23A. "Fire!," say?: ALARM BELLOW. Alarm bell.
44A. "That bloke is hurt!": FELLOW DOWN. Fell down.
67A. Disappointing digs for pigs?: DRY WALLOW. Drywall.
92A. Sign attracting wickerwork craftspeople?: FREE WILLOW. Free will.
115A. High-tech all-night study aid?: SMART PILLOW. Smart pill.
33D. Consumer who admires store displays?: WINDOW SURFER. Windsurfer.
40D. Pale yellow, light brown, etc.?: FALLOW COLORS. Fall colors. Different Fall from 44A.
This looks like Michael's LAT debut. Xword Info shows that he has 11 puzzles published by the New York Times, 7 of them are Sundays.
 |
| Xword Info |
Cluing this type of letter addition theme takes skills and imagination. Some of the clues are so vivid and fun. That's the images Rich wants.
Only 7 theme entries, so Michael took full advantage of it and gave us lots of sparkly long fill.
Across:
1. Primary aspirant's challenge: SMEAR. Primary election.
6. Tough test metaphor: A BEAR. Tiny partial.
11. Skunk River city: AMES.
15. "Let's move it!": C'MON.
19. Historic Jordanian city: PETRA.
20. Tree native to southern Brazil: BALSA.
21. Bar purchase: SOAP.
22. 1985 U.S. Open champ Mandlikova: HANA.
25. Pittsburgh Steelers' founder: ART ROONEY. Wiki says he had about 75 great grandchildren, including actress sisters Kate Mara and Rooney Mara.
27. "Peer Gynt" widow: ASE. Regular in our old Tribune days.
28. Web portal since 1994: LYCOS. Don't think I've used Lycos.
30. Egg-shaped wind instruments: OCARINAS.
31. Time to party: NEW YEARS.
35. Stopover spot: INN.
36. "Two and a Half Men" co-star: CRYER (Jon). A few other names here, but all familiar figures: 38. "Happy Days" actor: BAIO (Scott) 47. Racer Yarborough: CALE.
37. Subject to discussion: AT ISSUE.
39. Unflappable: COOL. Half a drum!
40. Sprat no-no: FAT.
43. Fact or fiction starter: NON.
48. Weaken by eroding: UNDERMINE.
52. Prefix with natal: NEO.
53. Muse of comedy: THALIA. Here is a picture from Wiki.
55. Scent: ODOR.
56. Age __: GAP.
58. Crime lab holdings: DNA SAMPLES. Great fill.
61. Searches with a divining rod: DOWSES.
63. Stately steed: ARAB.
65. Chant, often: MONOTONE. Who mentioned "Sleep with Me" podcast for insomnia a while ago?
66. Planning considerations: IFS.
70. Serving liquor, as a town: WET.
71. Dropped an egg?: OVULATED. Ha ha.
75. Back: REAR.
76. Puts into words: VOICES.
79. Mountaineer's rope fasteners: CARABINERS. New term for me.
82. __-pitch: SLO.
83. Red Muppet: ELMO.
84. Jenna of "Dharma & Greg": ELFMAN.
85. Big tower, briefly: Abbr.: AAA. Tow-er.
87. Demanded maximum effort: ASKED A LOT. Debut entry.
91. Takes to court: SUES.
96. Corrida chant: OLE.
97. Sonnet ending?: EER. Sonneteer.
98. Baby marsupial: JOEY.
99. Cold, in Cartagena: FRIA. Allitration.
100. Held in high regard: ADMIRED. And clue echo: 123. Hold in high regard: ADORE.
104. Capital on I-84: BOISE.
105. Arabic "son of": IBN. Arabic Mac.
106. Some Guggenheim works: PICASSOS.
107. Designated, perhaps incorrectly: SO-CALLED.
110. Workout regimen: TAE BO.
112. Crazy Eights cousin: UNO.
113. "Hold on now, pal": WHOA THERE! Another great fill.
120. Jersey, for one: ISLE. Not sportswear or the cow.
121. Bustles: ADOS.
122. Sushi bar supplier: EELER.
124. Impel: GOAD.
125. Child measures?: Abbr.: TSPS. Julia Child.
126. Snarky: SNIDE.
127. Red-carpet figure: CELEB.
Down:
1. Swimming pool adjunct: SPA. This looks like a dream. TTP might make it true someday.
2. Blanc behind Bugs: MEL.
3. LAX posting: ETA.
4. Orderly arrangements: ARRAYS.
5. Big name in Egyptian kings: RAMSES.
6. Fiver: ABE.
7. Quartet for walking?: BALLS. Baseball.
8. TV hillbilly __ May Clampett: ELLY.
9. Withdrawn: ASOCIAL.
10. Ring on a burger: RAW ONION. Chinese call spring onion as "Cong". We call onion as "Yang Cong", literally "foreign Cong". There are also "Yang" in front of tomatoes, bell peppers and potatoes, so you know for sure those are not native Chinese veggies. Foreigners are called "Yang Ren", literally "foreign human beings".
11. __ rule: AS A.
12. Where Fez is: MOROCCO.
13. Make a humble retraction: EAT CROW.
14. Bronzing method: SPRAY-ON TAN. Another sparkly fill.
15. Tabernacle singers: CHOIR.
16. "The Insider" director Michael: MANN. Sorry, I don't know you.
17. Fit for service: ONE A.
18. Floor opposition: NAYS. House/Senate floor.
24. Swain: BEAU.
26. Turgenev's birthplace: OREL. "Fathers and Sons" author.
29. Bamboozled: SNOWED.
31. Sitcom sign-off word: NANU. Nanu Nanu. "Mork and Mindy".
32. Berkshire school: ETON.
34. APR reducer: RE-FI.
38. Hard to make out: BLEARY.
41. Property recipient, in law: ALIENEE.
42. Afternoon services: TEA SETS.
45. Start of a duel: EN GARDE.
46. Marlins manager Mattingly: DON. Dodgers' manager for a few years also.
47. Adm.'s subordinate: CAPT.
49. Masthead VIPs: EDS. Our crossword VIPs.
 |
| Kim Taylor and Rich Norris |
50. Caviar: ROE.
51. Wedding consequence, perhaps: MRS.
54. Med. care group: HMO.
57. Foot in a pound: PAW. Great clue.
59. Spanish sherry: AMOROSO.
60. Farm female: SOW.
61. Bishop's jurisdiction: DIOCESE.
62. Useful: OF VALUE.
64. __ exam: BAR.
67. Room for a home theater: DEN.
68. CBS CEO Moonves: LES. Husband of Julie Chen.
69. "I'm not listening to you": LA LA LA.
72. Hightails it: LAMS.
73. Professional org. since 1878: ABA.
74. Presumed defense against mind-reading: TIN FOIL HAT.
76. Symbol of peace: VEE.
77. Ancient: OLD.
78. "__ Believer": '60s hit: I'M A.
80. Issa __, creator of HBO's "Insecure": RAE. Had to clue her in a recent puzzle, so gimme.
81. Deemed appropriate: SAW FIT.
86. Homes for F-16s: AIR BASES.
88. 1957 war movie title river: KWAI.
89. Pat on a pancake, perhaps: OLEO. Boomer likes this spread from Aldi.
90. Danson and Knight: TEDS.
93. Works on bare spots: RE-SEEDS.
94. Bit of ocular relief: EYE DROP. My doctor recommended this last time when I had the abrasions.
95. Tackles, e.g.: LINEMEN.
98. Shocker: JOLT. Our local Asian store finally starts to carry this mountain yam. Alas, they want $3.99 per pound. Crazy! I learned that these yams grow in North Carolina too, but locals regard them as invasive species. I'll stick with my dried ones.
101. Victoria's Secret spec: D CUP.
102. Hit song from "Flashdance": MANIAC.
103. Wagnerian soprano: ISOLDE. Lover of Tristan.
104. Acted sheepishly?: BAAED.
106. Went (over) thoroughly: PORED.
107. Big belt: SWIG.
108. Very: OH SO.
109. A jerk may serve one: COLA.
111. Indonesian resort island: BALI.
114. Slow start?: ESS. Slow.
116. One-third of nove: TRE.
117. Online guffaw: LOL.
118. Wash. neighbor: ORE.
119. Complex trap: WEB.
C.C.
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Michael and C. C.!
Great theme!
No cheats but had to ponder: SMEAR, BALSA, ART ROONEY, LYCOS, THALIA, WHOA THERE!, ELLY, MANN, OREL, DON and RAE.
Have a great day!
What do you mean, what am I doing up so early? I’m not up early—I’m up late! Might as well do the crossword before I retire for what’s left of the night…
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the corner, Michael! You did a good one. And C.C., I never fail to learn something from you. Thanks for that.
I caught the OW addition at the second one I encountered and that made things much easier. CARABINERS (C.C., now that you know about them, I bet you'll start seeing them everywhere. Look at kids' backpacks for starters.), SPRAY ON TAN, OCARINAS, and WHOA THERE were among my favorites.
I didn’t think I was going more slowly than usual, but it ended up taking me 30 minutes to FIR, so I guess it was harder than it seemed.
OK, now it’s really time for bed! Have a great day, all!
DNF. Only one cell wrong, a natick at CAsE+AsIENEE. W/Os? The non-write-overs would probably be easier to list!
ReplyDeleteWe've heard piano stories that would tickle some hyenas,
Tony, Wilbur, Oc4, could use ropes and CARABINERS!
Those ARRAYS of keys they may ADORE,
But to FIT them thru the door,
They'd be ADMIRED even more, for playing OCARINAS!
{A-.}
Didn't know I-84 is in two sections, and couldn't see how to fit Hartford into five spaces. The I-84 thru BOISE was once I-80N
ReplyDeleteFELLOW DOWN is kind of awkward, doesn't really match "He's hit."
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteZipped through this one pretty fast. I did notice the add-on OWs in the theme answers. Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds an acorn. My only stumble was in Baja: PUSH, URGE, GOAD. Thanx, Michael and C.C.
AMES: This is a college town, home to Iowa State.
FRIA: When is it friA and when is it friO? Lucina?
CARABINER: Had to replace those that came with my "Total Gym." Hurt my fingers to operate.
I appreciate the skill involved in arriving at this theme, but for me, it was a Thumper.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Nice puzzle, Michael. Always interesting, C.C. Does the YANG in Yin & Yang also mean foreign. I guess it would be foreign or opposite to Yin. Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteWell this was easier for me than yesterday. Finished in normal time for Sunday for me. However, there were at least nine proper names that I didn't know. I thought the theme would be LLOW, didn't really get the OW part altho I had mulled over the title with the "rt" obscured with BY. Decided it said "That Hurts". Also didn't see the words without the "OW" meant something. Not cooking on all burners today yet.
I really struggled with the west central bloc. Quartet for walking = BALLS made no sense to me even after I filled it until C.C. 'splained it. My alarms never BELLOWs, sorry. Tried ScammED before SNOWED had to be red-lettered. LYCOS was unknown. My onions were Red before RAW. The only thing that came easy in the whole block was BALSA.
Forgot the Skunk River was in Iowa so AMES was ESP. Saw this somewhere recently. Was it in a cw?
Didn't know AMAROSO was a sherry. Was Trump's former aide name for this sherry?
They were in wheat harvest in the county with my farms until they had inches of rain. Stopped that project awhile. It's been rainy all week. Supposed to get hot & dry by Tuesday which is the most desirable wheat harvest weather. I don't have much wheat this year, but I'd like to have what I can from it.
OW, it hurt. I bombed out on the middle Pacific coast. Guessed AMA & HIE instead of ABA & LAM, and with no mountains in S. Louisiana, CARABINERS were as alien as Martians. Never heard of either Issa RAE or Jenna ELFMAN. I couldn't finish that area. The rest was done, albeit a little slower that usual. Mr. Ashley ASKED A LOT from us but I couldn't deliver.
ReplyDeleteI caught the OW after BELLOW and FELLOW were in place. Unknowns filled by perps, LYCOS, CRYER, OREL, AMOROSO, Michael MANN, ASE ( was she an enzyme?). URANIA before THALIA
"Cluing this type of letter addition theme takes skills and imagination." C.C., yes that's true but adding the SAME letters usually makes the puzzle easier and many times boring.
Good Morning, C.C., and friends. I had fun with this Sunday puzzle. I got the addition of "OW" with the BELLOW ALARM, so knew what to look for on the other theme clues.
ReplyDeleteI liked seeing the BAR Exam and the founding of the ABA in the same puzzle.
I learned about OCARINAS from doing the crossword puzzles. They have appeared before.
PETRA is where Indiana Jones was filmed. Although I have traveled extensively in Israel, I have yet to cross into Jordan to see Petra. It's on my bucket list, though.
Shout out to Abejo with the FEZ.
I immediately knew that the Bar Purchase would be SOAP and I wasn't fooled by the Jersey, which I figured would be the ISLE and not a shirt.
I initially tried Age Old until OLD appeared as the answer for Ancient.
I took a guess that I-84 would go through BOISE, since the even interstate numbers run east-west, and get higher the further north they go.
I got TSPS as the Child Measures, but totally forgot about Julia. I thought it referred to child doses of medicines.
My favorite clue was Foot in a Pound = PAW. That made me laugh.
There are no mountains in North Louisiana either. The highest point in Louisiana is only 535 ft, so no fancy climbing equipment is needed.
QOD: The difference between perseverance and obstinancy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t. ~ Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 ~ Mar. 8, 1887)
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI caught the them very early (aided by the title, of course) and that helped with the rest of the themers. I tripped over Fin/Abe, Soda/Soap, (wrong bar) and Calm/Cool; not bad for a Sunday puzzle. Unknowns included Lycos, Orem, Petra, and Ames, as clued. I've heard of Issa Rae but have no idea of any context. My favorite pair was Acts sheepishly=Baaed and, like Hatoolah, I picked up on the ABA/Bar entries. (Another type of Bar!) I think Julie Chen is very pretty; I enjoy her on "The View" which I watch occasionally, depending on the guests.
Thank you, Michael, and congrats on your LA Times debut and thanks, CC, for a most enjoyable recap. I like hearing about your food likes and dislikes. Yams would be the latter, for me, as would most root vegetables. (I'm waiting patiently for the sweet corn crop, but I fear it will be late this year because of our prolonged cold temps in April.)
Hatoolah, your QOD couldn't be more timely,
WikWak, I'm glad you escaped any flooding damage.
Nice to see Kim and Rich, our faithful founts of fancy. Thanks to you both for taking such good care of us.
Have a great day.
Musings
ReplyDelete-A really engaging challenge that took some written CARBINERS to get going!
-The OCARINA is prominently featured at 30sec. in this wonderful performance I have posted before
-My hometown was DRY on Sundays and dad had to hit the road
-A much more prosaic use for a CARBINER
-SLO-pitch softball hurt my SIL’s knee and then hamstring before he saw the writing on the wall
-I much prefer Crazy 8’s over the gimmicky UNO
-CELEBs seem to think their political opinions either way are valuable
-Relief pitchers who throw too many BALLS better not quit their day jobs
-Burger topper? Me – RAW ONION, DW – Cooked ONION. You?
-Turn that Peace sign around and you get this DA, DA, DA, DAAAAAHHHH
-An unkown composer named Neil Diamond wrote I’m A Believer for the Monkees
-At prom time HS girls call SPRAY-ON-TAN “Fake Bake”
-BAMA’s incredible LINEMEN are mostly responsible for their FB National Championships
My LA Times wasn't delivered this morning, so I called them, and they told me it would be delivered by 8 am (I phoned them at 7:30). It's now 8:38 and when I tried to call them again, the ring isn't working and I can't get through to them.
ReplyDeleteC.C. is there any easy way I can get the blank LA Times Sunday puzzle from this morning? This hasn't happened to me in 20 years, and it's upsetting not to have the puzzle to work.
Misty,
ReplyDeleteVery curious...
For some reason my newspaper delivery person delivered
The New York Times (which I do not subscribe to) instead of
The Star Ledger.
So I will not be doing todays puzzle either...
Thanks, Michael and C.C. It took a lot longer than 30 minutes, but I managed to finish with no cheats and one lucky guess. Enjoyed every minute.
ReplyDeleteHahtoolah, your QOD is spot on.
I'm puzzled: my paper lists Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis as editors; who is Kim Taylor and how does she fit in? I'm also curious about JNL's role.
Re: Petra
ReplyDeleteNova has a fascinating episode about how water was
delivered to Petra in ancient times.
Here is an excerpt.
The full hour describes not only 5 miles of ceramic piping,
but an entire Dam that fed the city fountains!
Hi everybody. We are in the midst of typical "June Gloom" weather here. It is pleasant but gray and gloomy much of the day, often with clearing in the afternoon.
ReplyDeleteMy thinking was the same as Hahtoolah's re. TSPS.
Years ago we made a trip across the US in our VW Vanagon camper. I discovered we were only a short hop away off the Interstate from Lynchburg, Tennessee where Jack Daniels is made. I was hoping for a free sample or two but I discovered, oddly enough, it's located in a dry county.
I hope you all have a pleasant day.
I enjoyed this, but found it more difficult than yesterday's which I aced. I found the OWs early on which helped. I asked for the B in A-E, an ABC run did not work for me. V-8 can, please. I knew, but could not dredge up that a $5 bill could be called an ABE. That B gave me the S in BALSA and ASOCIAL which gave me the C LYCOS.
ReplyDeleteLALALA seems so childish. It really turns me off to hear an adult say this.
I knew it was ASA or ASE.
I like raw onion and sautéed or caramelized onion on burgers. On Friday I ordered a patty melt with caramelized onion and Swiss cheese on a burger between slices of rye bread and then grilled.
Well, the LA Times finally arrived--will be late solving the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear you're having the same problem, Cross Eyed Dave--hope you still get it, and that you can still do the puzzle.
A Sunny Summer Sunday to each of you.
ReplyDelete"Hey, That Hurt," Mr. Michael Ashley! I caught the theme early at 23 D which helped considerably, and yet there were cells that looked like naticks squared. I worked the CWP in two settings which allowed me to be refreshed on my second go at it. I FIR in a whopping 76:53.
Thanks C.C. for your excellent review.
Ðave
This gave men an OWIE, too. Unlike WikWak, I awoke at 4:00 and knew I wouldn't sleep so started the puzzle but wasn't firing on all pistons. So I slogged through as much as I could, returned to bed and when I again got up, lights flashed!
ReplyDeleteI finished what was left. Hahtoolah, PETRA is worth the visit! I hope you go.
At TSP I thought of Julia while I was still in bed. Chants are not always MONOTONE; sometimes they have lovely inflections.
D-O:
RE: frio is masculine, fria is feminine. If the clue appears to be feminine (i.e. end in a) as Cartagena, FRIA applies. Or if it sounds masculine, FRIO would be called for. Is Montevideo frio? Rio is not frio.
Have a special day, everyone! Birthday party today for three of my friends.
Thank you, C.C. for fully explaining the theme which took me a long time to catch. I have always thought tomatoes were native to China and were taken to Italy by Marco Polo. Is that not true?
ReplyDeleteNot sure if anyone saw my post late last night after I came home from a long day at our huge Solstice Celebration!
ReplyDeleteHere is a video of me riding my unicycle in the Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade yesterday!
The theme was HEROES to celebrate the heroes during our massive fire and mudslides a few months ago. Our ensemble represented Artist Heroes. From the waist up I was a fire fighter, complete with flashing Xenon strobe beacon on my head. From the waist down I represented the artist Mondrian! Lots of fun and a real workout! My unicycle odometer read 5.4 miles at the end!
"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteToday's puzzle was A BEAR; it took too long for me to get all four grids solved, even though I "got" the OW addition. FIW, as I wagged AMA with CARA_INERS. My Natick. A few WO's here and there. Had to LU ELFMAN. OWch.
Thanks for the great recap, CC.
Let's get to the Moe-ku's, shall we?
Newly appointed
To Australian DIOCESE:
Fr. JOEY Bishop.
New game invented:
Involves golfing in parlor;
Settees and TEE CUPS
Male Siamese Twins
Pinch-hit; got a Walk, 'cause they
Started with four BALLS
(In 5-7-7 format - _J alert)
A nocturnal wolf
Enjoys baying at the moon.
He's in it for the long hOWl
On to this puzzle at hand! I found this one harder than the Saturday one and a bit of a fun sponge. Too many proper names for my taste. The title indeed was a giveaway of the theme which I got quickly. Last to fall: LAMS/ELFMAN/CARABINER. LAMS is a weird word. ELFMAN one of those unknown proper names. I did know CARABINER but I was stuck thinking it was CARiBINER. We have lots of mountain climbing in our area. One of my co-workers calls them "BINERS".
ReplyDeleteOther unknown names: HANA, ART ROONEY, ASE, BAIO, CALE, RAE, THALIA, MANN.
Learning moment that LYCOS still exists! I assumed Google made them obsolete. CHILD MEASURES did amuse me! Julia CHILD used to live here in Santa Barbara, but I don't think I ever saw her.
CC: Thanks for the illustrated explanations! Once again our tasty EEL favorite was featured!
Here was DW and me at "The Treasury" at PETRA.
Lucina: So, you have also been to PETRA? I agree that Hahtoolah and anyone else who can, should go. It is one of the most spectacular places I have seen in my travels. Even without the extraordinary structures, the natural beauty is memorable. The closest we have are some of the formations in Utah which I also love.
Here was another SYMBOL OF PEACE we saw, humorously modified, in the Palestinian West Bank.
Did anyone else think of that SYMBOL OF PEACE?
Once again here is my photo of the gravestone of MEL BLANC. Do you know of a funnier gravestone?
Once again here are some of my photos in FEZ, MOROCCO
I have many more photos in MOROCCO. And in BALI. Perhaps another time!
I tried to type in the edit mode again. My post dissolved into the ether.
ReplyDeleteI had less trouble with yesterday’s puzzle which I aced. I got the addition of OW fairly early, but I had a big V-8 can moment. After running the ABCs, ABE did not ring a bell. Duh! I know crosswords often call a $5 bill an ABE. Asking for the B gave me the lacking S in BALSA, which gave me ASOCIAL and the lacking C in LYCOS. I can call this puzzle marvelous, even with my OWIE.
I have seen the wonders of PETRA. I marvel at the engineering capabilities of the ancient world.
Gary, I like raw onion and sautéed or caramelized onion on burgers. Last Friday I ordered a patty melt, a burger topped with caramelized onions and cheese placed between two slices of rye bread and then grilled. Yum!
Tomatoes were know in South America as early as 500 BC. The Spanish spread them around the world. Tomatoes were mentioned in Italy in 1548 and were known to be cooked there in the 16th and 17th centuries. Consequently Italy developed its own varieties. The North Americans considered tomatoes to be poison for a time. Now tomatoes are grown and exported from many countries around the world.
Cross cultural fertilization has been going on since humankind existed. We enrich and learn from each other. We would be hard put to eat, wear, use and espouse only those things and ideas that came from our own ancestry. Cultural appropriation has been the norm forever and has made us richer.
When I studied Chinese many years ago we were known as yang gweidz. Foreign devils or ghosts not humans. Also da bidz. Big nose. Not pc today.
ReplyDeleteFor too long I couldn't figure out the theme, focusing so much on the whole words like BELLOW, FELLOW, WALLOW, and WILLOW, that I overlooked the simple OW gimmick. Looking for those double "L"s held me back from getting WINDOW but helped me figure out FALLOW. Sorta like Lemonade, I admire the construction but somehow didn't feel the satisfaction and pleasure that I usually do. Maybe it is because I reacted to so many of the answers with a sense of "Oh, yeah, okay" rather than "Heh heh that was clever" due to those deliberately vague clues such as "Age ___", "___-pitch", "Chant, often", "Big tower, briefly: Abbr.", "___ rule", and ___ exam". Even so, though, it was not a totally wasted 50 minutes, only, say, for example, perhaps, sometimes, e.g. ___ wasted.
ReplyDeleteThe "yang" in "yin and yang" does not mean "foreign." It is a different word, pronounced the same, meaning "male." "Yin" is "female."
LW is greatly enjoying watching the World Cup on Telemundo.
Best wishes to you all.
Sunday slog. Thanks Michael and C.C.
ReplyDeleteI got the OW theme but it hurt.
I felt like PK did yesterday- I just did not enjoy this CW. Maybe it is the rainy day we have here.
But more likely it was the many unknowns -ART ROONEY, ELFMAN, LYCOS, MANN, FRIA, OREL, Issa Rae, CARABINERS, ALIENEE (really), CALE (we have had before but I didn't remember)and ABE (probably a Canadian disadvantage).
Plus some "gluey" fill like LAMS it and ADOS. (If we have Much Ado About Nothing, can we have Many ADOS About Lots of Things?)
Plus some poor cluing IMHO like 33D for which I wanted WINDOW Shopper not SURFER, as there was no indication in the "store display"clue that it was online. And the first thing that I associated with that jerk was a Soda, not a COLA.
We have Bar purchase in a clue and then BAR exam in an answer. I believe that is a No No.
I needed C.C's explanation for BALLS=quartet for walking. When it finally filled in, I thought it must be Balls of feet but that would only be two. V8 moment! Perhaps on the four PAWs in the pound.
I've never heard of a TIN FOIL HAT against mind-reading.
I groaned at TSPS when I remembered Julia, and at AAA when I parsed Tow-er.
Rant over. Tomorrow may be a better day!
Picard- I also thought of the dove peace symbol and I remembered your FEZ photos. Looks like you got lots of exercise on that unicycle.
Got a very late start on this puzzle because of the delayed LA Times delivery. But glad it finally came, and enjoyed working on it--many thanks, Michael. My first fill was FAT--guess I know my Jack Sprat. My second one was NANU--I also know my Mork & Mindy and still think fondly and sadly of Robin Williams. Another sweet TV sitcom memory was BAIO from "Happy Days." Weren't we lucky to have such lovely programs back in the day? Anyway, fun puzzle, and wonderful pictures, C.C.--many thanks.
ReplyDeleteHave a great Sunday, everybody!
funnier gravestone?
ReplyDeleteWell, There's serious...
There's really serious...
There is informative...
There is too informative...
And,,, My favorite.
Sunday Lurk say...
ReplyDelete{A} {cute, cute, ha!, cute}
Thanks YR for answering Lucina's tomato Q. I seem to remember they are native to South America and was going to ask the Google to confirm.
Picard - your calves must be bricks. Cool vid.
Misty - glad you finally got your puzzle-fix.
C.C., the pool pic you posted looks similar to the one the neighbor-to-the right put in. My spa is even w/ the pool's grade. Alas, the heater is broken again :-(
Jayce - thanks for that on Yang.
Snorkley's post reminded me of my days @ the Chem lab I worked at as an undergrad (we did assays on chemicals in waste water from oil wells). The lab was adjacent to the University (LA Tech) and a few guys from China worked shoulder-to-shoulder with us undergrads. One guy, Lau Dai (sp?) [apparent God Father of the Ruston, LA Chinese community (everyone knew him)] heard the word 'chink' and asked Billy (a Frat-guy majoring in Chem E) what it meant.
"It's a slur, ugly word, against people of Chinese descent. Who said that to you?"
"No, no, not problem"
Then Billy asked, "so what are Chinese slurs for while people?"
Lau Dai smiled, "Yang [something I didn't catch]. 'White ghost,' 'Round-eyes'"
"That's so funny - we call y'all slant-eye," as Billy did the face.
We all laughed at the silliness of it all and then went for a smoke w/ Raj.
Fav: TIN FOIL HAT. Mine is snuggly secure -- just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you....
Cheers, -T
um, to be clear - when Billy said 'we' - it was a general-people-in-the-US... NOT us guys at the lab. -T
ReplyDeletegenerally slow and steady - but a few hang-ups which necessitated going back and starting anew. clever twists with the theme
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Michael
and thanks to CC!
Hi again. We got back from lunch at a new little Thai restaurant. We split green been and pork in a garlic sauce and fried rice with crab. We washed it all down with Thai iced tea. It was all good with enough leftovers for dinner tonight.
ReplyDeleteWe had lunch a couple of days ago at California Pizza Kitchen. Everything was OK except their ambient music which was godawful and loud. The manager turned it down a little bit but otherwise seemed defensive about their choice of 'music.'
Thank you, AnonT--it's nice to be puzzle-functioning again. Just hope the LA Times delivers the paper tomorrow.
ReplyDelete____________
ReplyDeleteJ
I needed a hint on the third word, and had my letters in reverse on the solution, but I solved it.
____________
Ðave
I have been interested in Mt. Everest accounts so I am familiar with carabiners. I was pleased to see the CSO to Julia Childs, my idol. I loved the movie, Julie Julia. Fria, Alienee, Orel, lams it were gimmes. Here tin foil hat is pejorative for crack pots. Ados remind me of the ruckus created by presidential tweets.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm just snarky today, but today's entry was a real drag. As usual, I do Sunday's entry while watching baseball ( no sound), Perhaps I need to concentrate more thoroughly, but I finished with several empty holes in the grid. Several defs were way off base for me, the constructor made several errors in logic, dropped the ball with his defs and struck out with his logic, I count this s loss on my scorecard!
ReplyDeleteMoe: Re the _J -- at first I wondered what you meant about the alert on your haiku. I didn't use any J-words in my poem today, but I did do it, and didn't see any of the words in yours, either. But I was bemused that there were only four scrambled words today, as I thought there were six on Sunday. (Only on line, my paper doesn't carry it on Sunday.) I had worked it at the uclick site, so went to check the USA Today site and found an entirely different puzzle! Went back to the uclick site, and it still had a weekday format! Both riddles involved hiways, tho!
ReplyDeleteJayce: agree with you on all the over-vague clues except "tower", which stopped me for quite a while, but made me laugh when the V8 hit!
CEh?: I don't think surfing is limited to online. Back when I was mall-walking, I would have used the word surfing to describe all the window admiring I did before any of the stores were open.
Bar purchase, bar exam, AB(ar)A, Sushi bar supplier -- But only the middle two of those refer to the same word, the rest are just coincidences of spelling.
I also was confused at balls for walking until I read the expo. Balls of the feet are two, but balls of the hand or balls of the thumbs aren't involved in walking -- but the other two might be, in some circumstances ...
Hi, Misty, Houston Chronicle runs the NYT cw (previous week's!), so I have to print LAT cw every Sunday. I don't know how to link (yes, I know there are instructions, but I'm computer-illiterate), so I've got this one bookmarked:
ReplyDeletehttp://games.latimes.com/games/daily-crossword/
One of the main streets in Santa Fe is Agua FRIA.
ReplyDeleteSolutions to both _Js --
Does Miracle-Gro make a garden gro-up?
Do Southerners draw 'L when they talk slow?
Asked what he wanted, the dog said "to b eagle".
Babbage gave his assistant, Ms. Lovelace, a gun to arm Ada.
An in-the-know chicken would be a hyp hen!
Would you rather be a pull-er or a pull-ey?
I made some lace, so now I've done a tat, too!
Said the bottle, "What am I? I Scotch or I Gin!"
Lyle was issued a pardon. It just said "Free Ly!"
CanadianEh and AnonT: Thank you for taking the time to watch the video of me unicycling in our Solstice Parade! My unicycle odometer showed I rode 5.4 miles! Yes, quite a workout! We were very lucky it was not a hot day!
ReplyDeleteCanadianEh: Thank you for remembering my FEZ, MOROCCO photos! I have quite a few more from those travels. I was travelling with my friend who had an import business for many years. It was one of her first buying trips and my job was to pretend to be her husband so she would not be harassed.
And glad you also thought of the dove as a SYMBOL OF PEACE. I am glad the Palestinians were able to have a sense of humor with that dove!
Misty and others:
Here is the Los Angeles Times site where you can print out the puzzle!
Is there a reason people go to other sites instead of to the real thing? I print to PDF so I have a saved copy of each blank puzzle.
CC: I almost forgot: I very much appreciate your cultural stories and explanations about China and Chinese culture! I love the learning opportunity you offer!
ReplyDeleteTx Ms, and Picard, thank you so much for the puzzle links. I really appreciate that!
ReplyDeletePicard: I like the format of the Mensa site better for doing the puzzle online. (If you just print it out, I guess it doesn't make any difference.) Also, the Mensa site doesn't have the initial annoying ad.)
ReplyDeleteOwen @ 8:08 ---->
ReplyDeleteOur newspaper had a Jumble that featured 6 clues. The "reveal" was: "In it for the long haul", so I used the xword theme of OW to pun the answer (in it for the long howl)
As for the four "balls", well, again, if a batter gets four balls in baseball, he gets a "walk". Since a pair of male Siamese twins would presumably have 4 testicles (aka, "balls") between them, again, I punned the expression to refer to their unique "quality" as a pinch-hitter.
I guess when you have to explain it, it's not that funny .... or, maybe it is?! 😜
Picard, if you're still up, people avoid the LA Times site because, first, the ads are endless and mostly useless [e.g., State Farm ad in Chinese several days in a row], and, second, because the endless ads trip on each other and the site freezes, or takes forever to read an input.
ReplyDeleteIt just gets tiresome....
I FIR but it was a slog. I finally got CARABINER, reminds of my LF Babe Ruth all-star Buddy. I was CF. *
ReplyDeleteSURFER,OF VALUE - That whole mid-west area proved stubborn along with the last word of the Jumble.
I strangely and stubbornly tried to fit CMDR into the obvious CAPT. Naval ranks of course differ from USMC.
ALIENEE was completely foreign.
The clueing was very imaginative and required this solver to really work at it.
We had a typical Tampa deluge today with puddles 2' or more. Another slog.
I agree about DNA SAMPLES. The CRYER/OREL Natick was a WAG.
Didn't Bobby VEE host an oldies show. I missed his 2016 death. I think the show was on Sunday night.
I never got it that the "Child" was Julia or as -eh just informed me, that Tower was Tow-er.
C-Moe, fwiw, I got your allusions, no prob. I left my newspaper somewhere and never got to FREELY. Nor the riddle.
I definitely agree on all the proper names especially pop-cul.
WC
* HS coach instructed First Baseman to straddle the base so the runner couldn't "cut" the turn. So, in a later sandlot game, the "CARAB" former buddy was straddlng and I rammed him(legally of course). End of the friendship.
Ps. Great l'icks and J_sol in rhyme.