google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, November 13, 2018 Mark McClain

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Nov 13, 2018

Tuesday, November 13, 2018 Mark McClain

"pH Test"

18. *Safari head protector: PITH HELMET

26. *Traditional farm equine: PLOW HORSE.

47. *Baked pork cut that sounds perfect for a blanket in the park: PICNIC HAM.

60. *Lever for manual water extraction: PUMP HANDLE.

5D. *Kid's homemade topper: PAPER HAT.

39. Ordeal ... and a hint to the initials of the answers to starred clues: ACID TEST.  - A rigorous and comprehensive test that proves or disproves the value of something.   Here, we also get a hint to the theme answers with the acid test answer.   The pH scale tells us how acidic or alkaline a substance is.

Across:

1. Source of spumante wine: ASTI.   Asti (also known as Asti Spumante) is a sparkling white Italian wine that is produced throughout southeastern Piedmont but is particularly focused around the towns of Asti and Alba.- Wikipedia

5. Mr. __: Former name of a Dr Pepper rival: PIBB.  Until this puzzle, I did not know Mr. Pibb is now the former name.  In 2001, a new formula was created and the soft drink was rebranded as Pibb Xtra.  This video is coded to start at the 2:26 mark with a 1996 commercial.  You can start from the beginning if you want to see the early '70's commercials.


9. Light model wood: BALSA.

14. Bore false witness: LIED.

15. Et __: and others: ALIA.

16. Provo native: UTAHN.  If you look closely, you'll also see other Utah related crossword favorites like Salt Lake City,  Uinta,  Wasatch, and Orem. 

17. Beige look-alike: ECRU..

20. Superficial, as beauty: SKIN DEEP.

22. Make possible: ENABLE.

23. Negative connector: NOR.

24. Packers quarterback Rodgers: AARON.  The 34 year old star quarterback of the National Football League's (NFL) Green Bay Packers signed a 4 year $134 million contract extension in August of this year.  I'd be smiling too !

29. Nervous twitches: TICS.

33. Vein discovery: ORE.

34. ... Venus, __, Mars ...: EARTH.   “we are unique individuals with unique experiences” - John Gray,  Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

35. Like sea battles: NAVAL.

36. Column slant: Abbr.: POV.   Point of view.  Often revealed in (33 Down) -  Pundit's piece: OP ED.    I skip most of them and head to the important stuff. *

37. Overseas business abbr.: LTD.

38. Sheep's call: BAA.

40. Sister Sledge's "We __ Family": ARE.  The four Sledge sisters from Philadelphia hit in big at the height of the disco era in 1979 with this song.  The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) adopted this song as a theme song on their way to winning the 1979 World Series over the Baltimore Orioles.


41. Corp. bigwigs: EXECS.  Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, ET ALIA.

43. Nike alternative: ASICs.   Application Specific Integrated Circuits.   No, wait.  Never mind.  Here it is the name of the the brand of running shoes and sports clothing.

45. __ showing: theater info: NOW.

46. Textile mill worker: DYER. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for dyers and finishers will decline by 24 percent between 2012 and 2022.   I tried to find the job outlook for bakery icers for a comparison, but could only find de-icers.  Ramp agents at the airports.

49. Whirlpool brand: AMANA.

51. Wee bit: DAB.   Brylcreem.  A little dab will do ya.    Well then, Dippity-do !

52. Ship's chart: SEA MAP.

55. Air, mostly: NITROGEN.

62. Intricate garden feature: MAZE.

63. Medieval suit: ARMOR.

64. Backtalk: SASS.

65. Prickly husks: BURS.  We had a chestnut in the treeline of the woods along the back of our property when I was growing up.   When the bur (husk) opens, they're ripe.   Remove the husk, then boil or roast for 20 minutes to soften the skin.  Cool, peel and enjoy. 


66. Nary a soul: NO ONE.

67. London rental: FLAT.

68. Blind part: SLAT.

Down:

1. Brewpub pints: ALES.

2. Under the weather: SICK.  A possible side-effect of drinking too many brewpub pints.

3. Hatcher with a recurring role in TV's "Supergirl": TERI.   Melissa Benoist stars as the series' titular character, Supergirl.    Teri Hatcher played villain Queen Rhea.  Supergirl and Queen Rhea duke it out:


4. [Shrug]: I DUNNO.  I dunno why I linked that previous video.  Is anyone here a fan ?   Has anyone here ever been able to sit through an episode ?  Maybe when the grandchildren are around ?

6. Nastase of tennis: ILIE.   Physically gifted and deftly skilled Romanian-born professional tennis player during the 1970s and early 1908s.   An International Tennis Hall of Fame member, he ranked as high as World # 1 in late 1973 and most of 1974.   Enfant terrible.  Nicknamed "Nasty" and the "Bucharest Buffoon" because of his on court antics and histrionics.  John McEnroe was a choirboy compared to Nastase.   In July 2017, the 72 year old Nastase received a 4 year ban by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for his actions and racist comments.  The World Tennis Association (WTA) probably has him on thin ice as well. 

7. Minor role: BIT PART.   Erased "BIT role" as quickly as I entered it because role was in the clue. 

8. Scrooge's "Dang!": BAH.  Humbug.

9. Good, in Guatemala: BUENO.

10. Hawks' home: ATLANTA.  The Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

11. Ewe kid: LAMB

12. "A Light in the Attic" poet Silverstein: SHEL.   I know this name only from crosswords.  I had Shul until I changed Helmut to Helmet.   Don't know where that U came from.  Maybe Canada ?

13. Penny-__: unimportant: ANTE.   I like Wikipedia.   It's not unusual to find a few penny-ante errors in articles every now and then.  But then sometimes I run into obviously vandalized articles, like this one, which has since been corrected:

I also first thought this was a Wikipedia error, but it's a Google knowledge panel error:

19. Roll call answer: HERE.   An appropriate answer for a roll call to, "How many of you were wondering where TTP was going with those comments about penny-ante ?"

21. Woodworking rods: DOWELS.

25. Rubbish container: ASH BIN.   I used a galvanized metal pail as an ash bin.  I used it when  I emptied the ash tray at the bottom of the pot bellied stove.

26. Stockholder's agent: PROXY

27. Protective embankment: LEVEE.  A musical interlude is needed.


28. Install, as a cleric: ORDAIN.

30. Eric Trump's mom: IVANA.

31. Off-the-cushion pool shot: CAROM.

32. Large quantity: SLEW.

35. Daytona 500 org.: NASCAR.  The National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing.  The Daytona 500 is the top event in NASCAR.   Racing began at Dayton Beach in 1903 with a race between Ransom E Olds  and  Alexander Winton.   Richard Petty has the all-time record of 7 Daytona 500 wins.   AJ Foyt won it once.   Mario Andretti won it in 1967, and remains the only foreign-born racer to ever have won it.

42. Ice-climber's boot attachment: CRAMPON.

44. Tabloid fodder: SCANDAL.

47. One of the Three Bears: PAPA.  Can't help but thinking of George "Papa Bear" Halas of the NFL Chicago Bears when I hear or see Papa Bear, but in this clue it's about Goldilocks and the Three Bears.   As an aside, blogging the puzzle can broaden one's knowledge base.  e.g. I had no previous knowledge of  the origins of the Goldilocks tale until reading the Wikipedia article. 

48. Cold War threats: H-BOMBS.

50. Skiing champ Phil or Steve: MAHRE.  In the Olympics: 1976 Innsbruck, 1980 Lake Placid, and 1984 Sarajevo.    The Mahre brothers: Twin skiers who won gold and silver in slalom.

52. Cross over: SPAN.   The UFO Bridge spans the Danube in Bratislava, Slovakia.


53. Tipperary tip jar coin: EURO. The town and county in Ireland, and their current currency.  Learned of this song watching some old movie.


54. Hunter's need: AMMO.

56. Victor's wife in "Casablanca": ILSA. Victor Lazlo and Ilsa Lund, played by Paul Henreid and Ingrid Berman, respectively.   Here's a memorable scene from that movie.  Sam is played by Dooley Wilson.   


57. Ancient France: GAUL.  And present day Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, northern Italy,  parts of the Netherlands and of Germany west of the Rhine.  About a third way through its existency, Julius Caesar had the unmitigated gall to invade and conquer almost all of Gaul.

58. Poet Pound: EZRAAnnenberg Learner - Voices and Visions - Ezra Pound

59. Branch home: NEST

61. Bad check letters: NSF.  Non-Sufficient Funds.  Why ?  Why did they come up with this term ?  Why not insufficient funds ?

* Where's that crossword puzzle ?  😀


Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Big Easy (George Simpson). Hope Diane is recovering quickly from her knee surgery, George!





49 comments:

Lemonade714 said...

Welcome back Mark. TTP (any relation to TTU?) did you miss my 10-20-2018 Ed Sessa write up mentioning Pibb Xtra? Who knew, I stopped drinking soda this century.

CRAMPTON ?!?

I think the MAHRE brothers may be forgotten


I will never forget TERI HATCHER who starred in LOIS & CLARK

Anonymous said...

I don't think Scrooge meant "dang" when he said "bah." I think his meaning was closer to "to heck with all of it," whereas dang is an expression of surprise (like "dang boy! Where'd you get that") or an expression of being unhappy with the outcome of something (like "dang, our team lost again")

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Tried to put on my AVIAS this morning, but they didn't fit. With a little Wite-Out ASICS appeared. That also fixed my ASHCAN. Got the theme, but only after I'd finished and re-read the reveal clue. Nicely done, Mark and TTP.

POUND: Probably as well known for his politics as his poetry.

SILVERSTEIN: I remember his cartoons in Playboy back in the day. (I only looked at it for the articles....)

Nasty weather here for M-o-W day. For you Yanks, that means windy with temps below 50°. I can't believe that in my ute I walked to school when it was -40° (Celsius...which we called Centigrade...and also Fahrenheit). But, it was a dry cold.

OwenKL said...

A tiny CSO to me, having spent my freshman as a UTAHN at BYU, and I see the state is devoid of Cornerites.

Not been feeling well, so a bit late today.

Mr. PIBB thought of renting a London FLAT,
But Mrs. Pibb soon put an end to that!
Her opinion was BAH,
Like a sheep, he said BAA,
She wanted a place with white picket SLATS.

The composer was interrogated about the scandal
He claimed to know nothing to engage or entangle.
They denied him a drink
Until he would fink --
That was how the agents tried to PUMP HANDEL!

OwenKL said...

{A-, B+.}

BobB said...

Had Avia until Asic appeared. Never heard if it so I googled it: Australian Securities & Investments Commission. The sportsware company was an also ran.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but erased Marla for IVANA of all things.

Didn't know Phil or Steve, but I used to love skiing as long as the boat's engine was powerful enough to make getting out of the water easy. Also didn't know SEA MAP (it's a chart - period - at least in coastal and inland waters), PICNIC HAM, or that Tipperary is a county.

Like D-O I also knew SHEL from Playboy, but my favorite was Gahan Wilson. Playboy had pictures?

Bob Dylan sang that "the PUMP don't work cause the vandals stole the HANDLE" in Subterranean Homesick Blues.

Thanks to Mark for the fun puzzle. And thanks to TTP for the fun review. I also thought of the electronics term for ASICs.

billocohoes said...

ASICS was unknown. SEA MAP seems forced or awkward.

After thirty or more years of American Pie it struck me that maybe the LEVEE that Don McLean drove his Chevy to wasn’t an embankment, but a morning reception in someone’s home.

SwampCat said...

Loved this quick and easy Tuesday! Thanks, Mark . I even got the theme. Column Slant had nothing to do with Pisa. FLAT next to SLAT was fun.

Owen, A, A.

Yellowrocks said...

Neat puzzle. I saw the P-H with the second themer. TTP, great blog. ASICS was only unknown.
OKL, I liked your poems, especially the first one, but also the second. Feel better.
Billo, yes! yes! "The levee was dry," now makes sense, but I understand levee as an afternoon reception.
I was surprised several years ago to find Shel drew cartoons and wrote for Playboy. I see now that he had many varied talents, among them was writing a Boy Named Sue, popularized by Johnny Cash. I know Shel as the beloved author and illustrator of humorous poems for children. My students loved the Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up.
BAH expresses contempt. In "Bah, humbug," humbug means nonsense.
Contemptible can be a synonym for bah and also for dang, which has many meanings and nuances.
Picnic ham- A shoulder cut with the shank attached is called a picnic ham. It comes from the front shoulder and is smoked just like a regular ham which comes from the upper part of the pig's hind leg. I have baked picnic hams. Delicious when cooked slowly.

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning.

I did both Monday and Tuesday puzzles today, so thanks Matt, Mark, Boomer and TTP for some fun and lots of information. I really appreciate constructors and bloggers for making great mornings for me. I'm a bit fussy when I don't get to my puzzles.

TTP, Yep PAPA Bear means the same thing in our house. My daughter's first son has a long time traditional family middle name. The second one is named for her favorite sport and franchise, but she couldn't pick one player so she went with the franchise. His middle name is Halas!

Happy Birthday Big Easy! Enjoy your day.

That goes for everyone else. Enjoy your day--birthday or not.

Yellowrocks said...

I understand the quibbles made by those with specific knowledge in a field when they find that words that have specific, separate meanings in their field are said to be synonyms in common parlance. The thesaurus says ordain and install are synonyms.
When a cleric is ordained (s)he is set apart as a priest or minister. Liturgical churches call this rite holy orders. Non liturgical churches also ordain ministers. When a cleric is installed (s)he is placed in a new position (sometimes a parish.) Teachers, music directors, church officers and many others are also installed.
Happy birthday, Big Easy.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-pH paper has gone the way of the PLOW HORSE having been replaced by this
-The most unpleasant BUR of all is that bit on a dentist’s drill
-“I’ll take stupid questions for $600, Alex”. The answer is, “They miss political campaign ads”. “Who is NO ONE?” Ding, ding, ding…
-SICK somehow has become a synonym for great, as in, “Clayton Kershaw has a SICK curveball”
-My lovely bride is her mother’s PROXY in every part of her life
-One of the most important sentences in any American document has “We the people of the United States” as its subject and “do ORDAIN and establish” as its verb.
-PAPA Bear being sworn in
-Current Dallas Cowboy and former Husker kicker Brett MAHER was how I spelled that surname
-Happy Birthday, Big Easy!

Northwest Runner said...

I have to grumble a bit about this one. An acid test uses acid to test for gold. A pH test is used to test the acidity of an arbitrary substance. The theme answers work well together, but the editor should have insisted on a more solid unifier.

oc4beach said...

Today was a nice puzzle from Mark and TTP's tour was a fun read.

Unlike others, I didn't know SHEL from reading Playboy articles. However I did read Playboy for the articles and cartoons. Did someone say there were other reasons to read it? Who knew?

Perps filled in SHEL, ASICS and the H in HBOMBS. The rest of the puzzle was pretty straightforward.

I wonder how many people do not know that oxygen does not make up the majority of the air we breathe.

Is everyone ready for Thanksgiving or at least started to get ready? We have the turkey and now have to get the trimmings. We don't know how many people we have to plan for yet. We usually have 15 to 20 family members and we have some students from the local university who have no place to go for the holiday. There is always enough food and deserts for all. It is fun and interesting to meet and talk with the students, especially the foreign students who have never been to an American Thanksgiving.

It looks like winter is approaching. I hope everyone stays warm and comfortable.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, TTP and friends. Today's puzzle was a speed run. I like this type of puzzle, though.

I laughed when I saw ALES next to SICK, since ALES a homophone to Ails.

It was also fun to see BAH and BAA in the same puzzle.

Like Swamp Cat, I also liked the FLAT and SLAT side-by-side.

The perps gave me ASICS. I am not familiar with whatever these things are.

Very cold here today. I had to break out my gloves!

Anonymous said...

Somewhat misleading clue on 31-down - a shot off a cushion is a bank shot. A shot where one object ball bounces off another ball is a carom shot. Although you could say the ball can "carom" off the cushion, the cushion is not necessarily part of a carom shot. I know, splitting hairs... ;)

Tinbeni said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG EASY ... My first "Sunset Toast" is to YOU tonight.

TTP Nice, informative write-up.

Mark: Thank you for a FUN Tuesday puzzle. I enjoyed the "PH" ACID TEST theme.

Cheers!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

The install : ORDAIN thing rubbed me a little, but if there's a reference, "STET". I don't think it's worth a big discussion.
CAROM. Anon @ 1003 makes a point. I learnt something when I LIU.
DOWELS - cousins of cookies?
ASH BIN of history - Sometimes referred to on OP-ED pages.
PLOW HORSE - Back when I was a wee lad, my Dad would use one of his horses to pull a single plow to prepare my Mom's garden. (No room to turn around a tractor-pulled implement.) No rototillers then.
PLOW - UK : Plough. - - German Pflug, L. German Ploog, Dutch ploeg.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was Tuesday-smooth with the PH sequence obvious early on, but the reveal was still a surprise, to me, anyway. I liked the crossings of Asti/Ales and Op Ed/POV and the Flat ~ Slat proximity. CSOs to Spitz and DO at Naval and Sea Map. For some reason, I always want two Rs in Burs. (Maybe I have Perry Mason on my mind).

Thanks, Mark, for an enjoyable solve and thanks, TTP, for the fun and fact-filled summary.

Happy Birthday, BigEasy, hope it's a special day. 🎂🎈🎉🎁🍾 Best wishes to Diane for a speedy recovery.

Have a great day.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Fun & fast puzzle, thanks, Mark! Many thanks, TTP!

I got the theme after ACID TEST mostly perped in. PH made sense to me with just high school chem.

Last to fill was the little NEST created by ASICS/SCANDAL/ACID TEST/NITROGEN/ILSA crosses. Never remember ASICS. Couldn't remember a Victor in "Casablanca" so ILSA didn't flash on. The dumbest hangup was trying hydROGEN and oxyGEN and not coming up with NITROGEN for several stabs at the area. That's a real NIT.

DNK: Aaron.

Never eaten a chestnut. No chestnut trees here that I've seen.

Gimmee: ATLANTA. Watched part of a Hawks game the other night.

Knew MAHRE but not the spelling. Took four tries: yer, yre, her, HRE.

Happy Birthday, Big Easy! I enjoy your posts.

Lucina said...

Happy birthday, Big Easy!

This was short and quick! Thank you, Mark McClain! Que BUENO! I even got the theme which for a crossword doesn't require the precision of a chemistry test, I believe.

ASICS are wonderfully comfortable shoes and cheaper than the big brand names.

SHEL Silverstein is well known as a children's author so it's a big surprise to learn that he wrote for Playboy which I understand from our male cornerites had excellent articles. Ahem.

Today I'll probably buy our turkey and most of the trimmings. We'll have a smaller crowd this year as several family members will be out of town including my sister who will be in Israel. One branch of the family takes their children to participate in bike races.

Have a beautiful day, everyone! It's blustery here.

Misty said...

Wonderful Tuesday puzzle--many thanks, Mark! I worried I wouldn't get it all, but I did. Yay! Nice to see EZRA pop up in a puzzle again. His politics were very problematic at the end, but he supported so many young writers in his day that he helped make modern poetry an important literary field. Was sure it should be CLAMP ON rather than CRAMPON, but perps required the R. Great write-up, TP, many thanks.

Owen, sorry you're feeling not well. Glad you posted the nice poems.

Lovely picture, Big Easy--have a great birthday.

I have a friend visiting for a few days so may have to miss coming to the blog. And will be out of town visiting family in Pennsylvania next week. But I'll do my best to check in as often as possible.

Have a great day, everybody.

AnonymousPVX said...

This Tuesday puzzle went quickly, no complaints there. And no markovers today either.

From yesterday....a lot of bad feeling over a bad joke.....Davidson brings Crenshaw on and apologizes publicly and on the air....and that’s not good enough. I guess the folks complaining prefer holding a grudge....unlike Mr. Crenshaw, the actual offended party. My brother, who actually served in Desert Storm and just retired after a 25 police career, thought it a good moment all around. But then again, he’s not bitter.

Sandyanon said...

B+, A+++

TTP said...

Happy Birthday Big Easy !

Lemonade, I must have missed your review of Friday October 12th. BTW, how's the weather in Chiang Mai, and are you seeing any of the sights ?

Hah ! That Google knowledge panel on Steve McQueen has been wrong for weeks, if not longer. Mention the glaring error on Blogger and it's corrected within hours. Maybe I can get their attention on another subject. Google, I don't like that you deprecated rel=0 on YouTube embedding.

Desper-otto, I thought you wore New Balance.

ASICS shoes and activewear for men and women are available at Kohl's and other retailers.

Guess I should have read about SHEL.

Madame Defarge, cool middle name ! Good for your daughter's second son. The daughter of a neighbor up the street is named Payton, and spelled that way, in honor of Walter.

Husker Gary, you never did tell us if you found the answer to your MENTAL LAPSE for outlier.

Spitzboov, nice play with cookies as dowel cousins. WikWak and others that enjoy woodworking or ply the cabinetmaker's trade would call the dowel cousins "biscuits" so nice wordplay.

Interpretations of McLean's American Pie lyrics have raged on for years. He's still not saying, but I think he was referring to an actual levee, as used in water management.

Jayce said...

I liked this phat puzzle. Thank you, Mark McClain, for another phine halph hour of phun. TTP, thanks to you also.

Happy birthday, Big Easy.

I bet most Application Specific Integrated Circuits have many NOR gates in them.

When I was in high school, a neighbor girl did an excellent and rather sexy rendition of "Brylcreem, a little dab'll do ya." Everybody called her Teddy and it was a year before I learned her name was Theodora. Her younger brother Jim was my younger brother Jim's best friend for those few years. Everybody called them, um, Jim and Jim.

We all grew up with much intimate familiarity with cockleburs. And box elder bugs.

Teri Hatcher grew up right here in the south Bay Area.

Interesting blurb about Steve McQueen.

Once upon a time we were having some mysterious malfunctions in our earthquake monitoring equipment, which took me several days to identify. When I found it I dubbed the culprit "Roddy McDowel" because it was literally a wooden dowel that an assembler used without authorization to connect some parts together. Pieces of wood do not do well in electronic equipment that is buried underground; they get wet and short everything out.

Good verses today, Owen.

We're gonna roast a duck for Thanksgiving dinner this year.

Enough rambling. Best wishes to you all.

Husker Gary said...

-TTP – I thought I would see the word and instantly recognize it but that did not happen. Anomaly and outlier are probably as close as I am going to get but I am certain that neither is the word I was seeking. It’ll come to me (or it won’t) :) Thanks to all who responded.

CrossEyedDave said...

From Yest,

I wrestled with posting Rich's cake,
after all, he never posted one of my puzzles...

(just kidding, I never submitted a puzzle...)

But having problems finding cakes with names on them,
however, I thought this one looked rich...

Ditto Big Easy, sorry, I am just having one of those days.
Hope yours is better...

The Real acid Test?

Spitzboov said...

IM - BUR - - We have a Burrstone Road in Utica.

Happy Birthday to Big Easy. Sto Lat!

Spitzboov said...

HG - re: outlier. 'Erratics' as in glacial erratics comes to mind. (Typically large boulders that don't make geological sense.)
Also there's "isolates' as in language isolates.

Trying to narrow the SPAN on the MENTAL LAPSE.

Wilbur Charles said...

I did this at the Urologist Office. They want a biopsy.
No problems with this xword. Half way through I noticed it was Mark McClain again. His, like CC, tend to be smooth.

"All of Gaul is divided into three parts" said Julius. The original JC.

Hbd Big Easy. Thx TTP for the write-up.

WC

BTW. Steve McQueen's ANTICS* around Jacksonville we're still talked about when I was LeJeune in '68(speaking of prostate)

Jinx in Norfolk said...

A firm's CFO (an EXEC) will frequently use the acid test, but it won't be measured in pH. In finance, "acid test" compares current assets (cash and assets that can be easily and quickly converted to cash) to current liabilities (salaries, rent/mortgage payments, utilities, suppliers and the like). If current liabilities exceed current assets the firm is in peril of bankruptcy if the fecal matter hits the air circulation device, even if the firm's overall assets far exceed total liabilities.

CanadianEh! said...

Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Mark and TTP (LOL re that Canadian U comment!).

Like d'otto, I wanted Avias (hi also Bob Niles) and Ashcan.
Somehow I can't imagine Scrooge saying dang.
I'm with Irish Miss in wanting to spell BUR with two Rs. Merriam Webster says it is a variant spelling (probably Canadian, LOL).

Happy Birthday Big Easy.
Good evening to you all.

oc4beach said...


Earlier I wrote Deserts when I meant Desserts. I'm not a fan of the dry arid places, but I like the tasty ones. Some words seem to be a problem. I've made this mistake before on the blog and many other places.

Misty: Make sure you pack some warm clothes when you head to PA. The forecast for next week is typical for this time of year. Cold, Wet, Snowy.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Ta ~DA!
Like almost everybody else, I hadn't a clue about ASICS, but went with it anyway. The perps were just too insistent.

"Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est..." Yep. I had to memorize that for some show I was in as a kid.

And all of Malibu is divided by the newly acquired "burn scars." Sorry to report that the Woolsey fire has burned its way from Thousand Oaks all the way through to the ocean at Point Dume.
Only 35% containment as of this morning.

~ OMK

Michael said...

oc4beach @ 9:51: "Unlike others, I didn't know SHEL from reading Playboy articles. However I did read Playboy for the articles and cartoons. Did someone say there were other reasons to read it? Who knew?"

Come now, 'fess up -- we all read Playboy to be exposed to those endless columns of Hugh Hefner's philosophy! Anything else we read was purely accidental.

Misty said...

Thank you for the reminder, Ocbeach--I hadn't even thought about this yet.

oc4beach said...


Michael: You definitely have a point.

Picard said...

Happy Birthday Big Easy!

Jinx you beat me to it with the Dylan link for PUMP HANDLE! My first thought!

Did anyone else think of the Electric Kool Aid ACID TEST?

TTP thank you for your elaborate review! Loved the Mr PIBB ad! Never saw it before. Never heard of Mr PIBB except briefly in college.

Hand up thought of Application Specific Integrated Circuits for ASICS. I spent a lot of time programming them. Such a treat to do so after years of wiring up individual circuits.

I have seen that ASICS shoe logo before and never knew what it meant. It has a weird squiggle in front. Thought maybe it was bASICS? dASICS? I find it annoying when a logo can't even correctly convey the product name!

Here I found a photo of a BALSA and Japanese Tissue model airplane I built as a kid.

Do kids build model airplanes anymore? My graduate advisor said building and flying model airplanes as a kid was the best indicator for success as a grad student.

Here I was with CRAMPONs on Mendenhall Glacier in Alaska.

A few unknowns: MAHRE, TERI easy with crosses!

Fun theme and easy solve with no crossed Naticks!

Picard said...

From yesterday:
CanadianEh glad you agreed about the weak theme and the double Natick crossing of BEEBE/DANES. But no real complaints!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

One of the best articles I've read in any magazine was Playboy's investigatory report on the DC-10 that crashed shortly takeoff from ORD. Although faulty maintenance caused the engine to fall off, poor engineering made it a fatal occurrence. Had it been an L-1011 the pilots might have had a chance.

The big difference was that the flaps on the DC-10 retracted when the hydraulic lines were severed, while the L-1011 requires hydraulic pressure to retract as well as extend. The retracted flaps made the port wing stall and the plane to roll into the ground.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

A Pleasant Hour (on and off) solve Mark. Thanks for the fine Tuesday Puzzle.

Fun expo (love me some Zeppelin!) TTP. DW & Youngest are binging on Supergirl this week - meh.

WO: eLSA which made getting NITRO-EN take a bit
ESPs: SHEL, GAUL, EURO (as clued), MAHRE
Fav: c/a @13d - FIL, the old Marine, would call minutiae "lolli-pop" or "penny-ANTE bullsh**" (RIP)

{B, A} //hope you feel better soon.

HBD BigE!

TTP - youtubelink&t=XmXXs to start at X min & XXseconds

If the "Good 'ol boys were drinking whiskey and rye" then how could the LEVEE, if in the party sense, be dry (in a prohibition sense)?

I too only read Playboy for the articles; the rest of it is just for looking... :-)

Cheers, -T

Abejo said...

Good evening, folks. thank you, Mark McClain, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, TTP, for a fine review.

Misty: Where in PA are you going? That is my home turf.

Hahtoolah: what do you call cold? It was in the teens this morning in NE Illinois. In January, the teens will be warm up here. I have been to New Orleans and it is really too hot for me. Enjoy. To each his or her own. I like it up North, warm or cold.

Puzzle was great. The theme appeared easily. PH.

PIBB, never had any. A&W is my favorite root beer.

That PICNIC HAM sure sounds good.

Have had a long day. Just got home from the Election Commission. Still counting Absentee Ballots.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Bill G said...

AnonT, from last night, I'm glad you enjoyed Steve Martin's Flydini routine. I still enjoy both the sophisticated humor and the skillful magic act.

Lemonade714 said...

Happy birthday BE and many more
Humor is clearly a personal preference and may be as divisive as politics and religion. One man’s sophistication is another’s boredom. Remember opinions are never wrong because that is all they are, nothing absolute about what makes people laugh

PK said...

Ha! I, for one, did read Playboy for the articles and jokes. I didn't like the pictures because after four babies, I had lost my competitive edge. My son and his friends all got my husband subscriptions to Playboy for some warped reasons. He also subscribed. He ended up with six coming each month. After he died I had a heck of a time getting them to stop sending them.
After they finally stopped, I missed the jokes as I was having very few things to laugh about at the time.

OwenKL said...

ASICS came up before (perhaps some other blog than here) and I recall thinking it was bASICS, because the icon part of the logo looked to me like a lower-case b*, with the rest of the name following it. Did make it easy to remember, tho.

My wife got me a subscription to Playboy as a present for our first anniversary. My tastes in porn are light and specific, and part of that is disliking pictures that I know are heavily airbrushed, so it wasn't a gift I really appreciated much, and no effort was made to extend it beyond that one year.

* Yeah, more like a d than b, but that didn't make sense, while a stylize b didn't just make sense, but even sounded likely.

Anonymous T said...

I see were this is going PK & OKL... My last line was a joke. I've never purchased nor had a subscription - it's just funny to me when folks say "read the articles," as if one "reads" the pictures.

Who asked about what is cold? This is. It's 33F outside -- and it's only November! I don't have my garage (where I play on my computers) heaters setup and had to take my cacti in t. It should be 32F for only 2 hours in Sugar Land, so I think the palms and pipes will be fine. Me? - I've gotta get thicker socks.

Cheers, -T