definitely an unknown for me. Many initial dead ends today. Other unknowns- REEVE, ERIE.

HOMEY in the USA; HOMELY in the U.K. In the USA HOMELY means ugly.
ALLELE- I filled MUTANT before EVEL tossed that one out.

CORPORATE LADDER for me? No. After working part-time while in college, I was offered a management position at age 21. Took it and stayed there for 28 years. I was extremely lucky, not really having to answer to anybody. Except the FDA & DEA.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Should it be NEET or NAIR? The perps decided for me. Made a mess in New England when I fell into the CD ROM trap and decided things were AFOOT. Wite-Out saved the day. In the opposite corner OVATE succumbed to OVOID and it was finished. CSO's to Abejo with the ubiquitous ERIE and to I.M. and Tin with DEWAR. Thanx, Jeff and Steve.

DAM: DW had some Chinese students, and she asked them about the big dam across the Yangtze. They looked at her like she was speaking Chinese. Apparently the Chinese name for that river is quite different. C.C.?

RETIREMENT: My former employer had the simplest retirement system. You stop working, and they stop paying. Of course, I'd only been there 28 years (Hi B.E.)...

TTP said...


Good morning. Thank you Jeff Stillman and thank you Steve.

For me Steve, it was EXECUTIVE OFFICE, which was pretty much filled ny perps. Then off to the races as the theme became apparent.

Probably should have had a cup or cleaned my glasses first. For the life of me I couldn't figure out the word for the clue "wholesome quality" even with the letters C_SE. Then finally remembered meses as months and doce as twelve, so ANO, but still couldn't reconcile CASE for wholesome quality.

That left me with one letter to fill, and I guessed I over A at the intersection of SACRA and ALLELE. Never heard of or don't recall ALLELE. But very early on knew hybrid and mutant weren't going to work.

I'll take the one-letter FIW.

My mother bought, sold and collected some pieces of DELFT blue and white china in her early antiquing and collecting days. She gravitated to and became an avid collector of flow blue in specific patterns. Many of the pieces became quite valuable and an added source of income in retirement as they sold down.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Well, this was a piece of work, Jeff. Thanks for the learning experience. Thanks for bringing enlightenment, Steve.

YEOW, says it for me, too, Big Easy. Start of a business journey had nothing to do with an airplane or other commuter vehicle. ENTRY LEVEL was a WAG at the end. Last to fill was that whole N Central block. I knew SACRum but not SACRA: "a bone resulting from the fusion of two or more vertebrae between the lumbar & coccygeal regions, in humans being composed of 5 fused vertebrae & forming the posterior wall of the pelvis." Oh. Huh. I've had a lot of pain there is all I know about it. Fused? You gotta be kidding. ORIEL, CIVET cat (never seen one) & ALLELE also evaded me. Yay, red letters.

Hustle = equals HIE not run. Also did not know DENEB, SOL, TSR. OVule, OVate, OVOID. Sounds like a Latin grammar exercise.

I did find all the other theme entries okay and thought it was a good theme. My favorite: RETIREMENT. I retired earlier than I wanted to at age 59 because I had to clean up the farmstead I'd finally sold. That was a full-time job for six months.

BobB said...

5A had sacri which made 9D illele. Seemed to work as I had no idea what a gene variant was.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Similar experience as PK. I couldn't decide whether to call the area I had trouble with Wisconsin, Michigan or North Dakota, so I'll just call it the State of Confusion, whose capital is Naick. Didn't know SACRA, ORIEL, SOL, CIVET or ALLELE. That region was straight out of a Saturday puzzle, but the rest was what I would expect for a Thursday.

I also didn't want to give up Sierra Madre with Mothers Day coming up on Sunday.

I wouldn't have had to wait on ONE if the clue had included Three Dog Night. I don't like Metallica and I think that all U2 songs sound alike.

Thanks Jeff and Steve for your fine efforts today.

jfromvt said...

Never got SACRA, so DNF for that section. Thought CIVET and REEVE were right, but it never clicked in. Otherwise a fun theme.....just like my career at Big Blue (IBM)...lol...

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Technical DNF today. I just couldn’t manage sacra, and couldn’t remember sol or civet. Everything else was fine.

I don’t have much experience with the corporate ladder, as I tended to remain in one class of job, but I did come to know the stupidity of having a boss who was completely incompetent at our technology, and by that standard unfit to be my supervisor. Top brass eventually realized the shortcomings and dismissed the moron as soon as his yearlong contract expired.

Morning, Steve, and happy landings.

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning.

Thanks, Jeff. This was fun in the long run. I sussed your theme with entry level, but not the specifics until I had more crosses. I remember ALLELE from high school bio, but couldn't name DELFT even with a vase sitting on the shelf across from me. Some days are like that. I wanted adapt for AD LIB, amber for UMBER, and some sort of salutation for E-CARD. Nicely done.

Steve, thanks for another superb tour. I was with you on wanting corner office, and I couldn't move on for a bit. Safe travels to your HOMlEY abode.

I like DEWAR's scotch, but DH thinks it's too smokey. . . . I really like Highland Park, but that's too expensive!

PLAYBOOK? The Bears new rookie had his stolen from his car. Well, probably not such a great loss--given recent history, there's probably not much info in it!!!! We recently sold our six PSL's [For those of you who abhor sports: Personal Seat License--cost for the right to buy the tickets! We made a nice profit on them--just proves there are a lot of nuts like us out there]. After 48 years, it's much more reasonable to sit at home and bang my head against the wall. Plus none of our septuagenarian friends want to join us any longer. With age comes wisdom, I guess.

Misty: Feel better. I have newly diagnosed cataracts, so I am paying attention to everyone's info and experience here.

TTP and Wik Wak: PM me about Pasta Mia or ??? Hey, where's Abeyo?

Have a sunny day whatever your weather. Even the dreary ones are a blessing. Right, Lucina?

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

What a clever, fresh theme Mr. Stillman provided this morning. (Autocorrect wanted still man; I'd like autocorrect to mind its (It wanted it's) own business!) I caught the theme early but it was fun figuring out the "steps". My only w/o was Yore/Eras but there were several unknowns: Sol, Allele, TSR, and Deneb. Didn't Mot appear just yesterday? TTP, we are kindred souls (or we both need new glasses!) as I saw Wholesome quality even after Case filled in and, for the life of me, couldn't reconcile the two until, finally, finally! the letters morphed into the correct Wholesale quantity. I'll take the CSO at Dewar but I think Tin's Scotch of choice is Pinch.

Thanks, Jeff, for a satisfying, fun solve and thanks, Steve, for a "homey" summary. Sorry there wasn't a morsel of food for you to chew on! Safe trip home.

Have a great day.

CrossEyedDave said...

Out of wavelength experience today,
DNFF (I'll let you figure that one out...)
6d Occur=Are?
7d Civet? (the only cat I don't know...)
9d Gene variant???
Also, Constructing LAW OF = Blank, is a lot easier than figuring out Blank Gravity
(I will let Thumper deal with that one & leave the rest of my comments blank...)

Yes, I remember entry level...

The Corporate Ladder explained...

Executive Office? (I never got one...)

CrossEyedDave said...

There are parachutes, & there are just chutes...

but it all worked out in the end...

Note:

I get really pissed off when I am in a store, or at the gas station,
and the stupid jerk calls me Boss!

D4E4H said...

Madame Defarge at 8:35 AM

- - Wrote "With age comes wisdom, I guess." True, but if I'm so wise, why does it have to hurt so much? To paraphrase the French philosopher René Descartes, Cogito ergo sum ego nocere, puto, or in English, "I hurt therefore I am, I think."

- - Your pearls reminded me of another wise person who stated "All my rowdy friends have settled down."

- - Not to be confused with a statement in wilder days "All my rowdy friends are coming over tonight."

- - Yes, these videos show different "ages" of Mr. Hank Williams. Jr. A shout out to Splynter, where ever you are.

'nuf said.

Ðave

Bill G said...

From what little I know about Hank Williams Jr., I think I much prefer his daddy...

Lucina said...

Mostly I was on Jeff Stillman's wave length on this with only two bad cells. I had SACRI and ALLELE is beyond my KEN so it seemed all right. Also I couldn't recall PSI (it's missing on your blog, Steve) so left that blank.

Otherwise not many problems occurred. ORIEL was once a common crossword fill and I've seen a CIVET at the zoo. Sometime ago it was pointed out that ANO means anus. Only with the tilde does it mean year.

For teachers there isn't much of a CORPORATE LADDER to climb except in the case of principals, perhaps. And like d-o, when we stop teaching, they stop paying and it's on to RETIREMENT. Luckily we start contributing into our pension fund from day one, so that is a real boon.

Haircut day so I'll be off.

Thank you, Steve, for your always informative analysis. Good that you'll be home soon.

The weather here is not really bleak, just hot. Really hot.

Have a blissful day, everyone!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Clever and original puzzle.

Started off tough. Couldn't get anything started in the whole north. WAD was fairly certain and DAM was certain - to get it started. But the bottom caught fire much more easily, including YSER, and I sashayed gradually back to the top. I've always remembered the Summer Triangle with Vega, Altair and DENEB. Had amber before UMBER. Like Bob Niles, I had SACRI on the 5a/9d Natick. My only mistake.
I especially liked the laying out and execution of the theme.
CIVET is one of the viverrids which include meerkats and mongooses. Civet also refers to: a thick yellowish musky-odored substance found in a sac near the anus of the civet (especially genera Civettictis, Viverra, and Viverricula) and used in perfume.

Misty said...

An amazing Jeff Stillman puzzle with three grid-spanners and complicated but perfect answers to the clues. Wish I could say I got it all, but I had to cheat and in the end still had problems with that little top middle corner where I didn't know either SACRA or ORIEL. But I still found this a lot of fun--many thanks, Jeff. And Steve, thanks for explaining DENEB--never heard of it. And have a safe trip home.

Did anyone do the Jumble today? I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for having me check out the last posts, Dave, and thank you for the advice, everybody. I will call the doctor's office before I get my right eye done and ask about the burning of the medication problem. But other than that the eye feels fine--the vision just isn't great. I'll keep you posted on how things go, Madame Defarge.

Have a good day, everybody.

Picard said...

Fun theme! Hand up I got RETIREMENT first and worked backwards from there. Hand up had MUTANT before pulling ALLELE out of the deep recesses of my memory. TSR/YSER a bit of a Natick. But we have seen these before. SACRA/SOL/ORIEL/CIVET... was tough! Glad to WAG all that to FIR.

Steve: I agree that it needs to be Bon MOT. Agree ALMS don't usually go to an individual. But technically it seems to be correct.

DENEB is mentioned in this scene from the most famous episode of Star Trek. (Pavel) CHEKHOV is there, too.

At about 1:30 the Klingon is taunting Chekhov and Scotty. He compares their Captain Kirk to a DENEBian Slime Devil. The episode is called "The Trouble With Tribbles" and they clearly had a lot of fun making it.

Misty: Hand up with TX Ms and others, don't wait to call your eye doctor. And not just about the medication.

You need to discuss what correction you want for your right eye. There may be other options. You will want to do that before you show up for the procedure.

(Thanks, D4E4H for letting her know about these late posts from yesterday)

Chairman Moe said...

Misty @ 11:30 ---> yes, to the Jumble. I think they have some new "constructors", as the scrambled words have been quite different than previously. As have the solves. Good stuff. Plus, I got both the Sudoku and Crossword Puzzle today! Hit the trifecta. Woo Hoo!

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts":

FIR w multiple WO's. TIGER>CIVET; LOWER>LAW OF; OVATE>OVOID; PASS>CAST.

Needed ESP to get ALLELE. Did anyone Google that word to see what it means?

I worked for a major corporation for 25 yrs, but my CORPORATE LADDER was only as tall as a step stool. I advanced a few rungs, but honestly, was not cut from the corporate cloth. I realized my role in the organization and did just fine

I was eligible to serve in NAM but was fortunate to have had a 2-S while in college. By the time i graduated, Nixon stopped drafting men into selective service. I may still have my draft card with my final classification, 1-H

SO to Tinbeni and Irish Miss with DEWAR. He likes his sans ice, and she, on the rocks

Which prompted this witty ditty:

Do "hang-overed" folks
Consume their "hair of the dog"
On the rocks, or NEET?

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-The physics teacher for whom I am subbing asked me to teach a “fun” lesson for the kids and so I spent last night and this morning enhancing some of my Bernoulli demos that I am mostly AD LIBBING
-This puzzle was a definite tester with the top middle taxing me quite a bit
-RETIREMENT has not been an end!
-ALMS – A panhandler and his dog were right by our Wal~Mart stop sign yesterday and it was hard for me to drive by. What do you do?
-I wonder if Tom Brady had trouble keeping the MOAT around his house full in this drought
-The ONE song I know
-STRIP in Vegas can be a verb or a noun
-LUNCH and then Algebra III

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Sorry I didn't check in yesterday. We had breakfast with granddaughter Amanda is is off to Australia today to spend next week with the Sydney ballet. then I lost control of my day.

Misty @ yesterday - yep that is my vodka poem. I have cataract surgery in my uncertain future.

billovohoes @ yesterday - thanks for the elaboration on saves. I didn't have those details.

Today -

I almost gave up in despair. Finally got it all. Had to work bottom up and right to left. NW corner fall last. Tough going the whole way. Sussing the theme provided some valuable perps.

I think I had MOT recently. Definitely shortened from BON MOT. Lazy, but legit.

Rehearsal tonight, performance tomorrow - then in June things REALLY get busy.

Cool regards!
JzB

Wilbur Charles said...

I had ARIEL . I felt good about getting CIVET. Long theme words were a big help.

Misty, Picard's advice if not mine about calling ASAP about that burning. I don't recall any burning on the drops I took. Pharmacy may have ERRED.

Owen, your C's are my favs. Steve, I caught that CURB allusion. I take it you liked Larry David. Very NewYork.

WC

Jazzbumpa said...

Along with cataracts and a disturbing tendency toward typos, there are other downsides to being of retirement age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOgd9hitEAE

Cheers!
JzB

WikWak said...

The top was hardest for me, also. I did get the FIR, but only after a lot of muddling around. My typical pattern is to get Monday’s effort done in around 6 minutes, and every next day takes around one minute longer than the day before. Yesterday took right around 8 minutes longer than Tuesday, and today took 9 minutes more than that! Boy howdy!

As with many of you, the long theme entries fell quickly and easily once some of the perps were in. Lots of the short fill, though…

I also agree that MOT by itself does not mean what the whole term BON MOT (which showed up quite recently) means… sans BON, it just means "word".

Seems there was one other thing but apparently it broke jail and booked.

Have a great day, all!

Jayce said...

I liked the theme very much. Also had trouble at the top center with SACRA et.al. Knew ALLELE because my wife used to work in genetics. I suspect it is from the same etymology as allophone in linguistics.
I have little, if any, respect for corporate ladders; I believe they are the prime factor in the Peter Principle. Personally I was much happier as a plain ole working engineer than I ever was in management. CEOs are horribly overpaid.
Desper-otto, I suspect the reason your wife's Chinese students didn't understand Yangtze might be because she pronounced it as "yang (rhymes with rang and hang) tsee." Perhaps if she had pronounced it "yang (rhymes with song and thong) dz (sounds like the last part of odds)" they would have understood. I believe in China the river is better known as "chang jiang" meaning The Long River.
Steve, I agree with you about MOT flying solo, as I ranted about yesterday.
Like Madame Defarge, I too am am paying attention to everyone's info and experience here regarding cataract removal.
Good wishes to you all.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

HG - I'm sure if Brady runs out of water for his moat he can steal some from the Jets' sideline.

HG - I don't give ALMS to beggars in the city or at rest stops. There are so many government, religious and service organization programs available that no one should lack the necessities. I do feel sorry for rural poor who lack those programs, but I am always tempted to give them suitcases instead of money. And there are those souls who don't have the mental capacity to conduct themselves in a manner to take advantage of those programs. But unfortunately ALMS don't usually help those folks either.

D4 and BillG - Hank Jr splains his music in his song "Family Tradition". I like both generations.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

OOPS - Try this one.

Ol' Man Keith said...

In just the opposite of Steve's journey, I found myself filling RETIREMENT as the last of today's themes. Appropriate, no?
Fortunately, I caught onto the theme about a quarter of the way in, with CORPORATE LADDER as my first successful fill.

I think the upper mid-grid (due North) was the toughest sector and--to judge by comments from Misty, Jayce and others--not just for me. In my case it was a question whether SACRI or SACRA was correct. I finally went with the "A," but for no special reason. I lucked out.
By the time I completed Mr. Stillman's challenging Thursday pzl, I learned a new word (ALLELE) and discovered the location of Pelee Island (Lake ERIE). I've now stuffed my hard-earned trivia into the Ol' Walnut & am prepared for the next time I am asked to come up with these particular goods.

Anyway, Ta- DA!

Misty,
Sadly, I did not do the Jumble today. Your enthusiasm makes me curious, but probably not curious enough to fetch the newspaper from the garbage.

____________
Diagonal Report: Well, we're back in business today--with three diagonals running NW to SE. Nothing on the mirror side, but three is a healthy count.
There are no hidden messages, unless somebody can anagramatize today's random letters.

Yellowrocks said...

This was crunchy and took extra time, especially the middle top, as others have said. FIR w/o help. After I grudgingly accepted ARE (meh), I needed only the S for SACRA and SOL. Then I remembered SACRA. I have heard, “My aching sacroiliac,” said jokingly.
Pelee Island in Lake Erie, TSR and SOL were new to me, but easily perped. I forgot what cantilever means, but ORIEL was the only window to fit the perps. Thanks to tutoring I knew ALLELE. Teaching and tutoring help keep up one’s fund of knowledge.
Although bon mot is most common, I have seen mot standing alone, even in the NYT, May 23, 2014.
“He was the devil in pinstripes, peppering his columns with the lacerating barbs and dishy mots that made them a must-read for the glitter set.”
I see juste mot frequently, the just right word.
I have no nit with mot standing alone.
ALMS does not have to mean an organized charity. I use it for individual givng.
Dictioanry.com:
"money, food, or other donations given to the poor or needy; anything given as charity: The hands of the beggars were outstretched for alms."
IMO Despite the religious, government and service organizations, many fall through the cracks.
Misty, let me join the others in urging you to tell your ophthalmologist ASAP about the burning eye drops. It feels wrong to me, so I worry. My eye drops after surgery were soothing. Good luck.

AnonymousPVX said...

Wow, what a toughie.....is this Saturday?

Got the solve, it what a (Thursday?) workout.

I call foul on 29A....what’s next, Russian?...

Ol' Man Keith said...

Yes, Misty, best to check with your doc about the burning sensation. It could of course be a matter of personal interp. I mean I use (regular) eye drops that burn a little, which I call "soothing" and my wife says are torturous. But the doc will know how to advise you.

You got me to try the Jumble after all. Meh. It seemed pretty normal to me. After I got over my usual tendency to cling to near-answers (wrong = LATELY, REFUGEE, DRACCO), it turned out to be pretty easy to solve, including the final biggie.
(Don't anagrams always feel impossible until the penny-drop moment?)
But perhaps you were drawing attention to the final answer's echo of today's Xwd theme? Hmm. Maybe they're in cahoots?!

oc4beach said...


Misty, only one of the three drops that I used burned a little, which I had been warned about by the doctor. Luckily it was the one that I only used twice a day for the first two weeks. But, it is a good idea to check with the doctor.

Tinbeni said...

Do I even have to say what my fave today was????

A CSO to Irish Miss ... it is her favorite.

Cheers!

Spitzboov said...

Misty - What oc4beach said.. I wouldn't say any of mine burned, but I don't normally take drops. One or two might have irritated a little, but it was not annoying or irritating. My drops were:
Polytrim - an antibiotic - one week four times a day.
Prednisolone Acetate - Counters swelling or irritation - four weeks - descending dosage.
Ketorolac - used to reduce swelling, pain, and burning or stinging after cataract surgery or corneal refractive surgery. five weeks once a day.
Others have given good advice. Take someone with you to help get your questions asked. And good luck.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Did Rich mix up his calendar again?... Felt Friday to me w/ SACRA, ORIEL, CI VET (is that a car?), ALLELE(?!?) all bunched together.

Funny story about ONE - NW was still empty when I had a meeting with a prior IT/now PR guy about vaulting social-media passwords... He was opining inre: a video that was editing and had to go to EXECUTIVE $$ people....
"Can you believe they have Metallica's ONE playing in the back-ground? No way. That song is so..."
"Hold that thought... 1d - ONE," I inked.
"...depressing. You don't send that to $$ people..."

It's a good thing those of us on the lower rungs of the CORPORATE LADDER knows this stuff :-)

So, yeah, total DNF. Not only outside help, I couldn't plow the snow in Minnesota.
We had the naked MOTs yesterday... Me still no likie.

Thanks Jeff for this PIECE of evil :-) and Steve for the answers from the back of the BOOK.

WO: AREA was my field of work b/f LINE.
Fav: RETIREMENT. Hey, one can dream!! //I came home early to nap (allergies are killing me!) but still put in +3 hours and never saw the back of my eyelids. And yet, why am I at the corner?....

{A, C+, A+} {smile}

Misty - I'm hoping you can get the drops issue resolved - they shouldn't burn. And do make sure you're satisfied and can see OK before they poke you in the other eye.

Steve - who wouldn't give ALMS to an EX-leper panhandling? [Python: 1m]

PVX - yes, next is Russian @46a & 56d. //Picard - Trek has got to be where I knew Chekov, ANTON (1, ea. [not a whole CASE]) from.

About the back of those eye-lids; Benadryl just kicked in... Cheers, -T

Lemonade714 said...

A very nice Thursday puzzle with a typically enjoyable Steve write-up. I went to my eye doctor yesterday to check on the progression of my optic nerve and its journey into darkness. They check my intraocular pressure which has not been good lately. The drops sting a bit, but burning would concern me. Just pester your doctor until you feel better Misty.

Thank you, Jeff and Steve,

Misty said...

Well, I actually got a return call from my eye surgeon today about whether I should have the right eye be made "normal" rather than for wearing glasses and he convinced me that the glasses version will be better for me. He will also help me figure out how to get temporary glasses right after the surgery next week, and then regular ones two weeks later. Then he had to go and I never got to ask him about the burning, but I think I'll just let that go because tomorrow I'm down to only doing drops twice a day, morning and bedtime, and it's just not that big a deal from then on. But thank you all very much for the concern and advice.

fermatprime@gmail.com said...

Greetings!

Thanks to Jeff and Steve!

Enjoyed the theme!

No cheats but had trouble with: SACRA, ORIEL, UZI, DENEB, ALLELE and T.S.R..

Hope to see you tomorrow!

Unknown said...

I did much better with the real corporate ladder than this puzzle. Too many words I don't know and probably never will. Deneb or civet don't come up much in reading or conversation.
The corporate ladder was easy. Just be a better writer than all your fellow engineers, be a better public speaker than other supervisors and kiss all available A** until the taste gets too bitter. plus be willing to travel anywhere at any time and treat weekends as just extra opportunities to work.

Picard said...

AnonT: Glad you learned CHEKHOV from Star Trek. It was a pioneer show that was directed at college students. I was just a child and I learned a lot.

Misty: Glad that you talked to your eye doctor. Sorry that you are experiencing pain with the drops. It seems that you are on track for things to turn out well.

Here are my photos of our most recent visit to the Las Vegas STRIP.

We stayed at Circus Circus which is one of the older places, but I like it. It is affordable and it has those little circus shows all day long.

Yes, Husker Gary. This hints at the other meaning of STRIP.

CanadianEh! said...

Thursday toughie. Thanks for the fun, Jeff and Steve (safe travels too!)

My newspaper was full of inkblots today but I got the theme.
I was certain of The Corner Office and that messed up the centre for quite a while.

I'm happy to be in RETIREMENT now. Spent a sunny, warm day yesterday (not a CLOUD in the sky) at Niagara-on-the-Lake and saw Grand Hotel at the Shaw Theatre. The musical is still in previews but quite interesting. Sets and costumes are AMAZ(E)ing. I was RAPT. The town was beautiful with tulips and magnolias in bloom. Cherry blossoms will be out in full for this weekend.

SOL, TSR, and ANO (as clued with Spanish) were unknown. ALLELE took some perps before I remembered it. (Yes I was thinking of Mutant too.)
I had Ombre before UMBER, and my figurine was made of Clay, not ONYX.
My seasonal song ender was LaLa (as in Fa La La La La etc.) and I thought it was a great new clue for a common CW answer. (Constructors, are you making note!) Alas, I was wrong.

Steve - Re: "A rather fun trait of the English is their tendency to apologize when some steps on their toe." Now I know where Canadians got their habit of always saying they are sorry. LOL.

Enjoy the rest of the evening.

PK said...

From Google: What's the difference between ALLELE and Gene? A gene is a stretch of DNA or RNA that determines a certain trait. Genes mutate and can take two or more alternative forms; an ALLELE is one of these forms of a gene.

Misty said...

Thank you, Picard.

Lucina said...

Thank you, Pk. I just haven't had time to look up things. I did, however, know the meaning of oleaginous.

TX Ms said...

C-E Dave @ 10am-ish - hilarious - you "outdone" yourself again! Fave, "parachute", that one I could identify with, chute or is it shoot! Thanks for the laughs.