google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, July 21, 2018, Ed Sessa

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Jul 21, 2018

Saturday, July 21, 2018, Ed Sessa

Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Ed Sessa


Gourmands and healthy eaters, avert your eyes! Today we celebrate one of the causes of being overweight in America - National Junk Food Day. The onion rings and french fries caught my eye immediately! Calories, get thee behind me. My spirit is willing but my flesh is weak!

My granddaughter knew this and collaborating with my wife presented me a Father's Day present with Heath Bars, shoestring potatoes, Cheez-its and assorted other goodies my doctors would love to ban. 


Today's constructor is Ed Sessa M.D., a pediatrician who would take one look at this picture  and shake his head in dismay.

Dr. Sessa practiced in upstate New York and is now retired and living on Sanibel Island in Florida. Ed said he made some puzzle for local publications and then decided to submit one to Will Shortz and the NYT and said he was very happy it was accepted with only a minor theme change. Shortly after that he was accepted by Rich Norris at the LA Times. If you want to know more about Ed's puzzling career, I highly recommend a 2007 Ed Sessa interview by C.C.




I just put down my shoestring potatoes and will now explore the rest of Dr. Sessa's prescriptions for us today.

Across:

1. Sleight of hand?: PALM - He has no card in his hand 41. "... or so it may __": SEEM.




5. Like pie?: AS EASY - Hey, fits in with the day we are celebrating!


11. Tennis stroke: LOB - an unbelievable return of a LOB shot




14. Name on the 1949 "Death of a Salesman" playbill: ELIA - There it is. Who was your favorite Willy Loman? Mine was/is Lee J. Cobb




15. Bug on the road?: BEETLE - VW


16. Common cause of conflict: EGO 


17. "The Karate Kid," e.g.: CINDERELLA STORY - Here's the final scene where he defeats his bully opponent 




20. Guide for surfers: SITE MAP - Like an outline for the content for a website 


21. Gray shades: TAUPES




22. Be of service to: AID


23. Org. with traveling bans?: THE NBA - Can you spot the player in the white jersey protesting? 




25. One hanging around a lifeguard tower: PADDLE BOARD  - Here are some lifeguards using them





29. Studio once run by Howard Hughes: RKO - Hughes fought censors for years to get this movie starring his girlfriend and her assets 

34. Some museum art: NUDES - Jane wasn't NUDE in this movie but wore a special bra designed by Howard for publicity shots


32. 1958 Pulitzer author James: AGEE - Seen here quite a bit

33. D.C. figures: REPS - They have to get reelected every two yrs so they start raising money five seconds after they are sworn in


36. 16th-century council site: TRENT - A 19-year Catholic effort to react to the Protestant Reformation

38. Unspecified degree: NTH.


39. Footnote abbr.: OP CIT - Stands for meaning OPus CITatum meaning "referring to previous works cited"


40. Nasal partitions: SEPTA - Also heart partitions 


43. Unadulterated: PURE.


44. Slangy okay: YEP - Gary Cooper was indeed a man of few words 

45. Ice cream named after a Canadian river: KLONDIKE BAR - A favorite for 96 years


48. Quite a lot: OCEANS - It's gonna take an OCEAN of calamine lotion  


50. Address in a mess: SIR - A fun scene in a MESS Hall where Will Stockton doesn't differentiate  between SIRS and Maam's 






51. Confront aggressively: ACCOST - This girl's 65. Tae __ do: KWON  knowledge can be used against anyone who tries to ACCOST her

53. Swears: PLEDGES - Everyone at our school PLEDGES allegiance at the start of the day with varying degrees of enthusiasm


57. 2013 Hudson's Bay Company acquisition: SAKS FIFTH AVENUE - I perused their $195 ties online 


60. "... exclaim, __ he drove out of sight": Moore: ERE  - Clement Moore 's next line was originally "Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!"


61. Sign with an arrow: ONE WAY.


62. Start to giver or taker: CARE.


63. Befitting: APT


64. Hazmat team members, often: ROBOTS - Better him than a human





Down:


1. Atlas display: PECS - Charles Atlas's PECS were in full display in this ad that was a staple of comic books of my ute




2. Et __: ALII - Latin for "And others". Could it be an OCEAN of them?


3. Dust bunny component: LINT 


4. Achieved some progress: MADE A DENT - I feel better when I have MADE A DENT in next week's blog


5. Rubber eraser, for one: ABRADER - A device that scrapes away or erodes by friction

6. Go slowly: SEEP - SEEPING lava hitting a soda can




7. Sargasso Sea spawner: EEL.


8. Pac. cousin: ATL  - The old A & P grocery stores stood for ATLantic and Pacific


9. Christian in cinema: SLATER  - A star  whose life fell apart 
at a young age with alcohol, drugs and the law who is trying to put his life back together.


Arrested for having a gun in his luggage at JFK

10. Ambiguous answer: YES AND NO


11. Little big cat: LEOPARD CUB - This little CUB has some big feet to grow into 




12. Mythical monster: OGRE.


13. First and last word of a common four-word saw: BOYS - Slight change


18. Dr. Skoda on "Law & Order": EMIL - Played by wonderful J.K. Simmons 

19. Bathing spot: TUB.


23. Popular online lists: TOP TENS the Top Ten hits for every summer from 1958 to 2017


24. Discussed, with "over": HASHED.


25. Mark: PATSY - His claim



26. Come to terms: AGREE.

27. Daddy Warbucks, e.g.: DEEP POCKET - That's who gets sued 


28. Former Mormon leader Ezra Taft __: BENSON - Was Ike's Secretary of Agriculture in both of his terms


30. Actress Knightley: KEIRA - Okay


31. Blender brand: OSTER - This is the very OSTERIZER that sat on our counter for years

35. "Nosebleed seats" section: UPPER DECK.


37. Supposes to be: TAKES FOR - As in TAKES FOR granted


42. Loses temporarily: MISLAYS - My MISL (mislain?)car fob got lost forever and cost $295 to replace


46. Bodega patron: LATINO - Marcelino ran the one in Seinfeld

47. European capital: KIEV - Any theater person would recognize the production with this character - Perchik: A radical student from Kiev and later Hodel's husband, Perchik leaves Anatevka to work for the revolution in Kiev.


49. Fortune 500 listings: Abbr.: COS - The Fortune 500 would be their top 500 COmpanieS 


52. Complain: CARP - More likely a fish from the Platte River than when 
51. Sailing: ASEA 

53. Really good, in '90s slang: PHAT - These adjectives are so hip and then quickly so "last year"


54. Rodents do it: GNAW - It's also a feeling I have when I finish blogging a puzzle and think I made a big goof


55. Money in la banque: EURO - One place to spend those EUROS




56. Treated by the doctor: SEEN After I was SEEN by my ENT in March, I had hearing aids and a CPAP  machine that day. Yay me! Boo aging!


58. Four-wk. period, usually: FEB  - Old joke - "How many months have 28 days?" Answer - "All of them"


59. Minimum for many games: TWO - or to Tango as Al Pacino shows in this wonderful scene from Scent Of A Woman




Wouldn't some Cheetos go well with commenting on Dr. Sessa's puzzle?


DA GRID




32 comments:

  1. Wake up! Morning, as I type I am the first to comment on this relatively east Saturday with no total unknowns. Obviously some cluing was tricky, and I have no idea why TWO is a minimum for some games, but most made sense. I did not know of the new owner of SAKS and struggled with Quite a lot: OCEANS.

    BUT: Gary, are you okay? Mad at someone? Two violent head kick gifs in one write-up? Okay, you balance that with the provocative picture (drawing?) of Jane Russell who does not look like she has on any bra. (Do you remember her brother John?). I will never understand TAUPE and OP CIT is not popular in legal writing. Id or Id at is used.

    But most of all I am fascinated by the choice of the playbill with GENE LOCKHART rather than Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman. Mr. Lockhart was a wonderful character actor, 300 movies!, father of Lassie's June Lockhart and grandfather of Anne. I loved him in MIRACLE ON 34th STREET

    Thanks guys

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  2. Thank you Ed and thank you Husker Gary !

    Pretty quick for a Saturday, but then again, each of the long fills was a gimme today. That doesn't happen very often, and especially not on a Saturday.

    Loved the traveling ban gif Husker Gary. Back in the day, the players, team coaches and refs informally called the penalty "steps" and we were taught to only take "one and a half" steps to avoid being called. In the NBA, you routinely see players not being called for traveling. Looks like Westbrook probably got called on that one.

    Klondike Bar - Isaly's of Mansfield, OH invented them. Good Humor - Breyers bought the rights. After continually rising sales, competitor Kraft then came out with a "Polar B'ar" clone that even mimicked the distinctive packaging. Kraft lost the court battle to use the similar packaging.

    What a cute cub !

    Gotta get moving on the house staining project. Drizzling, but there's still prep work that can be done.

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  3. Good morning!

    Sleight of hand wasn't a SLAP. D'oh! And that conflict was caused by EGO, not AGE. Only needed the Wite-Out twice this morning. For the rest I was pretty much on Ed's wavelength. Nicely done to both of you, Ed and Husker.

    Husker, yes I saw some guy protesting in a white jersey.

    TWO, Lemon I think it refers to the number of players. Seeing that pic of Al Pacino reminded me that this past week we binge-watched the Godfather trilogy. Can't believe I'd never seen it before. Some day I should try Rocky.

    The only TAUPE this color-blind guy is familiar with is the double-sided variety. I used some to attach a mahogany strip to the bottom of the bathroom mirror. Moisture had caused "cancer" of the silvering. I decided a $20 cheat was preferable to buying a new mirror for several $hundred. I'd looked into getting the bottom of the mirror cut off, but even that was going to cost big bucks if done on-site.

    SEPTA: Learning moment -- not about the nose, but the heart. Was familiar with ATRIA (cw staple), not SEPTA.

    Time for that bike ride around the 'hood. Gotta get it in before the temps climb out of the 80s. We're flirting with 100+ for the next few days.

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  4. Nice puzzle for a Friday. Oh wait, it's Saturday!

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  5. Deciding early that the DOAS playbill name must be Robert aLdA I never got the NE.

    Seeing SEPTA in caps I thought of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority - the Philadelphia bus/subway/train system

    Keira Knightley best known for Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, and Anna Karenina and many other movies

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  6. FIRight, eventually. Last entry was changing PiCS to PECS, Charles not Rand-McNally. 14a started out as one of my first-pass certain answers as WINN (Ed & Keenan).

    To bed way early last night and slept in way late this morning, so need to get started on my poems now.

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  7. Good Morning.

    Thanks, Ed, for a Saturday challenge. I had quite a slow start and lots of snow, so I decided to walk away. OP CIT was my first fill because ibid and loc cit would not work. I can't believe I missed BEETLE. What a morning! Oh, that ATLAS! I added maps immediately. And ELIA! One of my favorites to teach; I ran through the whole cast including minor characters trying to remember. . . .Ah, the director! Duh! Favorite line: Linda: Life is a casting off. How true! And NOW I really understand it.

    Thanks, Gary, for the run through and the visuals. Who knew I could have hired ROBOTS to tend to my then teenage son's room?! No job for Buzz Lightyear. I simply put a Hazmat warning on the door. He laughs now, but. . . .

    Yesterday I began triaging my parents' photos--as if I don't have enough of my own. They begin some time in the 30's. Some of the reduction will be very easy, others will be impossible to part with, like Hahtoolah's beloved letters. My once-slob-of-a-son will care for them after I'm gone. He's has the family history gene. I'll just reduce the lot. My mom was a terrible photographer: missing heads, backlit like crazy, ET ALII. I love her and miss her anyway!

    It's dreary and misty today, hence a good day to be indoors. Have a good one yourself, indoors or out. Be careful with those ladders, TTP!

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  8. Good morning everyone.

    Gary, thanks for linking to the Ed Sessa info. One of my favorite constructors.
    Reference to upstate NY intrigued me. I see there is an Ed Sessa Pediatrician in Schenectady, NY at Ellis Hospital; maybe a son? DIL worked there as a nurse for a while. Just up the road from IM.

    This was a slog to solve, but the bright fill, long acrosses and ten-letter downs made it all worthwhile. Favorite clue was for THE NBA. Travelling - very clever. Had trouble getting good anchors, but BENSON was as firm as it could get. Had 'accuse' before ACCOST.
    Most trouble was in the NW, but once CINDERELLA STORY was sussed, and the right Atlas was picked, allowing PECS, the solve came home.

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  9. Much easier than yesterday's puzzle, more like a hard Thursday puzzle, but fun. Gary, thanks for all the wonderful links. You must spend hours looking for them. I love that tiny cub. So cute!
    If any techie sees this, would you please look at my 5:03 PM post yesterday. Should I worry?
    Once I get a good start, momentum carries me through, but I am having trouble making myself begin triaging and filing my horde of disorganized papers. Madame D. I am hoping to follow in your energetic footsteps.

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  10. Once there was a pumpkin, replete in all his glory.
    Fostered as a LEOPARD CUB, a carnivore all gory!
    Magicked to a coach and four,
    He ate the girl came in his door --
    And that's the real ending of the CINDERELLA STORY!

    {A}

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  11. Good Morning:

    After my difficult solve yesterday, today's was a walk in the park. As TTP noted, much of the long fill was easy to suss and gave plenty of footholds to work from. My only w/os were On ramp/One way and Yes Maybe/Yes and No. I wanted Oodles before Oceans but perps said no to that. (I love the word Oodles.) Carp beside A Sea was cute, even though carp was clued in a non-fishy way! Phat strikes me as silly but I'm just an old fogey! I alway enjoy Mr. Sessa's puzzles and this one was no exception.

    Thanks, Ed, for an enjoyable Saturday solve and thanks, HG, for the fact-filled wrap up. I like all of the visuals but the Leopard Cub was the best, IMO. The Al Pacino/Scent of a Woman link was just a big, white blank area. That could be my iPad which has some quirks on certain links. (The school scenes in this movie were shot at Emma Willard prep school in Troy.) Thanks for the bio information on Ed; I'll be sure to read CC's interview.

    The Boys will be Boys reminded me of a video shown on national news of a waitress in Florida, standing at a work area, putting menus away when some jerk comes along and grabs her "posterior" and keeps walking. She goes after him, grabs him by the shirt collar and spins him around and slams him up against a wall. He was arrested so I guess, in this case, Boys will be Held Accountable. BTW, this "boy" is in his thirties, married and has two children; the waitress is 21.

    Have a great day.

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  12. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Ed Sessa, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Husker gary, for a fine review.

    Well, I did start this last night via cruciverb. Yes, it worked. I did not get the puzzle even close to being done so I went to bed about midnight. This morning I was fresh and a let and made good progress through the puzzle. Got it done in about another hour. The South was much easier than the North. SAKS FIFTH AVENUE and KLONDIKE BAR helped a lot.

    SITE MAP came slowly. I was thinking of surfers in the ocean. Oh well.

    Had DELETER for 5D. That just did not feel right. After a couple letters ABRADER became obvious.

    THE NBA, clever. That stumped me for a while.

    Tried MAUVES before TAUPES.

    Loved the Karate Kid movie. Saw it several times. I do not watch many movies but some always stick with me. As in the Blues Brothers and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

    Rained most of yesterday and it is very wet right now. Guess I will work inside today.

    Tonight going to Les Miserables in Elgin. High School production. My wife handled all the costumes for the musical.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    ( )

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  13. From late last night...

    Well, I wish you coulda been here. About five minutes ago, the International Space Station passed almost directly overhead. It was the brightest non-moon object in the sky, about as bright as Jupiter. It rose over the neighbor's house, passed directly in front of the bright half moon overhead and then headed off northeast at a rapid clip. It was crossing in front of the moon for about one second. I couldn't see it then even with my 12x IS binoculars. (The moon's brightness drowned it out.) My astronomer friend took photos and a video. If they turn out well, I'll post a link.

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  14. Crunchy but fun puzzle today. I fell into the Atlas/maps/pecs trap and got off to a bad start. Also wanted Cobb for ELIA so I was doomed by the second row. Preps finally made it all better. Whew! Thanks Ed for the workout.

    Husker, you were in fine form! I must admit that cute little cubbie picture gave me pause. He will grow to those paws and become a predator.

    We had a 3year old jaguar escape from our zoo this week and roam around most of the night, killing other animals. He was discovered by the zoo staff when they arrived in the morning, tranquilized, and safely carried home. End of story except for the grieving over the lost animals.

    But the interesting thing from a scientific view is that even though he was born in a zoo, lived all his life in zoos, had never even seen a prey, once he got loose he knew instinctively to kill. He did what Jaguars do! He had killed 9 animals by morning.

    Interesting to me was the fact that he attacked alpacas, not lions or tigers! Guess that was instinct, too.

    Owen, your poem was worth waiting for! A.

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  15. I believe Dr Sessa made today’s puzzle with one hand tied behind his back. That’s the only explanation I can think of for the speed at which I got the FIR. His creations usually have me tied up in knots for double the time it took today.

    SAKS FIFTH AVENUE is now a part of the Hudson's Bay Co? Who knew? Macy's have closed a bunch of stores around here and Carson's has gone out of business. Once a retail giant, Sears is on the ropes—can you say "etail?"

    Husker Gary, you never fail; thanks for that.

    TTP, whenever I get the feeling that there’s a project like that which I should be working on, I just sit down for a while until it goes away.

    Off to the shop; still putting the finishing touches on a little boy's birthday present. Have a great day, all.

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  16. Hi Y'all! A real challenge, Ed. Great expo, Gary. Thanks.

    PECS/PALM last to fill. Top tier was mostly white until the bottom 2/3 was filled.

    THE with NBA was a late fill that I kept coming back to. I'm a basketball fan, but I couldn't figure out what they meant. Yes, I know what traveling means: carrying the ball without dribbling (bouncing). Ban was what confused me for some dumb reason. I watched the clip on this blog and still didn't understand because since Russell was carrying the ball, I thought the game was not going. The light dawned later. I got up late but I think I should go back to bed.

    Owen, I hated your girl-eating pumpkin poem. You go back to bed too! Right now! Sleep until you can wake up non-violence prone.

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  17. AAAARRRGGGGHHH!!! I was thinking of PICS on a map. Elia Kazan also wrote the book "The Arrangement" which I found fascinating. He got sucked into the HUAC nonsense.
    Klondikes are my current junk. Mint chip.
    Except for the FIR I did this Sat relatively quick. Had to replace the X in SAKS and RWPS for SENS. And EURO for LIRA.

    WC

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  18. Irish Miss, I saw that great video last night. Very excellent! I wish that waitress had been one of the women that Trump says he routinely grabbed. I don't think he'd be doing much bragging or grabbing after that...

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  19. Husker Gary: Thanks for yet another well illustrated review!

    Glad some of you found this AS EASY as you did! For me, it was a typical Saturday challenge. I was stuck thinking SURFING in the OCEANS; slow to get SITE MAP. Hand up immediately thought of Oswald with PATSY. I think of TAUPES as having more color than gray. Glad to FIR!

    billocohoes: I thought the same thing about SEPTA!

    Here was my arrival in Philadelphia by air, then on SEPTA. So civilized!

    I was visiting my cousins who live there. You drinking fans will enjoy the bar sign on the sidewalk.

    Here I witnessed a SURFER being rescued. No PADDLE BOARD in sight.

    We saw these CARP at The Japanese Garden in Los Angeles earlier this week.

    Here are the rest of my photos there. A wonderful surprise I never knew about!

    Even more of a surprising discovery: This was the actual Starfleet Academy location used in filming Star Trek!

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  20. I have OCEANS of like for this puzzle. I usually like Ed Sessa's work. Hand up for PICS before PECS. Wanted BOOGIE BOARD before PADDLE BOARD, but got KLONDIKE BAR with just the AR in place. The only other Canadian rivers I know are the Yukon and the St. Lawrence. Fun to learn that SAKS is owned by the Hudson's Bay Co.

    I love that tango scene. It is very well done.

    Yellowrocks, please refer to Anonynous-T's 8:30 PM post last night for his response to your 5:03 PM post.

    Husker Gary, thanks again for gracing us with a terrific write-up.

    Best wishes to you all.

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  21. Picard, Love your enemy, LOL.
    Your carp in the Japanese garden reminders me of Boys Day in Japan when they fly carp windsocks from the roofs of houses. My son and DIL used to follow this custom, flying carps of varying sizes for every family member.

    Carp windsocks are above the roof.
    The biggest carp is the father,
    The smaller carp are children,
    They’re enjoying swimming in the sky.

    carp windscoks

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  22. Hi All!

    Well, I did better than yesterday but still, after 1.5h, tossed the towel (not part of 25a) and leaned on HG's grid for AID [nope, didn't get that either]. The bottom of the grid was filled, but the NW and West-central was mostly blank; YEP it was.

    Thanks Ed for the puzzle. @33a was particularly evil - I started w/ D.C. as in comics and wrote in XMEN (D'Oh! That's Marvel's, I crossed universes -- bad things will happen to space-time), then POLS (bzzzt again), and finally REPS.
    @5a was also EASY AS evil - big WO when I sussed YES AND NO.

    My downfall was ABRAsER and I couldn't get past it and being ASEA with the surfer @20a.

    Oh, and @36a - Nicea [sic: Nicene] was right-out.

    Thanks HG for the sparkly expo... You'd think a pro would know the Travel Ban; LOL!
    Fun commentary and I love the second kick to the head; I was veto'd by DW in getting the girls lessons in the Asian arts / hand-to-hand takedown.

    Spitz - we had the same accuse-ation @51a.

    Fav: clue for 7d. I was wracking my brain for rivers in EU spawning the sea (as if I knew anything about geography) and EEL fell - that was the NTH V8 that hit.

    {B+ //deduction for macabre :-)}

    I always thought it was ibid. Is that the same as OPCIT? //no, I just asked the Google: ibid is 'just mentioned' and OP CIT 'is mentioned earlier but perhaps a different text or date so LIU yourself in my footnotes'.

    Picard - I thought I was looking at the SFO Japanese Garden (been there) but you said LA (not been there)... Very similar and a wonderfully contemplative place.

    D-O: Just watch Rocky I, you can look at II & III but have the FFW button at the ready. After III, don't bother unless you need to pump yourself up for a ride.

    Abejo (pronounced Abby-Joe in my head until yesterday) - we have the same taste in movies that we'll watch for the Nteeth time.

    YR - Look at my late FLN. Note: beware typo - I meant 'w/o (#N'T) powering down' in the second sentence.

    Cheers, -T

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  23. Abejo - should be: Nteenth time.

    Found it! Carlin: EASY AS pie [MA-L] @3:31+ and other aphorisms if you have [9:15]. -T

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  24. Had ACCUSE instead of ACCOST, which screwed up two of the downs...should have figured them out...grrrrr...other than that, a nice Saturday puzzle!

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  25. Got the solve after coming back to it. Did NOT like “THENBA” even when I got it. Otherwise no issues.

    Where’re all the posters at today?

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  26. I'll put my comments on "con" side. Did NOT like ANY of the defs in NW corner. Two examples: A "Cinderella Story" of a young BOY??? "Sleight of hand" vluing PALM??? Too many levels of connection for my feeble brain. Sorry, Mr. Sessa, next time your name appears on LAT puzzle, I'll pass. Too frustrating!!!

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  27. Anonymous T, thanks. My email to you bounced back. Could you please email me.
    Kathy aka Yellowrocks

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  28. The NCAA tournament uses "Cinderella Story" all the time
    I agree on PALM . Kind of a reach

    WC

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  29. Husker G ~
    That LEOPARD CUB video is the cutest damn thing.
    I know, I know it's going to become a fearsome big cat, but I swear any young thing that lies belly up will steal your heart! And whenever it rubs its lil' face with its big ol' mitt, you just gotta gasp.

    Ta- DA! ~ a tough, chewy one from Dr. Sessa but, happily, within my range.
    My only gimme on my first scan was the cross of ALII and ELIA. When I saw the "L," I immediately knew ELIA, and the only remaining question was whether the down word should end with an "A" or "I."
    I met Kazan (known as "Gadg" to friends) in the mid '60s when he came back to give a talk at Williams, his undergrad alma mater. There was probably no more brilliant and controversial figure in American theater in the 20th century.
    Kazan was the protean director that every playwright sought, from Arthur Miller to Tennessee Williams and William Inge. He molded their scripts into masterful productions - a visionary who interpreted, edited, shaped. His book, Kazan On Directing, is fascinating, by far the best account of the depth and thoroughness of the staging process.

    "Dreary and misty," Madame Defarge? In this forum, should those words be linked?
    BTW, where is Misty?

    ~ OMK


    ____________
    Diagonal Report:
    We have an abundance today! Four, count 'em, four! A 3-way on the front end and one mirror slash.
    I found one anagram - in the top row on the near side. It led to this SciFi adventure:

    John (JN) and Mike (MK) used thought waves to send messages to one another as they were thrown into separate cages by their captors.

    JN: Help! MK, what can we do? They’re going to murder me!
    MK: Don’t worry, JN, the star fleet knows our position. They’ll be sending a rescue team pronto!

    Mike could hear John’s screams, even before his message was sent. The cries were terrible. Mike could barely think.

    MK: I hear you! Don’t despair!
    JN: Sorry! They’re going to cut my head off!

    Mike wasn’t sure that was true. These aliens were savage, but they weren’t known for torture, much less chopping heads! At least - not yet …
    Then, suddenly, the terrible screams stopped.
    Silence reigned in the prison compound.
    Had the bastards gone through with the threat of decapitation? John was no longer making sounds.
    But wait! What was that?
    It was John’s heavy breathing. Inhaling, exhaling - in and out, in and out! Poor John was panicking. Time for some tough love!


    “MK: (Get a) GRIP, DUMB HEAD!”

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  30. Ol'Man Keith, thanks for caring and asking. My eyes were so bad this morning, I had trouble finishing the puzzle, sadly. I tried some new eye-drops and hope I'll be better tomorrow so I can do the Sunday puzzle. But at least, I got the J, as you know.

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  31. Late to the party after a day with company (not the Fortune 500 COS!). Thanks for the fun, Ed and HuskerG.

    Not too many ink blots today. I had Spa before TUB, and Eer before ERE.
    I was pleasantly surprised to see Canadian content with KLONDIKE and the Hudson's Bay Company (COS again LOL).
    We also had Eskimo Pies but that terminology is no longer PC. Do they still exist under another name? I must LIU.

    I smiled at the clue for THE NBA.
    MADE A DENT reminded me of our discussion about sorting out the Keepers from the other Stuff.

    Time to pack it in.
    Enjoy what is left of the evening.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I've wondered why the LAT doesn't allow rebus puzzles. However, having tried one by David Steinberg recently in the NYT, I appreciate Rich's POV. I don't like 'em. Very frustrating, especially when you don't realize what's going on at first. Rats!

    ReplyDelete

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