google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, December 21, 2018, Paul Coulter

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Dec 21, 2018

Friday, December 21, 2018, Paul Coulter

Title: Where the 'ell is the L? There is no end to it!

I continue in pig heaven with today's fun, challenging puzzle from one of Rich's stable of consistent Friday winners. Very simple theme but it took unraveling HELIOSTAT to get me going in the right direction. I love that the reveal was both tricky and very helpful. It also was a parsing of words that took a skilled eye. I so admire the minds that spot these opportunities and make them into crossword puzzles.  Paul also includes FITNESS,  NEWAGER,  ONESHOT,  SHINDIG, the aforementioned HELIOSTAT, and MISS ELLIE.  I know you are anxious to finish wrapping presents, so-on with the show.

17A. Cartoon drawing of Rip Van Winkle?: SLEEPER CELL (10). Cartoons are made up of cels, very different from a terrorist cell whose members work undercover in an area until sent into action, as featured in this TV SHOW. I never heard of it, but I do know this ACTOR from NCIS. Since he has lots of credits, maybe he can replace the awful OD'ed in puzzledom. He really was born in Tel Aviv.

24A. Decoration for a Tinseltown party gift?: HOLLYWOOD BOW(12). A Bow is a common part of packaging a gift. Since its opening in 1922, the Hollywood Bowl has been the premier destination for live music in Southern California, hosting everyone from Billie Holiday to The Beatles to Yo-Yo Ma under the iconic silhouette of its concentric-arched band shell. It was renovated in 2000. Wiki I think.

39A. Dismiss a disobedient film computer?: FIRE HAL(7). In the US and Canada, this is more commonly called a fire station, but they are the same thing. I like the image of firing the out of control 2001 Space Odessey whose full name is HAL Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer9000. 

51A. Dixie hospitality, e.g.?: SOUTHERN DRAW(12). This is fun, I guess it means that hospitality is the reason why people are Drawn to visit the South. Whenever I would go to Alabama to visit my then wife's family I morphed into a Southern boy with a draw, y'all.

64A. Allowing use of, as a library does ... or, in three parts, a hint to four puzzle answers:  L ENDING OUT (10). They often are called  Lending libraries; here, however, it the "L" as the ending of each of the theme phrase that comes out. Brilliant!

Across:

1. Spite: VENOM. Isn't there a movie? I still can't believe Stan Lee is gone.

6. Don't believe it: MYTH. Is as good as a mile?

10. Lying lion in "The Lion King": SCAR.

14. Colleague of Samuel and Sonia: ELENA.
Alito, Sotomayor, and Kagan of the  SUPREMES. The clecho, 12D. Colleague of Kagan and Kavanaugh: ALITO. 1st names, then last names.

15. Yorkshire river: OUSE. A CSO to Steve and a challenge as there are 4 rivers in the UK with this name.

16. In fine fettle: HALE. And often hearty unless you are a golfer, then you are just HALE.

19. Camera part: IRIS. Like any eye, it opens and closes. LINK.

20. Blackens: TARS. Meh.

21. "We need to get a cat!": EEK. A very cute clue for a mouse.

22. Set off: IGNITE. From Latin ignitus, past participle of igniō, ignire (“to set on fire, ignite”); we also get ignition for our automobile.

27. Seat for a shot: STOOL. In the doctor's office? Sounds dirty.

30. Piedmont province: ASTI. Spumante.

31. Orchestral gong: TAM-TAM. I see it written both with and without the hyphen, Chau gong (Tam-tam) The familiar "Chinese" gong is the Chau gong or bullseye gong. Large Chau gongs, called tam-tams have become part of the symphony orchestra. Wiki. This one is made by the same people who make the best cymbals.

33. Salem winter hrs.: PST.

34. Hat-removing event: GUST. We are having 50 mph gusts today.

38. Be off base: ERR. But it is human.

42. Future fish: ROE. Do roe row?

43. "Oliver Twist" type: WAIF. Words change; it began as meaning
"person (especially a child) without home or friends" first attested 1784, from legal phrase waif and stray (1620s), from the adjective in the sense "lost, strayed, homeless." Neglected children being uncommonly thin, the word tended toward this sense. Connotations of "fashionable, small, slender woman" began 1991 with application to childishly slim supermodels such as Kate Moss. oed.

45. Farm mom: SOW.

46. It may be held or bitten: TONGUE. Generally a good idea.

48. "Insecure" Emmy nominee __ Rae: ISSA. I was not aware of this TV series which she created, produces, writes and stars in much like a modern-day George Burns. She did change the character name from Issa Rae to Issa Dee.

50. Bad looks: LEERS. Deceptive.

57. Dig: TUNNEL. This took a minute to see.

58. Macabre monogram: EAP. Edgar Allan Poe.

59. Name of two of Henry VIII's wives: ANNE. Which is Boleyn and which Cleves? *



63. Massachusetts motto opener: ENSE.  This has appeared very often. "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty." "Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem."

67. First-rate: ACES.

68. Angry: IRED. I am tired of ired; nobody says this.

69. Busybody: YENTA. Yenta or Yente (Yiddish: יענטאַ‎) is a woman who is a gentlewoman or noblewoman - genteel/gentle. But because the matchmaker in Fiddler on the Roof was named Yenta, the idea of it meaning gossip or busybody took control.

70. Two-time World Series champs: METS. 1986 World Series vs Boston Red Sox; 1969 World Series vs. Baltimore Orioles.

71. Like falling off a log?: EASY.

72. Boorish: CRASS.

Down:

1. Protective wear, often: VEST. Bulletproof hopefully.

2. Self-titled 1969 jazz album: ELLA.

3. Poetic negative: NE'ER.  I never use this in my poetry.

4. Not to be repeated: ONESHOT. This was a Friday clue/fill.

5. Blueprint: MAP.

6. Culinary mushroom: MOREL. The old picture for the Corner.

7. Foul: YUCKY. Eventually, C.C. decided it was.

8. "Ash Wednesday" poet's monogram: TSE. T.S. Eliot comes to us in so many ways.

9. Device that generates solar power: HELIOSTAT. An instrument in which a mirror is automatically moved so that it reflects sunlight in a constant direction. It is used with a pyrheliometer to make continuous measurements of solar radiation. It is from helios, the Greek word for sun, and stat, as in stationary. various.

10. Bash: SHINDIG. Or old TV

11. West Indies native: CARIB. This very misleading. They are members of an indigenous South American people living mainly in coastal regions of French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, and Venezuela. Island Caribs, are an indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean.

13. Alter with thread: RESEW.

18. Unagi, e.g.: EEL. C.C. shout out.

23. Nabbed: GOT.

25. Kiddie lit count: OLAF. Count Olaf is the main antagonist of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

26. Clean with soap: WASH.

27. Brood: STEW.

28. Twelve Oaks neighbor: TARA. GWTW home. next to Southfork. I got to play on the set one night; what a great party, but I did not take pictures to show you all. Drat. It was before camera phones.

29. Katz of "Dallas": OMRI. He played John Ross III. It is an adjoining clecho to help parse...32D. Mother of J.R. and Bobby: MISS ELLIE.

33. Row of seats: PEW.

35. Advocate: URGE.

36. Whiskey __: SOUR.

37. Cafepress.com offerings: TEES. And so much more. Look them up.

40. Big laugh: ROAR.

41. 1970 Kinks hit: LOLA. First the Animals now the KINKS. Timely link.

44. Gym goal: FITNESS.



47. Hard-to-define spiritualist: NEW AGER. I disagree the world wide web says DEFINITION.

49. Cow, for one: SHE.

51. Cook, as clams: STEAM. So many choices. LINK.

52. Not a heavy weight: OUNCE. I like the cadence of this clue.

53. Up in the air: UNSET. Literal.

54. Bogotá babies: NENES.

55. Family nickname: DADDY. Warbucks?

56. N.Y. engineering sch.: RPI. Back again for another CSO.

60. Actress Gaye of "Ali": NONA. Daughter of Marvin.

61. Bar freebies: NUTS.

62. Itinerary info: ETAS.

65. Victorian __: ERA.

66. 9/11 Memorial site: Abbr.: NYC.

My next to the last blog of 2018, and a wonderful way to go. Paul is not only prolific but he has so many styles and so much wit. Thank you, Paul and all. One more and on to 2019. Lemonade out.

* Speaking of Henry VIII and his six wives; today is the 4 year anniversary of my marriage to my sweetheart Oo. It has been very good.

58 comments:

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Tough but amusing theme puzzle, Paul, thanks. Great expo, Lemony. Happy Anniversary to you & Oo.

The Starting two blocs NW & Central were not fun. Last to fill. After I filled them, I wondered why they were so hard for me? Clues just did not trigger the right response. Gave in and just red-lettered many of the starts. I knew OUSE but tried Ow and thot I must be way off when it turned red.

Got the theme at HOLLYWOOD BOW which helped with the others.

Never heard of TAMTAM. Other DNK: OMRI, NONA, HELIOSTAT, ENSE. ENSE we've probably had before. I didn't live in Mass. long enough to learn this.

My daughter has rented a guest house for our family Christmas gathering. She just messaged me the location. It is in a rural hard-to-find place some distance away, according to Google Maps. Since I don't drive much anymore and my eyes don't read street signs well, I am apprehensive about getting there. One thing I can always count on with this daughter: she always does something unpredictable and usually difficult for me. She loves adventure. I no longer do.

PK said...

P.S. - I'm going to be biting my TONGUE a lot next week.

OwenKL said...

ELENA and ALITO, what a judgemental pair!
Are there any two people more different anywhere?
She's left and he's right,
She's brown and he's white,
Such diversity is what helps make justice fair!

Picard to a Ferengi offered some dough
For a machine with a treadle to make it go.
Next time a space rip
Endangered his ship
He ordered Wesley Crusher: "Make it SEW!"

A library is a quiet place LENDING OUT
Books like the one that Leonard checked out.
A HOLLYWOOD BOW
Encased his sore toe
His screaming was known as LEN DIN GOUT!

{B, B+, B-.}

Paul C. said...

Lemonade - I know exactly what you mean about lapsing into a drawl when visiting the South. I grew up in rural VA, and though I've lived in the North for many years, I also get this sympathetic drawl when talking to a fellow Southerner. Owen - you were in rare form today. I'd give all three stanzas an A. PK - I lived in Mass. for fifteen years, and never learned ENSE there. I agree it's crosswordese, which is how I learned it.

This is one of those rare grids that was accepted with no changes to the theme answers. Usually, there's at least one that the editor doesn't like. Then I'm asked what else I have for that slot. I can often come up with something better, but this doesn't only affect that one area. It radiates through the whole grid and constructors wind up making an entirely new puzzle. But Rich liked all the theme entries AND the revealer, so this one sailed along. Hope your solve did, too.

Good news! My son and daughter-in-law are expecting at the end of March. This will be my second grand-daughter. My first is happy about becoming a big sister. I've built her a Christmas rocking horse to celebrate. If the baby comes a few days after the due date, she could even share a birthday with Addie. In fact, in my family, my son, daughter, and granddaughters all have spring birthdays, as I do, so it's a busy season, along with Easter, Mother's Day, etc. Speaking of which, Happy Holidays and best wishes to all!

Lemonade714 said...

Paul, you are a class act and we appreciate you stopping by the Corner and sharing your information and stories. Happy holidays and enjoy the granddaughters, I have two now and one grandson who is finally walking.

PK, maybe you can borrow a phone with a GPS app. Be careful and safe.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

We’ve had Ense before, but I couldn’t recall it. Being from Mass proved unhelpful (that’s a pretty long motto...). Struggled a bit in the west, especially around those Dallas clues. I never much liked that show, and don’t know the cast. The theme actually helped out today.

Thanks for chiming in, Paul! And Happy Anniversary, Lemon.

Lucina from last night - what a coincidence! I saw that very episode (“Murder and Mozzarella”) of Miss Fisher last night. I heard the nonna reference once or twice, and recognized it only from yesterday’s puzzle. Incidentally, we’ve been re-watching Miss Fisher episodes on Netflix, after a year or two; that episode and the one involving the RAAF were new to us. Must have missed them the first time through, somehow.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

No real problems with this one. Where there were unknowns, the perps were kind. Got the theme with SLEEPER CEL, and that helped with the other theme answers. Well done, Paul. Lemonade, congrats on the anniversary.

Big Easy said...

I had trouble finishing the SE because the newspaper's clues for the downs stopped at 60D. The missing 'L' was obvious so the answer to 64A- LENDING OUT- was easy but without the clues to 60D & 61D, the unknown NONA would have been impossible to WAG. I penciled (in ink) CRUDE for boorish instead of CRASS. I correctly filled ERA & NYC without any printed clues. But I blew it anyway in the SW because I filled UNMET instead of UNSET. No red letters in the newspaper to help cheat.

I'd never heard of a HELIOSTAT and had HELIOSTAR before TONGUE corrected it.

The rest of the puzzle was not that easy to finish. TAM TAM, ISSA, OUSE, NENES (geese?), OMRI-total unknowns filled by perps, along with TEES by whatever Cafepress.com is.

TARA- a fictional plantation or in the real world the name of the street directly behind my house. Every other street in my neighborhood is named after a REAL Louisiana plantation. I live on Melrose Drive and SEVEN Oaks ( not 12) is the next street over.


FIRE HAL?- I've always named my computers HAL and I use HAL-2 mainly because my laptop is HAL.

Barry T. said...

PK: Ask your daughter (or other guest) to meet you in a nearby location that's easy for you to find. Then, he or she can lead you to the hidden location. You shouldn't have to travel with trepidation :)

BobB said...

For a northern to fake a drawl when speaking to a southerner is insulting. I am a Yankee who has lived in the South for over 20 years and I wouldn't think of it.

Yellowrocks said...

Lost my post Grr. Had to sign in to google again. Too late now. Time for our commute.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

A real toughie for me today. Well done as Lemon said, but a real slog. RPI was 3rd entry so I was casting about for a nucleation point to build on. Much new fill with obscure cluing. The theme finally registered with SOUTHERN DRAW and the correct parsing of L ENDING OUT. A superb creation, Paul C.; thanks for stopping by. Many WAGs and much white-out finally got me over the finish line.
The Supremes were prominent with ELENA and ALITO.
Got HELIOSTAT and SHINDIG without breaking a sweat. Go figure.
TONGUE clue was pretty good.
Lemon, Great intro as always.

TTP said...

Good morning. Thank you Paul and Lemonade.

No TADA today. Caught the theme as it pieced together, cel by cel. Nice reveal answer Paul !

TAM TAM is not in my vernacular. I would have called it a gong. TAM TAM intersected with OMRI, the actor from "Dallas", which was another unknown. However, I did know MISS ELLIE from "Dallas" even though I only sat through a couple of episodes. I did not sit through the much-hyped "Who Shot J.R. ?" episode.

In addition to missing that M, I flat out could not solve MYTH and YUCKY. Although I really wanted to enter TSE for the "Ash Wednesday" poet's monogram, I alread had MUSH for "Don't believe it." There were no quotation marks in the clue.

Didn't know ISSA either, but perps filled that one.

Oh well. Good challenge, and a passing grade. CSO's to Big EASY and Spitzboov. Nothing for Abejo today (no Earl Grey or Erie).

Speaking of HOLLYWOOD BOWL, did any one else catch the name of last night's college football game ? It was the "Big Bad Mowers Gasparilla Bowl."

Paul C. said...

Thanks, Lemonade and Happy Anniversary to you and your lovely wife. Big Easy - that's funny about your computer. My original clue for FIREHAL was, "What Dave would have liked to do toward the end of 2001?" Bob - I'd be very surprised if Lemonade was suggesting a fake drawl, and I certainly wasn't. I agree, that would be insulting. But to those raised in the South, it just comes out on visits the longer you're there.

billocohoes said...

Don't think I've ever said UNSET, and ENSE can't have been in too many puzzles that I've seen.

A PEW is a bench that a row of people sit on, not a row in itself. Took a while to figure that out while deciding which Salem was in which time zone.

Expected NiNoS or NiNaS, NENES usually clued as Hawai'ian geese.

The O'Hara plantation itself was named after the ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Paul has become quite the regular and a welcome one, at that. This was a fun theme that was evident early on but the reveal was a delicious Aha surprise. I got off on the wrong foot by seeing Sprite instead of Spite, so Venom/Vest were slow in filling in. There were numerous unknowns but the perps were strong: Scar, Lola, and Olaf, as clued, and complete head-scratchers, Heliostat, Omari, Tam Tam, and Nona. Only w/o was Lens/Iris. I find some of Paul's cluing quirky but fair. I liked seeing the clecho for the Supremes and, of course, the CSO to Spitz (and moi) at RPI. Shindig is a fun word.

Thanks, Paul, for a fab Friday and for dropping by. Congrats on the upcoming addition to the family and Happy Holidays. Thanks, Lemony, for a very witty and informative expo and Happy Anniversary to you and Oo! Those four years flew by!

PK, is the destination too far to hire an Uber, or are you too rural for that option? Is hitching a ride with someone else possible? I know exactly how you feel because I share your apprehension about driving long, unfamiliar distances.

FLN

Wilbur, were you referring to Immokalee, east of Naples?

Have a great day.

Irish Miss said...

I see that smarty-pants Autocorrect changed my Omri to Omari.

jfromvt said...

I got through it, but it was a toughie. Once I figured out the theme, things filled in for me. But too many obscure and uncommon words for my liking.

WikWak said...

Too much for me today. Just couldn’t get a foothold—toe hold—finger hold—ANY kind of hold. I spent last night and part of this morning getting transfused (type A+), and now waiting for the "invasive procedure" to see where all that blood has been going for the past week. Concentration doesn’t seem to be in my wheelhouse (or wheel chair either). Maybe tomorrow.

Have a good one, all.

Lemonade714 said...

Bob the point for me was not that I would attempt to recreate a southern drawl, but the rhythm seeped into my speech; nothing on a conscious level.

I updated the mssing CLAM link. No votes on the Queen Anne pictures? Did anyonelisten to the 41D, Kinks link?

Thank you for the anniversary wishes

CanadianEh! said...

Fine Fettle Friday. Thanks for the fun, Paul and Lemonade (Happy Anniversary to you and Oo).
This was a little crunchy but I got the theme, saw the missing Ls, and finished (bottom to top with the last two themers filling in first). But I see that I am officially a FIW since I had the French river, Oise instead of the Yorkshire river OUSE, giving me Yicky instead of YUCKY.

Let me count the inkblots! Mars changed to TARS, A One to ACES, and Lens to IRIS. EST changed to PST when I realized it was Salem, Oregon not Salem, Mass. Ninos changed to NENES, and Ewe to SOW.
I was in the Christmas spirit and wanted the Little Drummer Boy's RumPum until I was forced by perps into TAMTAM.
Anthem was too long for the "Hat-removing event" clue. Oh GUST!

Unknowns included ISSA, OMRI and NONA (not yesterday's Nonna!). But you will be happy to know that I am learning my American Supreme Court names!
I was thinking of OLAF from Frozen, but he was a snowman, not a count.
SCAR from Lion King today after Meercats the other day.
We are STEAMing the clams today after our Bake yesterday.

A few small nits: There are 7 teams who have been Two-time World Series champs; of course I thought of Jays before METS (and Jays two wins were back-to-back!). There are also multiple 9/11 Memorial sites (we even have one in Niagara) but I will admit that NYC is the primary one. Plus we had a slight dupe with ONE SHOT and that "Seat for a shot"=Bar STOOL. Again I will admit that the SHOTs have different meanings (although you might want to keep it to ONE SHOT at this festive season.

I'll post this and come back to read all your comments.
Enjoy the day.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-L ENDING OUT? Wow! Two vowel errors but I’m good.
-We had a tour guide in Savanah, GA who had a lovely SOUTHERN DRAWL. I asked where she was born, she said, “Davenport, Iowa”. She had moved to GA when she got married!
-Even the word TUNNEL makes me claustrophobic
-This device at Kennedy Space Center rotates with the Sun so the Sun lights up the names from behind in this memorial to astronauts who have died while in fights for training.
-It cost me $1.16 to mail my 1 OUNCE Christmas card to my cousin in Heiden, Switzerland
-What you DON’T say while biting your tongue is probably as important as what you do say
-Today I am finishing 3 consecutive days of arduous subbing! All right, it was a breeze but at least I get to sleep in tomorrow on the first day of Winter
-Congrats Lemon and Oo!

PK said...

Prayers for you, WikWak!

Thanks all, for the good advice. I'm hoping if I whimper awhile someone will come out of their way to get me at my house for our Christmas party. My independent active spirit is remembered by my kids. They have a hard time adjusting to my diminished current state or just don't want to believe it. Neither do I. Never heard of Uber here, Agnes.

Paul C.: good to get to know you better. You stretch our minds.

CanadianEh! said...

Thanks for dropping by, Paul. Such excitement anticipating a new grandchild.

Big Easy - Hand up for debating between Unmet and UNSET.

WikWak - wishing you some answers for your health condition, and improved strength. I can imagine that you are not looking forward to that "invasive Procedure".

PK - LOL re Biting your TONGUE. I agree with others that you should ask for help in getting to that location. Sometimes our children forget our limitations!

LATimes Crossword Addict said...

Lemonade:

I think the one on the left is Anne Boleyn and the one on the right is Anne of Cleves.

Yellowrocks said...

I'll try again. I just finished making the dough for butter pinwheel cookies from my grandma's recipe. One roll white and red. The other one green and red. I've been doing this for 60 Christmases, ever since I was in college. David always asks for them and I can't say no. Did you know that dishwasher detergent can remove food dye from your hands?
This was quite a crunchy puzzle but FIR. After I found that an L was missing I moved along. Favorite was hat removing event/gust. First thought was hair cut. I am taking Alan to the barber today. For 27a - seat for a shot - I was at the doctor's office with tush.
The renovation boss working on my house was ODED LEVY.
My province was in Canada until Asti led me to Italy.
We say fire station when we're thinking of the firefighters and their equipment. We say firehall when we're thinking of using their large room for an event or meeting. Very common here.
Carib was EASY.
As little kids we said Daddy and Mama.
WikWak, thoughts and prayers on your procedure. I hope it provides insight to solve your problem. We are with you. I hope you some feel better.
PK, if no one can pick you up at home, maybe you can do as Barry T said and have someone meet you part way to lead you there. I've done that for some friends.I don't like driving to unfamiliar places in the dark, even with my GPS. The street signs, as you say, are hard to read. Good luck.
Back to work.

Yellowrocks said...

OOPs, not "some" feel better, WiWak, but "soon" feel better.
Paul, thanks for a really great puzzle. I relish the challenge. And Lemon, thanks for your informative, very interesting blog, as usual. Happy anniversary to you and Oo.

Haiku Harry said...

Archeologists
Call their New Years Eve party
Annual SHIN DIG

Sandyanon said...

Owen, I give your poems A, A,A-.
The first is so appropriate today, unfortunately so. I wish Ruth Bader Ginsburg well, after she had two cancerous nodules removed from her lung yesterday.

Pedant the Brit said...

It may be my ethnicity, but I'm having trouble parsing "First-rate" as "Aces".

Misty said...

How nice of you to stop by, Paul C., and great news about the grandchild! Fridays are, of course, toughies for me (can't even think about the Saturday tomorrow). But I really enjoyed this one.

My first item, happily, was EEK, and my second one was FIRE HAL. I don't know why these popped into my head, but they did. Only FIRE created a problem with the down, because I wanted to put in ELLIE, and MISS didn't occur to me until much later. I also got WAIF and TARA and a few more, including TONGUE before the cheating started. But what fun, throughout. I soon got both ELENA and ALITO, and enjoyed getting YENTA. Anyway, thanks again, Paul C., for a fun Friday morning. And Lemonade, I still remember learning about you and Oo getting married four years ago. Many congratulations on your anniversary!

I'll never forget my early trips to the HOLLYWOOD BOWL many years ago, when I first came to California. On one occasion, some friends brought a lovely dinner and a bottle of champagne we shared in our seats. Hope that wasn't illegal, but we had a wonderful time. Happy memories.

PK, we all hope you get some help with your scary drive. I've begun letting people know that driving at night is difficult for me, and I'll either hope things can get scheduled earlier or that I'd appreciate a ride. So our hearts are with you.

WikWak, we'll be thinking of you and hoping your procedure won't be too arduous.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Tinbeni said...

Lemon: Nice write-up. Congrats on the 4th Anniversary.

Fave today, of course, was 27-a, Seat for a shot, STOOL ... though I rarely ever have a "Shot."
(I sip my Scotch ...)

Hope everyone has a Happy Festivus Day on Sunday.

Cheers!

Yellowrocks said...

As the ace is often the highest playing card, the extended sense based on "excellence, good quality" arose. I use ACES that way sometimes.
"It might not be museum-quality, but as populist art, this show is aces." The Daily Beast, November 30, 2011
Even more commonly, it is used in sentences such as, "I aced that test." I got an A, a high mark. Just like getting an ace in a card game.
An ace at anything is an expert.

OwenKL said...

Tony: I don't click on videos too often, and except for cartoons almost never watch for more than the few seconds they take to show the time and title. But the ones you've posted recently for the super-soaker and glitter bomb and mercury toilet I watched end to end! Great stuff!

25d -- shouldn't Count have been capitalized?

37d -- took me a while to find a legible version of that pajama top: "I FART, what's your super power?"

Faking a southern drawl? Wouldn't that be something like faking having a head? I spent a few college years in Alabama, and it don't matter where you're from, you spend even a week in the South, and you've got a drawl!

Miss Fischer, Doctor Blake, Death in Paradise, Father Brown, Endeavor, etc. -- love 'em all (ABC, BBC, CBC), but they're sporadic on PBS hereabouts.

Never saw an episode of Dallas, so no idea how I knew MISS ELLIE. Larry Hagman starred on I Dream of Jeannie! Anything else he did was non-canonical!

CYMBAL > TAMTAM, DOFF > GUST, GLUTE > STOOL (Hi, YR!), NAIF > WAIF

Chris: good one, as usual.

Lucina said...

Fabulous Friday! Thank you, Paul; you do stretch our minds and I appreciate that.

This morning my niece (one of them) and I went to the cemetery to take a wreathe and poinsettias to our dear ones' graves. The entire cemetery was ablaze with color! Flowers, small Christmas trees and all manner of decorations enlivened the graves.

This was a difficult solve but fun once I finally cobbled together a few words. Though the cluing was obscure I did manage to work out most of it. With SCAR I sussed CARIB then ALITO and RESEW is a familiar activity which was once my hobby. I used to love to SEW.

MOREL recalled some amusing times here at the Corner.

TAMTAM was a pure guess as was OMRI.

SOUTHERNDRAW first showed me the missing L.

NONA not nonna.

Finally I left some blank cel(l)s in the SW. I could not think of ENSE though I believe we've had it before. ACES went in, erased, went in again, erased. Left it blank and came to the grid for help.

Thank you, Lemonade. You are in fine form today and congratulations on your anniversary. I'm so happy for you and Oo.

Dudley, how lovely that you also enjoy Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Last night's repetition of nonna etched it into memory.

Have a tranquil day, everyone!

Lucina said...

OwenKL:
I loved your poems! I chuckled all the way through especially at MAKE IT SEW!

Picard said...

Some tough going, but loved the theme! OMRI seemed wrong for a name. So did ISSA. I reluctantly entered them thinking I was wrong. I was wrong. FIR!

OwenKL glad to appear in your post! Thanks!

CanadianEh hand up for A ONE before ACES. Hand up I still am not sure why ACES makes sense?

Hand up SALEM clue was deliberately confusing. I have only been to the SALEM in Mass. A very long bicycle ride from Boston!

Here again are my HOLLYWOOD BOWl photos with Paul McCartney performing!

Here again are my EAP (Edgar Allen Poe) photos in Baltimore

Learning moment about TAM TAM.

Lemonade Happy Anniversary! Thanks for the illustrated write-up!

Lemonade714 said...

Thank you Addict; you are correct.

I really enjoyed the Phryne Fisher books and the TV shows. I loved the first few seasons of Death In Paradise and am just catching up on season 6 on Netflix. Endeavour and so many of the BBC mysteries are great, though I have never gotten into the Dr. Blake . KERRY GREENWOOD also has written a wonderful series about a Melbourne baker. If you like reading they are inexpensive on Kindle.

JG said...

Actually, the HAL computer was named for the letters of the alphabet before IBM ! I used to make paper for IBM called Halopaque, and learned that.

Picard said...

From yesterday
Lucina thank you for the kind words about my MAYA friend Edgardo. We had adjacent benches in the laboratory, but that is not the main reason we became good friends. He was a very kind, caring person and we shared an interest in what was going on in Central America at that time in the 1980s. We are still reaping the bitter fruit that we sowed then.

He had a saying that was a bit sad:
"There is no happiness in life. You solve one problem. Then you have to go on and solve another problem."

Most immediately he was talking about our work as engineers. But he seemed to apply it to life in general. Still, he mostly was a happy person and I am grateful to have known him.

Picard said...

Did any of my fellow electronic engineering friends here think of this kind of ONE SHOT?

A monostable multivibrator? I was hoping to find a mechanical equivalent to share, but I can't seem to find any.

CrossEyedDave said...

My dead tree version was soaking wet today,
even with "two" plastic bags. So I had to go to Mensa.
I deftly chose "Master" to avoid the red letters,
and promptly filled the grid with WAGs...

Black WAGs, boy is my face red...

I must have messed up half the puzzle, and when
I finally turned on the red letters, the puzzle lit up like a Christmas Tree.
(which reminds me...)
Yellowrocks, what kind of Dishwasher Detergent do you use?
Mine is hard little cakes with red button on top, or gel packs.
The liquid stuff for the sink only seems to work on dishes.

I did find out after erecting the Christmas Tree, that a great way
to get Pine Tar off your hands is a drop of olive oil.

Anywho, cryptic clueing was enhanced by imagination,
I.E.: I swore the clue was "I" don't believe it, which made
the answer Myth a bit confusing. It was not until I reread the
clue "after" the Blog that I realized I wasn't there. (mentally or physically...)

AnyWhom, I did have fun once I discovered the missing "L",
but for me, the rest of the puzzle was a bit like this...

OwenKL said...

JG, sorry, the HAL / IBM story is a well-debunked MYTH.

Ol' Man Keith said...

But it's still a great story.
As are most MYTHs.

Dunno about ROE becoming "fish" in the "Future." When fish eggs enter my house under the guise of Caviar, they never make it that far...

Tough Coulter pzl today, requiring a couple of Googles from any reasonable solver, but otherwise manageable.

I was on the right track with the theme, or so I thought. It seemed to fall apart at 39A with FIRE HAL[l] because I did not know the Canadian term for a fire station. But I soldiered on, just solving individual fills w/o thinking of the theme. Turned out I had it right--just didn't know it.

Misty ~
You stir memories of my times at the HOLLYWOOD BOWL[l]. For me it was in the '90s when I attended several concerts there. Friends had a box with great seats. And yes, we usually picnicked with tasty treats and drink of all kinds. (Don't fear; it was always legal--or at least widely accepted.)
My wife is among many Americans who now recognize many standard musical classics, from Mozart to Beethoven, only because of Bugs Bunny & his several guest gigs at the HOLLYWOOD BOW[l]! I might be playing something in my home office, and her ears will perk up, and she'll tell me which WB cartoon it comes from.
~ OMK

Jayce said...

Running errands this morning so didn't get to the puzzle until after lunch. I liked it. HELIOSTAT is a nifty word. Had EWE before COW, and then there was "cow" in a clue and MISS ELLIE steered (ha ha) me to SOW. The camera part turned out to be IRIS, not LENS. Solved it all without red letters.

LW and I also like Miss Fisher and we remember that episode.

Speaking of driving to an unfamiliar destination, I learned something about the navigation system in our Camry. In anticipation of driving to our son's new house in San Diego, I programmed their address into the car's nav system, but we didn't go after all. So now the car keeps telling us to "turn right in half a mile" and so on and I don't know how to cancel the "route guidance." I can suspend it, which I did, but not cancel it. I guess when we do decide to drive there I can unsuspend it and away we go.

Good wishes to you all.

Anonymous T said...

Brilliant! Absolutely Brilliant, Paul C.

Hi All!

I actually got the reveal b/f any of the themers and parsed it a number of ways -- similar to OKL's GOUT, LEND IN | G OUT (that would have been a bitch of a theme)... not until 24a's HOLLYWOOD did it click - no L @ ENDING and I was finally able to break into the North w/ SLEEPER CEL [backfilled from CEL].

Alas, FIW. I had MIShELLIE for the Dallas answer. [can't red-letter a new-paper and Pilot G-2 .05 in black-ink]

Thanks Lem for the expo and Happy Anniversary! to you & Oo. //ANNE B is left (Addict beat me). I Love The Kinks, so yes.

WO: cOW b/f SOW after SHE showed up.
ESPs: Oy! let's not get into that - I only have 10 fingers & 10 toes...
Fav: I really liked the clue for EASY //I'm easily entertained
Sparkle: c/as for TONGUE, OUNCE, HALE, GUST. SHINDIG is just a fun word.

{A+, boo-hisss :-), B+} //BTW, mercury toilet & glitter bomb was link'd by CED; GlitterBomb got me to the SuperSoaker guy's (same guy) channel...
HaikuHarry: Cute!

PK@3:52a - always good advice at events w/ extended family.

WikWak - what's the issue? No matter, get well soon.

Paul C. - Thanks for stopping by The Corner and the original clue for HAL //really BigE? You have a death-wish? :-) - I named my computers after Rocky & Bullwinkle characters.

Picard - ONE SHOT for this E.E. is that final-build's test using my last bit of parts :-)

Never been to the HOLLYWOOD BOWl but enjoyed Intermission.

Cheers, -T

Michael said...

Dear WikWak:

From my own experience, if you are taking a number of medications, you might be having iatrogenic ulcers (i.e., ulcers caused by medications interacting).

In my case, aspirin (from a heart event), Trental (for PAD), plus Naproxen (Aleve, among other names), interacted to give me THREE stomach ulcers, and a massive bleed out, requiring 2 QUARTS of blood infusions to stabilize.

I don't know if this is close to your case, but I have learned to read all those 'Patient Information' sheets -- even if they are printed in a 6-point "Bodoni Illegible" typeface -- because we are all necessarily experimental 'lab rats' for the pharmaceutical industry.

Jayce said...

Congratulations, Lemonade. Wow, four years already! Glad they have been happy years.

Yellowrocks said...

Picard, did you see my post at 12:24?
Even if you never heard aces used this way, thinking of acing a test or being a pitching ace is similar enough to be a hint.

Hitachi said...

The MOREL pic had me thinking what our old friends would have done with the mention of a monostable multivibrator.

Multiple O's, perhaps? But I'm sure all would discourage anyone from sharing any mechanical equivalent.

CrossEyedDave said...

Hitachi@5:16

Yes,

Monostable had me thinking of a lonely horse

Multivibrator, (but I digress...)

P.S. Picard, I saved it to digest later,
I just hope I don't need pepto Bismol.

billocohoes said...

I like Death in Paradise, even if it's a little formulaic. Scenery is nice during long, dark days in the Northeast. But the local PBS station has only been repeating seasons 4 thru 7, so I've never seen the first DI or Humphrey's debut.

My bride doesn't like Dr. Blake but we'll watch Phryne Fisher and Murdoch Mysteries/The Artful Detective

Wilbur Charles said...

FLN, thx -T, all I could think of was Gronk, Ditka, Whitten*...

Btw, I needed 2/3 perps to get NLF for Viet Cong, this after a year in country

Today.
I was trying to think of the second METS WS then the pain returned

I fell for every misdirection (1d,37d,...) But still FIR ed. I changed OISE to OUSE. The former is French

I don't see your problem with NEW AGERS being Spritual (ists?). Web seems to say that exactly

Lemony, you should try Paul's 1202 NYtimes. And. Congratulations.

Owen, all W's, especially #2
Well, the Philistines don't mind saying "BAR-STUN". Apparently, that's what they hear.

WC



* He's been panned along with the rest of the NFL TV crew he works with. They have a guy on a revolving platform opining about various and sundry

IM, yes. I can't get that name right. I wiki'ed it and learned a lot about SW FL history

Ps . Got the biopsy of the proxy news today . MEH. We'll continue to monitor it we agreed.

Yellowrocks said...

CED, I used liquid Cascade 6x+Clorox dishwasher detergent. Then I soothed my hands with hand cream.
Alan is taking Atavin this week. He has a stomach ache and does not feel like eating. Could the Atavin be the cause?
It has been a long day. My novel is calling me. I think I will make a wine run first. Murder mystery and Merlot.

Sandyanon said...

YR, your end of the day sounds great. I hardly ever drink wine, so my version would be a good book and some hot tea.

TTP said...

WikWak, thinking about you. Best wishes for a speedy resolution.

Many moons ago, I breadboarded an astable multivibrator and encased it in a little black box, but the FCC and cable company warnings scared me off...

This day in history ?
1913: The first newspaper crossword puzzle, billed as a “Word-Cross Puzzle,” was published in the New York World.

Misty said...

Loved hearing your own happy memories of the Hollywood Bowl, Ol'Man Keith.

And I too love Phryne Fisher and her Murder Mysteries. But my favorite will always be the Murdoch Mysteries--set in Toronto in the 1920's and 30s. Do you watch them, CanadianEh?--they are just wonderful.

CrossEyedDave said...

Here is a site that simply explains
astable, monostable, & bistable multivibrators
BEFORE going into more technical details,
so it is easier to digest...