google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, January 11, 2019, Jeffrey Wechsler

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Jan 11, 2019

Friday, January 11, 2019, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Y?

Jeffrey gives us a substitution puzzle, where LE is replaced by Y. Which seems like a random concept, until you see the wit that inspired the choice. Each of the fill is a very funny play on words. Once again he uses the expedient of adding a column to create a 15 x 16 grid. The seed entry is likely one of the grid-spanning fill; my guess is  NEEDY IN A HAYSTACK, but that is just a guess. 66 theme squares are a challenge and limit some of the fill, but we still get  ASKED OF, THEATRE, AQUARIAN, COAT TREE, TICKETED and TRAINS IN.

18A. Indigent ones hiding among bales?: NEEDY IN A HAYSTACK (16). You are more likely to have an indigent person hide in your haystack than a needle anyway.

29A. Holders of poor-taste gifts?: TACKY BOXES (10). For all the fisher people a tackle box is needed. I think a bad gift can come in a nice box. 

35A. Result of smashing a piñata during a hurricane?: CANDY IN THE WIND (14). A very amusing image of candy flying everywhere with Elton JOHN in the background.

44A. Script for an absurdist play?: BATTY LINES (10). Battle lines are drawn but hopefully not quartered.

59A. Concept for creating difficult crossword puzzles?: TRICKY DOWN THEORY (16).  Trickle Down Theory of economics is a political hot topic. So no COMMENT.

Across:

1. Old gas station freebie: MAP. It has been a long time since free maps were given out. In fact, there are MANY things no longer at gas stations.

4. One holding all the cards?: WALLET. A wonderfully deceptive clue.

10. "__ run!": GOTTA.

15. Texter's cautioning letters: IMOIMOpinion.

16. Take to the skies: AVIATE. We had this clued last August by Paul Coulter, as Do the Wright thing?

17. "The Phantom of the Opera" setting: PARIS. The Paris Opera (French: Opéra de Paris; French) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra.

21. Like much ordinary history: UNTOLD. Who cares what people ate for lunch on October 10, 1975.

22. Japanese volcano: ASO. Nice to see a fill other than LOA or KEA. Aso volcano has produced more explosive eruptions than any other volcano in the world. Aso is a caldera about 12 miles (20 km) in diameter. The first documented eruption in Japan was at Naka-dake in 553.

23. Long walk: HIKE. To get to the top of the volcano, I guess. Ask JOE.

24. Author Jong: ERICA.



25. Ascended: GONE UP.

28. Stark in "Game of Thrones": NED. Birth name Eddard played brilliantly by Sean Bean, I liked him also in the Frankenstein Chronicles.



31. Must: HAS TO.

33. Presidential nickname: ABE.

34. Type of pitcher: RELIEF. Not to drink from but for baseball.

41. Food industry headgear: TOQUES. We have seen many clues for this chef's hat.

42. Barrel contents: OIL. Sometimes.

43. __ cuisine: HAUTE. From the French for high dinging. For years the French chefs (many of whom wore toques) were considered the world's best and their culinary schools as well. Not so much anymore.

51. PHL stat: ETAEstimated Time of Arrival. Crossword glue.

52. Calls: PHONES. Verb, not noun.

54. Lavender asset: AROMA. Do you like the SMELL?

55. Gillette brand: ATRA.

57. Like Dorothy Parker's humor: WRY. The original use for the adjective wry was to describe something that was bent or twisted, so a sprained ankle could be described as "a wry ankle." Wry humor and wry wit both describe a sense of humor that is a little twisted from the norm. JW?

58. Pollen site: STAMEN.

63. Gaucho's tool: REATA.

64. Gift to an audience: ENCORE. An odd concept when the crowd is demanding it.

65. "Road to __": Hope/Crosby film: RIO.

66. Wee, jocularly: EENSY. The eensy weensy spider went up the water spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain. Then the eensy weensy spider went up the spout again.

67. Ancient eponymous advisor: NESTOR. Eponymous because the word has become, like kleenex a generic term for a wise man. He was a Greek leader who appeared in the Iliad, now noted for his wisdom and his talkativeness, both of which increased as he aged. These days, a nestor is not necessarily long-winded, but merely wise and generous with his advice.

68. Ernie with irons: ELS. Golf.

Down:

1. Stately dance: MINUET.

2. Ancient Egyptian deity: AMEN-RA. He was a god in whom Amen and Ra were combined: the god of the universe and the supreme Egyptian god during the period of Theban political supremacy.

3. How one might wax, but not wane: POETIC. 32D. 3-Down pugilist: ALI.
There live a great man named Joe
who was belittled by a loudmouth foe.
While his rival would taunt and tease
Joe silently bore the stings.
And then fought like gladiator in the ring.

4. Ambush: WAYLAY.

5. Passionate: AVID. Like Gary and his golf, or Picard his picture taking.

6. Architect Maya __: LIN. American architect and sculptor concerned with environmental themes who is best known for her design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., designed when she was only 21 and at Yale. The daughter of intellectuals who had fled China in 1948,

7. 2002 W.S. champs, nowadays: LAA. Los Angeles Angels.

8. Hydrocarbon gas: ETHANE.

9. Kids: TEASES.

10. Traveler's aid, briefly: GPSGlobal Positioning System.

11. Censor's target: OATH. Bad words, not hand on the bible. Swearing not swearing.

12. Prepares for, as a profession: TRAINS IN. I miss the old days with apprentices.

13. Cited on the road: TICKETED. Always a bad feeling getting stopped.

14. Required from: ASKED OF.

19. Harbor sight: DOCK.

20. The Gershwins' "Embraceable __": YOU. One of the most recorded songs of all time by so many different artists. I picked...



25. Arid Asian region: GOBI. In the desert,  you do not see many...

26. Pair in a field: OXEN. But you do hear ...

27. "Is it ever hot today!": PHEW.

30. Hudson and James: BAYS.

34. Count (on): RELY.

35. Foyer convenience: COAT TREE.

36. Winter birth, perhaps: AQUARIAN.

37. Commonly hexagonal hardware: NUT. A hexagonal nut is a type of metal fastener that has six sides. Most nuts are cut in a hexagonal shape since it seems to be the easiest shape to grasp.

38. Not superficial: DEEP.

39. Purse relative: TOTE.

40. Pop radio fodder: HITS.



41. London's Old Vic, for one: THEATRE. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre, in 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal Victoria Palace. It was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 and formally named the Royal Victoria Hall, although by that time it was already known as the "Old Vic". wiki.

44. Corporate source of the Elmer's Glue logo: BORDEN.  It has been 80 years since 1939 when Borden introduces the iconic bull, Elmer, as the husband of their spokes cow, Elsie. The pair spends their first few years of marriage appearing in print ads espousing the many virtues of Borden dairy products.

45. Random individual: ANYONE.

46. Agitation metaphor: LATHER. Working up a...

47. Wrath, in a hymn: IRAE. Dies Irae.

48. "When!": NO MORE. From the concept of, "say when" to stop.

49. "Bam!" chef: EMERIL. I do not see Mr. Lagasse much these days.

50. Some HDTVs: SANYOS. On December 21, 2009, Panasonic completed a 400 billion yen ($4.5 billion) acquisition of a 50.2% stake in Sanyo, making Sanyo a subsidiary of Panasonic. Then, in 2011, Sanyo became a wholly owned subsidiary of Panasonic.

53. 1-Acr. marking: HWY. On the free map, you no longer get.

56. Book after John: ACTS. I do not have the books of the New Testament memorized but the King James version lists these in ORDER.

58. Minute Maid Park player, to fans: STRO. A Houston Astro.

60. Jewelry giant: KAY. They are owned by the British Company Signet Jewelers Kay Jewelers, Jared The Galleria of Jewelry and Zales.

61. Lavs: WCS. Water Closets. The famous Jack Paar joke that caused him to walk off his show. The STORY.

62. "Just kidding!": NOT. I really loved when this was popular. Not!

It is time to say goodbye after another wonderful Wechsler window into the wild world of words. It was nice to have JW back on Friday. Look forward to all of your comments and coming back next week. Lemonade out.


49 comments:

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks To JW and Lemonade!

Hooray! Finished a Friday JW sans error!

Needed perp help with: ASO, NESTOR, LAA, BORDEN and SANYOS.

Have a great day!

OwenKL said...

I'm in need of a MAP of PARIS
To predict what a taxi fare is.
I tried to use Lyft
To the Champs-Elysee --
The route wasn't like my G.P.S.'s!

People may think I am POETIC.
Others that I'm just eccentric.
I try to write more,
Each poem's an ENCORE,
But each one I fear is pathetic!

When you fly, do you AVIATE?
On land, do you drive a V-eight?
When you see in the sky
Well-fed geese flying by
Do you wonder whatever a V ate?

{B-, B, B+.}

PK said...

Hi Y'all! TRICKY DOWN THEORY, indeed! Jeffrey gets so TRICKY it drives me BATTY! Very amusing theme today which I got with the first one. That helped with the others very much. Thanks, Jeffrey. Thanks, Lemonade.

For Hudson & James, I was thinking rivers. Tried "rios". Nope. BAYS! Last to fill: "B" and "X" in BOXES/BAYS/OXEN crosses. Duh!

1-Acr.: thought this was one acre not 1-across. Perps filled before I caught on.

DNK: AMENRA, ASO. Lavs = loos before WCS. Dealer held cards before WALLET.

"Old Vic" is not a prison, court, bailey, but a THEATRE. I knew better. At least I spelled it "RE".

I liked the RELY/RELIEF cross. It is such a RELIEF to be able to RELY on someone.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Hooray for Wite-Out. I really needed it this morning with PORN/SMUT/OATH, HATTER/LATHER, and in Baja with THEATER, COATRACK, and ACQUARIUS. What a mess! Got it all straightened out, but it was a struggle. Thanx, Jeffrey and Lemonade. (When I learned it, that spider was Itsy Bitsy.)

PHL: Had to look that up after finishing the puzzle. Airport code for Philadelphia.

BORDEN: The original Elmer's was made with casein, a milk product. Borden sold the Elmer's line '99.

WRY: Dorothy Parker was asked to use "horticulture" in a sentence -- "You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think." Her tombstone epitaph reads "Pardon my dust"

CartBoy said...

Always LOVE a JW puzzle. Late recognition of theme. I has thinking "lose an E" a la "CANDL"/"TACKL" but that wasn't working so finally got the "Y" from "BAYS". Northcentral was nearly my undoing but finally, after sussing through every kind of card possible, "WALLET" made the scene. Favorite answer - "WAYLAY".

Lemonade714 said...

Tom, I learned ITSY BITSY as well the link appeared so I ran with it.

PK I think it is the acrosses that are TRICKY

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIW because my history was reTOLD, not UNTOLD. If an old guy can't retell his tory, what can he do? I can tell you firsthand what an old guy CAN'T do.

Hand up for erasing dealer for WALLET. Also trek for HIKE, TOpUES and smut for OATH. As an NHL fan I was trying to think of a Pacific Hockey League (if there is such a thing - I pay a little attention to the East Coast Hockey League - ECHL) stat.

Thanks to JeffWech for another terrific puzzle. And thanks to Lemonade for the fun review.

jfromvt said...

Jeffrey has fun, challenging puzzles. Took a bit to figure out the theme, but then was able to finish up. Had DEALER instead of WALLET for 4A which held me up a bit.

Bitter cold, sunny day in VT, we always get this weather in January after a snowstorm. My friend wanted to go skiing today, but I passed, -5F at the top of the mountains.

Yellowrocks said...

Much fun, Jeffrey. Witty blog, Lemon. Finding the theme helped the solve. I missed FIR by one cell. I was very sure of Aquarius. Not! I also was sure of REATA, so that left EESSY. Huh? And Aquarias, spelled incorrectly. Oh, -----ian which better fits the clue and EENSY. Should have been easy to get. Loved the puzzle.
Alan and I spent six and a half hours together in the emergency room yesterday. Alan was still there half asleep when I left. He was waiting for transfer to another facility. He was hospitalized for anxiety. That explains his testiness, second elopement, and lack of reasonableness. He had been so well for several months.

Anonymous said...

Lit the fuse on this one. Watched the wick burn down to the end. And then...pffft. Nothing. So...no report.

TTP said...

Good morning. Thank you Jeffrey and Lemonade.

Got on a roll in the middle, and got CANDY IN THE WIND, followed by BATTY LINES. Then decided it was commonly known phrases with an LE being replaced by a Y. A good Friday challenge that was over too soon.

Hand up for thinking PHL might be Pacific Hockey League.


It was a dark and rainy night...

Trying to make his ETA, Husker Gary uttered a mild OATH as he realized that his speeding down the HWY had been detected by the law enforcement officer.

Later, putting his license back in his WALLET with much RELIEF knowing he wasn't going to be TICKETED, Husker Gary let out an audible PHEW ! "NO MORE," he thought to himself. "This speeding has GOTTA stop. That could have cost me a STACK of money and my insurance could have GONE UP !"


Speaking of insurance, I had to inspect the computer system following the Houston BORDEN Explosion in 1983. Uh, it was obviously a complete loss. Damaged beyond repair, but they needed the formal assessment and statement for the insurance company.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Lemonade said it well: "…… another wonderful Wechsler window into the wild world of words." I enjoyed it very much with the breath of fill and challenging cluing. Got the theme after TACKY BOXES; and that gave me a heads up on 'Y' placement on the remaining long acrosses. Had Mug before MAP; dunno why, MAP really is the best answer. Fav orite clue was for WALLET.
BAYS - Got it quickly. Toured the LaGrande complex of Hydro-Quebec once. LaGrande is tributary to northern James Bay.
ETHANE - Methane is the major component of Natural Gas. Minor fractions include ETHANE, propane and butane.

PK said...

Lemonade @ 7:37a.m.: I agree, but with a JeffWex both are tricky. Besides the theme clue was about DOWNS.

YR: Your anxiety level is probably high also, bless your heart. Prayers for resolutions and calming influences on both you & Alan.

Raining & supposed to snow here. My DIL is supposed to have her cervical disc replacement today. Haven't been able to get in touch with them to see what's going on for over a week. Busy time for them.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Me too on Lemon’s summative paragraph. TRICKY DOWN THEORY? Wow!
-I was on my bike when I learned this isn’t always a freebie anymore
-Ken Burns’ Vietnam documentary revealed a lot of UNTOLD history to me
-WRY humor? I’ll see your Dorothy Parker and raise you Steven Wright
-“Elvis has left the building” told the audience he did not do ENCORES
-Lemon, NESTOR is as familiar as Kleenex?
-Oh sure, I remember PAVANE but get MINUET!
-Larry David threatened to quit if the CENSOR would not ok The Contest episode (only relevant if you know who Larry David is and what the contest involved)
-What a hoot, TTP! As I said yesterday I did not get TICKETED recently because the officer was a former student!
-Foul-tempered chefs, unlike EMERIL, with cooking shows never make it onto my SANYO

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeffrey Wechsler, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.

Well, this was a tough one, for two reasons. Friday and Jeffrey Wechsler. I really enjoy his puzzles. They make you think.

The first theme answer I was able to get was BATTY LINES. Lots of good perps I guess.

Tried AIR for 1A. Thought that was a gimmie. Later I put in MAP.

Tried DEALER for 4A. It became obvious that was not a good word. Got a few downs and then WALLET hit me in the head.

GOBI and OXEN helped a lot.

Well, have to run. See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Yellowrocks said...

PK, thanks for caring. Best wishes for your DIL. Please let us know how she does.That was the operation I was anticipating, but we are working on carpal tunnel for now.
I got behind in everything this last week. My whole house is discombobulated, including the Christmas decorations taken down and not boxed. I am gaining on it bit by bit. My back requires me to work in short spurts. It is us hard to know when to push and when to rest. I read novels for stress relief. I have to careful not to get so into them that I forget to put them down and get back to work.
When I was in high school the music department staged May Festivals. Some of us dressed in beautiful 18th century costumes and did the MINUET.
I loved the Jack Paar story, Lemonade. It is strange in this loud, crass, profane culture, that we also have the exact opposite, finding offense in every little thing. In most of life these days, there seems to be no middle ground.
It is abnormally cold today with bright blue skies. I love blue skies and sunshine.
Back to my boxing up. I am edging into stalling in place of resting.

CanadianEh! said...

Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jeffrey and Lemonade.
Yes, I got the theme, LE to Y, and smiled broadly at TACKY BOXES. I'm with PK in thinking that it would have been even better if the themers had run DOWN instead of Across to go with TRICKLE DOWN. That would probably have been a constructor's nightmare.

Great work TTP. I too thought of Husker Gary's story from the other day with TICKETED.
Yeah, THEATRE spelled the proper British way.
Did anyone else think of Bikini before POETIC with that waxing?
I thought of Oprah and her gifts to the audience before ENCORE filled the spot.
Clue for WALLET was great!
I had TRAINS To before IN, and did not like the cross with HAS TO. Amended.
Rose up went in for "Ascended" before GONE UP.
I was thankful that perps filled in ETA; I googled later to confirm that PHL represented the Philadelphia airport.

Hand up with Spitzboov for Mug before MAP. Those bygone gas stations used to hand out lots of things, like cups, glasses and probably mugs.
This Canadian knew that Hudson and James were BAYS. (Aside to Spitzboov, DH's cousin was involved in the James Bay Hydroelectric project.)

Even DH could not remember which team played in Minute Maid Park. We were debating between a team in Florida or California where the oranges grow. Then STROS appeared. Oh, Houston! AnonT would have known immediately.

Thoughts and prayers for YR and Alan, and PK's DIL.

Best wishes to you all.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Friday + JW = Happy Irish Miss! It took a few minutes before I saw where the word play was going, but when I caught on, I actually chuckled. My favorite themer was Needy in a Haystack, but they were all funny images. That clue for Wallet certainly led more than a few of us to Dealer. My other stumbles were Miss Parker's humor being Dry instead of Wry (I should have known better) and Aquarian being Aquarius. My unknowns were: Aso, Ned, Nestor and Amen Ra. I loved the theme and the cluing and, most of all, the satisfying solve!

Thanks, Jeffrey W, for always challenging and never disappointing and thanks, Lemony, for always informing and never boring!

PK, best wishes for your DIL's surgery and recovery.

YR, I wish I could offer more than moral support but please know we care deeply and are always here for you.

Have a great day.

Lucina said...

Thank you, JW, for a TRICKY puzzle!

I loved CANDY IN THE WIND! I can see it clearly! It's amazing to me that the popularity of the lowly piñata has grown across the country and the world! I saw it on a British drama recently. (The tilde was added automatically! How cool is that?)

1-acr. mystified me and I thought Dorothy Parker's humor was DRY so erred in that area.

Otherwise, it is a RELIEF to finish all the rest of this brilliantly conceived puzzle. My one write over was NESTOR for Newton but LATHEn didn't make sense nor did WCW. All taken care of.

Here in AZ we don't see too many COAT TREEs. Actually, last Sunday I wore my COAT to church because it isn't heated and I was glad to have it.

I really liked the clue for WALLET but it doesn't apply to me. My cards are in an aluminum case which I purchased after one of my cards was compromised and likely by being "lifted" since I didn't take it out of my WALLET where it was at that time.

AMENRA was in another puzzle I solved recently and I've noticed AMEN is a common name among middle eastern men.

PARIS. I have such good memories of my visit there.

Dies IRAE. Day of wrath. It's sung during the Requiem Funeral Mass.

Have a happy day, everyone!

Lucina said...

Lemonade, thank you. You always educate and enlighten me.

Misty said...

A Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle--Woohoo!--always a treat. But of course Friday makes it a toughie for me, although I was happy to get some corners and chunks before the cheating started. Had all sorts of odd problems, like thinking Hudson and James would be persons, not BAYS, and putting in EWES instead of OXEN, and WRY instead of DRY. But I got ERICA--we haven't seen her for a while, have we? And I got EMERIL even though my cooking skills have pretty much plunged in the last few years. And, of course, I didn't get the theme until Lemondade's always delightful write-up. So, many thanks, Jeffrey and Lemonade, for getting my Friday off to a fun start.

Yellowrocks, how sad to have Alan in such poor shape again. Take good care of yourself at this difficult time.

Have a great weekend coming up, everybody!

Tinbeni said...

Ho-Hum ... another "change-a-letter ... create-wacky-phrase" Friday puzzle.

(Though I admit it was a FUN solve).

Fave was the NEEDY IN A HAYSTACK.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

I'll try to get by with temps only in the 70's.

Cheers!

Big Easy said...

After slogging through Wechler's puzzle I was down to one square. It would either be ETHANE or ETHENE because my knowledge of the Japanese word for volcano is non-existent. I guessed "A" and got lucky and didn't get WAYLAYed. The LE to Y was an easy spot but the clues were tough. Changes:

Purse- TAKE to TOTE, as in the prize or gate money
Card holder- DEALER to WALLET, which gave me the unknowns LIN and LAA
Map Abbr.- RTE to HWY
Censor's target- it wasn't SMUT or PORN, dammit it was an OATH
My long walk went from a TREK to a HIKE.

NESTOR (Kirchner- ex president on Argentina) and NED Stark (never having seen the show I remember an actress named KOO Stark) were other unknowns filled by perps.

Elmer's glue source is NOT BORDEN. It once was but not any longer. Company name??? Elmer's Products.
GOTTA run. Time for me to take a HIKE.

Misty said...

Owen and Ol'Man Keith, the Jumble site is not letting me post any comments this morning. I started a comment but it disappeared and when I tried again I was told I had to either save a file or click on the other option, but neither one let me actually post a comment. Let me know if you can help in any way--I would really miss not being able to converse with you every morning about the Jumble.

AnonymousPVX said...

Wow, big surprise, a Friday Wechsler crunchy enough to crack a tooth! Featuring a no giveaway theme, at least for me.

I had to work my way from the SE up, trying to grab a foothold wherever I could, finally getting the solve but a LOT of work.

Not too many markovers only because I couldn’t even guess at first, lots of blank cells.

Markovers.... ROSEUP/GONEUP, WINDY/CANDY....WING/WIND,DRY/WRY, TEENY/EENSY, WHEW/PHEW.

If this Saturday level puzzle is today, what awaits tomorrow? Stay tuned...

Misty said...

Never mind, Owen and Ol'Man Keith--I was able to post on the Jumble after all. Hope it'll continue to keep working okay.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Veddy clevuh, this Wechsler chap!
Time and again he comes up with the most amusing pzls. Some are quite recondite, but others are within reach following a serious application of P+P.
What of today's opus?
Ta ~ DA!
I got a kick out of this. Many of the clues were witty misdirections or overly broad allusions, but I caught onto the right wavelength, so count it as time well spent.

I chuckled at 44A, with BATTY LINES as the response to "Script for an absurdist play."
It is not just the spoken "lines" that are nuts in this particular genre. Ionesco's The Bald Soprano, for instance, opens with a middle-aged couple sitting silently on stage--while "the clock strikes seventeen."
~ OMK

Jayce said...

A lovely puzzle with a perfect balance of head scratching and tummy chuckling. Hand up for filling AIR instead of MAP and DEALER instead of WALLET. Well clued, that. I knew Maya LIN but LAA looked awfully strange and made me think of a scary Kipling creature.

Best wishes to you all.

Lucina said...

YR:
I, also, wish we could offer more than moral support as Irish Miss said. Please know that I am holding you up and send you a firm, virtual hug.

Tonight we are going to attend a play by the Detour! Company which I have mentioned before. It is a group of mentally disabled adults who inspire me every time I see them on stage. They look so confident and exert all their effort into their roles.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Misty ~
Glad you were able to figure out the Jumble posting. I find it a little disconcerting now that a new page opens up when we go to write a comment. Maybe that is what threw you earlier.
Owen explained why this is so, but I didn't quite understand it. I'm just rolling with it, and I guess we'll get used to it soon enough.
~ OMK

LACW ADDICT said...

Only problem I had was trying to fit "needys in a haystack" instead of needy, because I read the clue as plural -- "Indigent ones hiding" - finally when I realized that all the rest of the theme clues were singular, I went with needy, and thus, I was able to solve the puzzle. FIR!

LACW Addict

January 11, 2019 at 2:32 PM

Lemonade714 said...

LACW NEEDY in this context is the plural, A created noun it is in the dictionary as
"noun ( used with a plural verb ) needy persons collectively (usually preceded by the ):
Help the needy. In no context does the word NEEDYS exist.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Jayce, et al. ~
My hand is up for AIR before MAP.
I think that must have been an early trap for most of us.
It's one of those mean fills, the kind where you are certain that at least that one must be right--but it's not!

In response to 3D, then, I suppose one may only wane prosaic.
~ OMK

SwampCat said...

Keep losing my post

SwampCat said...

I’ll try again.

WOW! That’s all I can say about this treasure from our favorite wordsmith .

Loved TOQUE, and HAUTE cuisine, and EMERIL all near each other.

Also THEATRE, Old Vic, Phantom of the Opera, Absurdist Play Script, even Road to RIO. Mini themes or just Wechsler magic?

Thanks! And thanks Lemonade for your gushy and appropriate tribute!

SwampCat said...

Owen, good work!

YR, good thoughts coming your way.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Needed two cheats to finally get on a roll - LIN and ASO. Technical DNF.

But I had fun in your playground JeffWex! Thanks for another fantastic Friday puzzle full of "Huh?"s, "Oh sh**, really(?). Cute"s, and "Aha!"s.

Thank you too Lem for the expo -- especially parsing AMEN-RA for my Duh! I enjoyed the Joe v. ASO side-bar.

WOs: Aral, Ural, wait for perps :-). wHEW b/f PHEW, Real b/f DEEP, 'COAT rack' caused much ink to spill in the SW.
ESPs: AMENRA, NESTOR(? - I was shooting for NEwTon (Hi Lucina!) until "Go 'STROs!"*, et.al. [too many to list]
Fav: Clue for POETIC. Got it right off but wouldn't commit w/o perps for too long; when I did UNTOLD filled.

Hand-up w/ WEES re: Professional Hockey League(?).... Thanks D-O for clarifying that.
Other Hand-up for enjoying the Wa-CKY [sic] (my first thought @59a) theme. My first 'get' was 18a from the right-side.

It may be because of the proximity in the grid or my proximity in solve but I liked the tune DOCK and BAYS [Otis - 2:46] elicited.
//Misty - I find with the 'X and Y' type clues, it's really helpful to say aloud each separately and then grab the 1st thing that comes to mind. Hudson gave me BAY (didn't know there's a James Bay, but it (bay) fit w/ ABE). Just an Pro-tip from an amateur. :-)

{A, A+, B+}

YR - I hope they can get to the root-cause of the anxiety; could it be related to the impending move?
You & Alan are in my thoughts as is PK & her DIL... God Speed to all y'all.

BigE - the clue was Corporate source... at the time the source of Elmer was BORDEN. See: Engines of Our Ingenuity [click the link for audio if you don't want to read it] //that's not really for you, BigE, but for our (apparently many) readers (that don't pipe-up)

TTP - I thought you were speaking out of school on HG, then I recalled the story. LOL!
Also, thanks for the history re: the Borden plant. Not being in H-Town in '83, I'd never learned of that.

HG - I know of The Contest ["I'm Out!"] - one of the funniest episodes ever.

Swamp - I thought the same things re: the mini-themes. Too much fun!

Cheers, -T
*Yes I did C, Eh! @11:11a - helped breakup the SE for me.
FYI - Coke's Minute Maid brand is headquartered in Sugar Land (Houston exurb and my Fair City, TX) and was the best (available) company after Enron went bust. See Wiki and scroll down to "Opening and current use."

CrossEyedDave said...

Sigh,

Another JeffWech puzzle
had me looking for clues...

Jayce said...

OMK, "I suppose one may only wane prosaic" is brilliant!

Picard said...

Got the theme right away with CANDY IN THE WIND. Fun!

Hand up DEALER before WALLET. Hand up ETHANE/ASO was a WAG. Got it to FIR.

Lemonade thanks for the AVID shout out and for the helpful links. The word "THEORY" has a very different meaning in science than in common usage. In science, it means verifiable and tested using controls. In common usage it means "speculative guess".

Thanks for the Jack Paar WC story!

This OIL never made it into a barrel and took a major cleanup effort near where we live.

I got up this morning just in time to see this SpaceX rocket launch from right in front of our apartment!

No aSTROS on board, though. Just a lot of Iridium satellites!

inanehiker said...

This was a slow start - but a fun romp as I picked up speed with the theme.

I though AMEN RA sounded familiar as the pharaoh in the "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" (3rd movie in the trilogy), but that was "Akh men ra" - played by Rami Malek of recent "Mr Robot" TV fame and playing Freddie Mercury in the "Bohemian Rhapsody" movie that won the Golden Globe for best dramatic movie.

We started a 2 day snow fest - so a much calmer weekend ahead as many plans were cancelled. Kansas City is supposed to get less - which will be better for the Chiefs/Colts game tomorrow in Arrowhead.

Thanks Lemonade for a entertaining write-up and JW for a creative puzzle

p.s. to Irish Miss from yesterday - I did think there was a lot of description but I just kind of gave way to it and enjoyed the people's stories. Sort of like here at the Corner where people from all walks of life happily intersect!

Bill G said...

There is supposed to be another rocket launch from Vandenburg AFB tonight at 7:31 but the clouds have made it unlikely I'm going to get to enjoy it. Rats!

Picard said...

BillG I think perhaps you read the schedule incorrectly? The rocket I saw launched at 7:31AM this morning. Did you see my video above?

We are in Goleta. Where are you?

PK said...

Thanks for the good wishes for my DIL. However, the surgery is postponed until next Friday. Bummer, after I prayed all day. Will that prayer hold over until next Friday, do you think? Postponement came because of a coding error which meant that their insurance co. did not pre-approve the surgery. The hospital was set up to go at 5 a.m.. Son & DIL were on their way to the city motel night before when they got a call/text from somewhere in Virginia that the surgery was not pre-approved. The staff at the KCKS hospital thought it was pre-approved. Once again the tail wagged the dog & screwed things up. Too expensive to go ahead with the surgery if insurance won't pay. Son & DIL also missed a day of work with the travel, etc.

Bill G said...

Picard, we are in Manhattan Beach. I'm pretty sure I read the information correctly though the article may have been in error, and yes, I watched your video with envy.

Picard said...

Bill G that is unfortunate that the information you read was incorrect. I use a site called Spaceflight Now

Here is the Spaceflight Now Launch Schedule

Here is the email list that I joined that gives me alerts.

I find it necessary to refer to the site and to the email list as neither is perfect on its own. I hope this helps!

Anonymous T said...

CED - I finally got to finish (ads, ads!, ads!) the I-Robot Outer Limits link you provided the other day. Thanks! -T

Wilbur Charles said...

I never managed to post yesterday. Tricky but doable thanks to theme. The CANDY/COAT TREE cross held me up along with not using reading glasses hence mixing up the ACTS with STRO.

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

This was my first clean FIR in days.

WC