google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, January 4, 2019, Brian Herrick

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Jan 4, 2019

Friday, January 4, 2019, Brian Herrick

Title: This debut is his BEST effort.

Happy New year from Friday and we begin 2019 with a new constructor. We are back to themes with the maiden effort from our fourth constructor named Brian. I guess I should welcome him with this Link. Welcome, Brian. Today we have three themers and a two-part reveal. It is another missing word puzzle, as close to a rebus as Rich Norris allows -so far. With 49 theme squares, we are given lots of longer fill. ADD ONTO, AMOROUS, ASSUMES, DRUNKEN, EGOLESS, EMERALD, LEONARD, MAGENTA, PIE SHOP, RIHANNA, SENDERS, SORROWS, and STRIPES which I like better than Sunday's stipes. Nice triple-stacked 7s in each corner, but some very challenging fill. I await your reaction.

17A. Give it the old college try: DO ONE'S LEVEL BEST (11).

27A. Benchmarks on the way to mastery: GOOD BETTER BEST. (10).

41A. "Please don't expect any more from me": I'M TRYING MY BEST. (10).

40D. With 51-Across, Sinatra classic, and a hint to completing three puzzle answers: THE BEST. (7)
51A. See 40-Down: IS YET TO COME (11). Time to let Frank sing us into the solve. 

Across:

1. Logician Turing: ALAN. A very important figure in the birth of computers and computers science who sadly was driven to suicide for the way he was treated as a gay. LINK.

5. 15-Across protagonist: RIPLEY. Sigourney Weaver was this character in  15A. 1986 sci-fi sequel: ALIENS.

11. HMO group: MDS.

14. Try out, briefly: DEMO.

16. Exist: ARE.

19. Spray __: GUN. Not my first or second thought but real. They have changed from when I was spraying the roses in my father's garden to keep the aphids away.


20. It's no exit: ON RAMP.

21. Start of a cheer: SIS. Boom bah- cheerleading chant, originally (1867) an echoic phrase imitating the sound of a skyrocket flight ( sis ), the burst of the fireworks ( boom ), and the reaction of the crowd (bah). Dictionary.com.


22. Await judgment: PEND. Judges wait all the time.

23. Woman in the Book of Ruth: NAOMI. She was the mother-in-law to whom Ruth, the Moabite,  pledged her life after her husband died. "And Ruth said: 'Entreat me not to leave thee and to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." Another puzzle coincidence after early week comments.

24. Sailing pronoun: SHE.

25. "Much appreciated," in Munich: DANKE. Thanks in German.

26. Aligned: TRUE. Carpentry term.

29. Pigs out (on): ODS.

30. One may be rolled out in a stadium: TARP.

31. Plenty: OCEANS. Very vague, if ultimately correct. I was oodles for tow long.

32. Lip-thrusting look: POUT.

33. N.Y.C. part: YORK.

34. Make even smoother: RESAND.

37. N.W.A rapper __-E: EAZY. This PERFORMER died young, after starting out with ICE CUBE and Dr. Dre, from Compton, California.

38. Posed: SAT.

43. Comedian Daniel: TOSH.
44. Start of an old late-night intro: HERE'S.

45. Daybreak deity: EOS. I used to get this fill regularly.

46. "It's __ than I thought": WORSE.

47. Nothing like wetlands: ARID.

48. Screech __: OWL.

49. Garden of Eden protector: CHERUB. The first mention of cherubs is found in Genesis 3:24: "He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life." Var.

50. Carpet feature: NAP.

53. Phillies' div.: NLE. What a convenient set of letters.

54. Effective deal maker: CLOSER. No politics.

55. Amazes: AWES.

56. Eight minutes of the average sitcom: ADS. Out of a 30-minute show.

57. Puts up: HOUSES.

58. "Hey, you!": PSST.

Down:

1. Expand, as a residence: ADD ON TO. My father built an addition to our house in the late 50s to have a larger kitchen and a family room with a pool table.

2. Conductor Bernstein: LEONARD. One of the first American born conductors to achieve worldwide fame, 2018 was his centennial year.
                                                                 LINK

3. Lovey-dovey: AMOROUS.

4. Generic: NONAME.

5. Filing aid: RASP. A coarse file, or a hoarse voice, which could mean you are...

6. Down with something: ILL.

7. Mrs. Lovett's business in Broadway's "Sweeney Todd": PIE SHOP. It was the filling that was so filling. The PLOT.

8. Imposed: LEVIED. Like a fine or taxes.

9. NBA center __ Kanter: ENES. I understand liking the letters but a  center for a bad team who is no longer a STARTER?

10. Fashion initials: YSL. Yves is back.

11. Purple shade: MAGENTA. The queen wears this color.


12. Like a bar free-for-all: DRUNKEN. Or noodles.

13. Emailers: SENDERS.

18. Old U.K. record label: EMI.

22. Luxury watch brand __ Philippe: PATEK.

24. Database function: SORT.

25. Rail against: DECRY.

27. Catalonian architect Antoni __: GAUDI. Catalan architect, whose distinctive style is characterized by freedom of form, voluptuous color and texture, and organic unity. Gaudí worked almost entirely in or near Barcelona.  LINK. A total learning moment.

28. See 12-Down: BOOZY.

30. "Hamilton" got 11: TONYS.

32. Trimmed: PARED.

33. Orange tubers: YAMS.

34. "Rude Boy" singer: RIHANNA. Performed at a concert in RIO one of my old law partners is involved in setting up. LINK. Some profanity.

35. May birthstone: EMERALD.

36. 1981 Bill Murray military comedy: STRIPES. One of the many hilarious comedies which Harold Ramis wrote in which Bill Murray appeared. How many can you name?

37. Small-headed?: EGOLESS. An odd clue/fill combination.

38. Sad subjects: SORROWS.

39. Takes over the duties of: ASSUMES. Responsibility.

42. What diets and beauticians may promise, with "a": NEW YOU.

43. It covers the end of the foot: TOE CAP. I guess you can buy a piece of material (such as leather) covering the toe of a shoe and reinforcing or decorating it

46. "__ cares!": WHO. I do.

48. Nobel Peace Prize city: OSLO.

49. Hubs: Abbr.: CTRS. Centers.

51. German I: ICH. An excuse to link the outrageous EDDIE IZZARD. The link is obscene and filled with controversy but damn funny.

52. Fore site?: TEE. A golfing pun to end our journey.


A new year, a new constructor and your same old Friday sherpa. It was a challenging puzzle; the theme was easy but it was still lots of work. I hope you enjoyed the puzzling puzzle. Lemonade out.



71 comments:

  1. FIWrong. Actually thought it was going to be a DNF because I had so much white on the right side when I was about to give up, Sooo many w/os! TEST > DEMO, (SELDON&EMPIRE > RIPLEY&ALIENS), RIlLEY> RIPLEY, caN > GUN, hIp > SIS, EASY > EAZY, LATER > WORSE, ANGEL W/ FLAMING SWORD > CHERUB, AHOY > PSST.

    ESP: PEND, OCEANS, TOSH, NLE, GAUDI, EGOLESS(?), ENES, CTRS, PATEK.

    I did catch on to the theme gimmick early, and it did eventually help some, tho not a lot. Nice one, tho.

    At weddings, do you wonder what's implied
    By any whispered comments, last-minutes asides?
    It's grooms WHO shovel horse-shit,
    BEST men that should be most fit,
    But the best man is left standing, it's the groom who gets the bride!

    The tide goes in, the tide goes out,
    Morpheus sweeps the beach about.
    He sends the sand
    To RE-SAND the land
    To NAPPING eyes, or defiant POUT.

    {B-, B+.}

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  2. Hi Y'all! Really liked the upbeat theme when I finally caught on. Thanks, for the hopeful puzzle, Brian. Always nice just after New Year's to hear "THE BEST IS YET TO COME". Very GOOD expo, Lemonade. Couldn't do much BETTER.

    A NEW YOU sounds great. I want a snazzy full-body transplant.

    Thus said, much of this puzzle was hard to come by. The center section of the upper half was WORSE than I thought. I DNK: RIPLEY or ALIENS. I tried "bakery" looooong before PIE SHOP filled in. I had to leave it and fill the rest then work back up. Lots of red runs.

    Also DNK: EAZY, TOSH, ALAN, GAUDI. I've heard of things being "gaudy" and seeing his architecture, I think that's descriptive. Never heard of "Rude Boy" or knew who sang it.

    I did know who ENES Kantor is, but not his first name or how to spell it. I agree, he's not well known altho he's kicked around to several NBA teams for a number of years.

    EMERALD is my younger daughter's birthstone and favorite color. Couldn't think of it.

    Took several perps to come up with STRIPES. Didn't see the movie.

    Rah before SIS. Interesting to know how SIS-Boom-BAH got started, Lemony.

    MAGENTA isn't purple in my eyes.

    FLN: YR, hugs to you. Glad Alan didn't run away any further. You had an angel in the coffee shop. My older son once ran away angry for three days when he was in high school. Pretty scary.

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  3. Good morning!

    Stumbled around on this one, even after getting the theme. Those mid-Atlantic states were tough. Don't think I've ever heard EGOLESS before. OCEANS was very slow in appearing. Those stacked 7s in the corners were nice. Impressive debut, Brian. In the end, I produced a DNF. I wanted HIP for the cheer starter and had no idea what the name of that NBA arena could be, so I finally went with SIR. Bzzzzzzzt! You outdid yourself this morning, Lemonade.

    CHERUB: Did not know that bit of Bible trivia. As one little Catholic girl told Art Linkletter, "Adam and Eve sinned terrible, so God punished them twice. He kicked 'em out of the garden and turned 'em into protestants."

    LEONARD: I remember him most for his youth concerts on TV, and as the composer of the music for West Side Story.

    ALAN: Turing was the subject of the tribute puzzle that I linked on New Year's Day. You had to use the two letters in the rebus squares to "decode" the theme answer. Voila! H R HALDEMAN turned into ALAN TURING. I thought it was brilliant. YMMV.

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  4. Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. This was a good Friday challenge. I caught on to the theme after getting I'M TRYING MY (BEST), but stumbled with DOING ONE'S _____, because I didn't seen ALIENS and couldn't come up with RIPLEY. I did, however, know that Sigourney Weaver was in that role. Why couldn't that have been the clue?!!

    ALAN Turing was the subject of the 2014 movie The Imitation Game.

    My favorite clue was It's No Exit = ON RAMP.

    A trip to Barcelona, Spain is worth the trip just to see the beautiful architecture of Antoni GAUDÍ. His buildings are so truly unique.

    From this puzzle, I learned: (1) Spray ___ is not a Spray Tan, but a Spray GUN.

    (2) that the start of a cheer is not Hip (Hip, Hooray), but SIS (boom bah).

    (3) that Mrs. Lovett was not a Butcher, but ran a PIE SHOP.

    Ruth, who was NAOMI's daughter-in-law was also the great-grandmother of King David.

    I think the rain has finally stopped!! It has been raining and dark for the past two weeks. I won't recognize the sun today!

    QOD: A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money. ~ Everett Dirksen (Jan. 4, 1896 ~ Sept. 7, 1969)

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  5. Wow! It was an OCEAN of white up north for a while. PIE SHOP & ENES were total unknowns and I ultimately failed by filling RIPLEY as RIDLEY for the ALIENS movie(s). After changing RAH to SIS, LAVENDER to MAGENTA, and Phillipe PETIT to PATEK the rest of the puzzle was finished. But it was still a DNF. A DIE SHOP looked okay to me. I now remember Phillipe Petit as the high-wire artist who went across the two World Trad Center buildings back in the 70s.

    For the free-for-all I kept wanting one answer, as in DRUNKEN MELEE instead of two separate answers describing the fight.

    As for the missing BEST, I caught it on I'M TRYING MY. Daniel TOSH, Antoni GAUDI, ENES, EAZY-E, and RIHANNA's song were unknowns. TGFP.

    desper-otto. 'Small-headed'- I filled EGOLESS but from a male perspective it has a different meaning, if you get my drift. Bad decisions made by thinking with it.

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  6. Creative puzzle - got the "best" drop early on which made getting the other theme answers easier. I've always liked that Sinatra song. Only slow down was when I had AMA first before changing to MDS and I had Spray CAN before GUN. Since they had a lot of other answers in common I had to back up when I was stuck and start again.

    GOOD, BETTER, Best is the beginning of a quote from St. Jerome that I learned as a Girl Scout song way back when: "Good, better, best. I cannot let it rest. 'Til my good is better and my better best." The tune we used to sing it to was not nearly as peppy as this one which made me think of Steve's school days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-VQTS4LMvc

    Thanks Lemonade! And Brian for a fun puzzle and congrats on your debut!

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  7. IH- your Good, better best link is PRECIOUS . I suggest all who like children watch it. Thank you

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  8. AnonT had a prescient post last night with his comment to Spitz, "Arrrmy training, sir!" Prolly went over the heads of most here but I let out a big smile when I filled on STRIPES this morning.

    Harold Ramis was a talented writer, director and actor. A genius, really. The movies he was involved with have some of the most quotable lines ever:

    Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

    I dont think the hard stuff will be coming down for quite some time.

    That's the fact, Jack!

    When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter.

    Lighten up, Francis!

    I don't know why they call this stuff Hamburger Helper, it does just fine by itself. ...

    With the shape I'm in you could donate my body to science fiction.

    We've got a pool and a pond. The pond would be good for you.

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  9. I went to this doctor. Well, he told me I swallow a lot of aggression... along with a lot of pizzas! Ha Ha Ha! Pizzas!

    So I got that going for me, which is nice

    Personally, I liked the university. They gave us money and facilities, we didn't have to produce anything! You've never been out of college! You don't know what it's like out there! I've worked in the private sector. They expect results.

    We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!

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  10. Good Morning.

    Welcome, Brian. Thank you for a Friday challenge. I didn't see what was going on (not on you because I miss the theme a lot early on) so I was confused by the theme fills. I needed to pick some of the lower fruit before I could get a toe hold. I started struggling early with RIPLEY and ALIENS. Sci-Fi is not on my list of favorites--in film and literature.

    Thanks, dear Friday Sherpa, for leading us on the path to enlightenment. Nicely done.

    The sun is out in full regalia two days in a row. It's wonderful!

    Have a sunny day also.

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  11. The theme was nice, but way too many answers with fill in the names, 12 by my count, and many are so obscure that most people can’t be expected to know them.

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  12. I had a football coach in high school that was known for saying,

    Good, better, best. We're not going to let it rest until our good is better than our best.

    Thought of Yellowrocks immediately at 1a. Hope today is a best day for you and Alan. Not to be nosy but since you usually share...did you have more help when you were still teaching? Its seems as caring for and being Alan's advocate is a full time job. My thoughts and admiration are with you this morning.

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  13. jfromvt, yes there were too many names. I had a lot of white, especially in the NE. PP, along with perps and wags almost saved the day, except for one careless misspelling. BOOSY. instead of BOOZY. I swear I was not BOOZY this early in the morning. Regardless, I enjoyed the challenge and Lemonade's always great blog.
    I soon dipped to the bottom and found The Best Is Yet To Come, which helped a lot. But Good, Better, Best took a long while.
    I was trying so hard to find a NYC area beginning with Y. Aha! YORK gave me a second wind.
    I didn't know 7D but with perps I tried PIE SHOP, which led to SIS, which led to ENES, for which I had no clue. Changing AMA to MDS finally helped work that corner.
    Hiking boots and work boots are usually equipped with toe caps.
    DO, thanks for a good laugh, turned them into Protestants. HA HA. Precious.
    Puts up/houses reminds me of when I took my MIL to the shore. Sadly it reminded her of her shore trips with my FIL years ago. She was unusually testy and difficult. I humored her and she came around in about an hour. I found that humoring my rude customers as a waitress usually shamed them into stopping it. "A soft answer turneth awy wrath." Later my MIL worte me, "Thank you for putting me up and putting up with me." I laughed when I read it.
    FLN, I haven't taught diagramming sentences in 30 or more years. I found that it helped only those students who were already adept at parts of speech. It frustrated and turned off the others. I found they really didn't learn much from it. Your experience may vary. You may wonder why I talk of teaching kdg. and then diagramming sentences. I have taught K through the 5th grade, and teens and adults at church.

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  14. Misty, Lucina, IM, Canadian Eh, Anmoymous T, thanks for your concern for Alan and for understanding my upsetment. Yes, PK, having a son run away, especially someone who has few life skills, is very scary. I am so grateful to the special needs worker who intervened and befriended him.
    David, who is usually very strict about rules, put the situation in perspective. Someone who is angry and upset enough to disregard the consequences could do a lot worse than just walk out. Alan doesn't have the verbal skills to talk through his frustrations.
    Lucina, we filed the last paperwork for Alan's placement 3 or 4 weeks ago. I expect it will take until early Feb, for NJ to get an answer. Even so, as long as I have all my marbles I will be involved and concerned for him.

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  15. Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Brian (congrats on your debut) and Lemonade.
    I too needed lots of P&P for this CW. Like OKL and Big Easy, I had OCEANS of white on the right! I got the theme with "TRYING MY . . ." and then went back. GOOD, BETTER, Best brought a broad smile as I remembered "until your good is better" etc.

    I hung on to Spray Tan for far too long (hello Hahtoolah) which held up the top right corner.
    I had Marines before STRIPES until more perps filled it in correctly. Close but not a match.
    CHERUB was not my first thought for the "Garden of Eden protector"; somehow I associate CHERUBs with those cute little naked baby pictures and not with a flaming sword.

    My German was lacking today and I needed to change Ein to ICH. I did get DANKE.
    I eventually changed Later to WORSE "than I thought".
    But I DNF at the cross of the unknown ENES and SIS. I misspelled LEVIED as Leveed (it went dry or ARID!) and even an alphabet run did not turn Ses into SIS. Sigh.

    Enjoy the day.

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  16. Was a challenge as our newspaper does not publish the theme of the puzzle. Also I need glasses, I thought at first 5 down clue was "filling" aid and immediately filled in the word "pump". Finally finished when I took a second look at the clue and everything fell into place. Misreading clues happening a bit too often. Making an appointment with the eye doctor!

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  17. Thank you, Brian Herrick and our Sherpa, Lemonade, for your guidance.

    I like a difficult puzzle that I can work out without assistance even with so many unknowns. Having never seen ALIENS I didn't know RIPLEY nor Mrs. Lovett's business but once I had DO ONE'S LEVEL (BEST) that gave me something to work with and FIR.

    ENES? Is that a name? I had serious doubts about that.

    STRIPES is another movie I didn't see but that perped well and I've heard of RIHANNA but not EAZY-E. I had Easy. My only error.

    NAOMI. That scripture reading is often used at the wedding Mass so I'm familiar with it. However, I didn't realize that she was David's grandmother. Thank you, again, Lemonade.

    Hahtoolah is so right. It is worth visiting Barcelona just for the GAUDI architecture. Guell Park is a wonder as, of course, the still unfinished Church of the Holy Family.

    Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
    Old Time is still a-flying:
    And this same flower that smiles today,
    Tomorrow will be dying.
    Robert Herrick (today's constructor reminded me of this and I wonder if there is a connection).

    Have an excellent day, everyone!

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  18. Musings
    -What maddening fun in the NE with only two bad cells from bad erasing!
    -If you’ve got the interest and time, this YouTube documentary is about Alan’s equally brilliant but forgotten peer at Bletchley Park – Gordon Welchman
    -MD’S here are all getting under one umbrella for legal reasons
    -Apollo 13 had to use the Sun and other stars to ALIGN for reentry
    -Winston and his wife hated this official portrait for which he SAT so much, she had it burned
    -Alec Baldwin played a ruthless CLOSER in Glengarry Glenross
    -TOE CAP – we wore steel-toed shoes when I was in construction
    -Complete this old song lyric, “It’s gonna take an OCEAN…”

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  19. Good Morning:

    I caught the missing "Best" early on, but the reveal was a pleasant surprise. Eazy, Enes, Gaudi were complete unknowns as was Rihanna, as clued. Today's music and pop stars are not on my wave length, except peripherally. My only w/o was AMA>DRS>MDS and the only jarring note was Egoless.

    Thanks and Congratulations on your debut, Brian, and thanks to our fearless and faithful Sherpa, Lemony, for a terrific summary and interesting links.

    YR, I hope your heart rate has returned to normal and that your sanity is intact. Best wishes for peaceful and worry-free days.

    FLN

    Spitz, thanks for the time and effort you expended to share those enjoyable log entries. Your fingers must be sore from all that typing.

    Lucina, thanks for directing us to the Cal Thomas article which was spot on. I cringe when I hear someone interject "like" every few words, especially when the speaker is well past the Millenial age. I, too, was a big fan of William Safire and read his Sunday column faithfully. (Hi, Tony.)

    Have a great day.

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    Replies
    1. I share your dislike of people who seem to be addicted to the use of "like" in conversation. I think in the future I will interject "like what" when I hear it being used needlessly.

      Delete
  20. IM - You're welcome. My computer has a COPY and PASTE command. Cuts down on typing.

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  21. Irish Miss:
    I'm glad you enjoyed reading Cal Thomas's article on current language usage. It's likely the only time I would recommend him.

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  22. I love it when I can begin a Friday puzzle by filling in the northwest corner. I knew LEONARD and NAOMI, and that did the trick. Yay! and thanks, Brian. And welcome to the Corner! But after that great beginning, got very little until the whole southeast corner filled in. Yay! again. But then I had to start cheating a bit to get the rest. Always great to see YSL in puzzles. And I loved getting HERE'S Johnny! I remember that line so well from the days I watched Johnny Carson every night. The announcer's name was ED, wasn't it? In the end there was one last letter I never got: the S for ENES and SIS, which were both unknowns for me. But all the same, a fun puzzle, and, Lemonade, I loved the picture you posted to show us MAGENTA!

    Enjoyed your poems, Owen.

    So glad Alan is home again, Yellowrocks.

    Have a great day, everybody!

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  23. Jayce, I just read that the city of Los Angeles has released a smartphone app to aid in alerting residents of an impending earthquake utilizing sensors installed in the area. I was curious if your company has any input for this project? I would also be interested to hear your thoughts on this endeavor.

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  24. Hand up this was a challenge with lots of white space in the North. Hand up for caN before GUN. And hIp before SIS.

    Yellowrocks I also was trying to figure out a part of New YORK that started with Y!

    Plenty of sports and entertainment unknowns. Never heard of RIPLEY and ALIENS is not my kind of sci-fi movie. I enjoy vision and exploration, not horror. SIS/ENES last to fill. To FIR! Which AWES me!

    LEONARD Bernstein's son lived in the same college dorm as my brother. They got each others' mail because of having the same last name.

    Once again here are some of my CHERUB photos at the Vatican.

    Hand up: Learning moment about them and the Garden of Eden.

    I am always happy to see ALAN TURING featured. I took several classes in college devoted to theory of computation and TURING was a central figure in giving us these core principles. His theorems go far beyond practical computation to the deepest issues of what we can ever know.

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  25. From yesterday:
    Bill G way cool that you got to see the Rose Parade floats up close! We actually did not get to do this, but I hope we can do that another year. We only used public transit which worked really well! No traffic hassles at all!

    Here I have posted my video clips of the parade.

    I also have hundreds of photos which I will edit later. It is very different than our Solstice Parade. The Rose Parade is on a grand scale, best viewed from the grandstands as we did. At ground level it is hard to see much of the art as it was intended to be seen. But from the grandstands we missed seeing the exquisite detail of the flower petals.

    Our Solstice Parade is more interactive and paced for that interaction. But there is no way a million people would be able to fit into our little downtown! Solstice is filled with music while much of the Rose Parade is eerily quiet. In between the marching bands! The Rose Parade route is over five miles long. Which means the performers are not always performing. They would get too tired. Our parade is less than a mile and a half long to allow performers to perform for every spectator.

    AnonT thank you for the welcome back! When did you see a King Tut exhibit in Houston? This one is only making this one stop in the US before heading to Europe. Did they let you take photos? Any idea how many pieces there were in the exhibit? The last King Tut exhibit I saw in Los Angeles was in 2005. Much of that exhibit showed pieces not actually from his tomb.

    I just submitted my article on this exhibit for publication and will share it when it is published.

    Sorry, but I am not getting the COSplay connection to adult activities? I know that some Japanese adult movies have COSplay. Is that what you mean? Apparently it also has more innocent usage.

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  26. Great puzzle Brian Herrick and great write-up Lemonade.

    I turfed it. Though the role was RIdLEY and that gave me dIE SHOP for Mrs. Lovett's business which looked rather odd, but I thought perhaps, in an Edgar Allen Poe / Stephen King kind of way.

    The other error was ENEt. So 2 wrong letters out of 194 (225-31) = 98.97 %. No tada, but an A+, so I'll take it and move on.

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  27. ENES Kantor is a Turkish muslim, according to one source, which is what I remembered from listening to NBA announcers. He has been putting out some rants that have been unpopular but have been mentioned in the media.

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  28. To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

    Robert Herrick, 1591 - 1674

    Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
    Old Time is still a-flying;
    And this same flower that smiles today
    Tomorrow will be dying.

    The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
    The higher he’s a-getting,
    The sooner will his race be run,
    And nearer he’s to setting.

    That age is best which is the first,
    When youth and blood are warmer;
    But being spent, the worse, and worst
    Times still succeed the former.

    Then be not coy, but use your time,
    And while ye may, go marry;
    For having lost but once your prime,
    You may forever tarry.

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  29. DNF - 3 in a row. Looked up EAZY-E, Antoni GAUDI and PATEK Philippe (I'll keep my Tag Heuer, thank you).

    There was a boat in Channel Islands Harbor named "Plain Wrap". It was stark white with a label on the transom declaring "Boat", with barcodes. I sold my boat named "Moxie" to the owner. he renamed it "Earth Girls are Easy".

    Toe caps are what you put on in lieu of steel (or now, Kevlar) toed shoes / boots. Wear them once and you'll invest in the real thing.

    Much to do. Thanks to Brian and Lemony.

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  30. Ray o sunshine; the theme for the LAT puzzles are only published on Sundays; the blogger (in this case me) creates what he thinks the constructor was thinking. We also try to amuse (or at least I do).

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  31. “....of calamine lotion...”....from Poison Ivy, I believe.

    Well....you may not believe this, no markovers today. But only because of the ocean of whites cells after the first pass....not even enough to guess. So plodding got me the solve.

    I’m going to nominate 37D as worst clue of the (young) year...a clue that really makes no sense. Tell me that “not big-headed” wouldn’t have been a much better clue. Small-headed? Even with the question mark seems designed to be a clueless clue.

    Not even gonna bring up 9D, never heard of that name.

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  32. I'm disappointed.
    This was a great pzl from Mr. Herrick, especially because I thought I had a complete Ta~ DA! with it. It was tricky, and it took me a while to figure out how the theme was working. But I got it--and wrapped it up in the thrill of victory!
    But I missed on 49A, CHERUB.
    I had THE RUB.
    I couldn't wait to jump onto the Corner and have Lemonade explain how THE RUB was Eden's "protector." I reckoned it was related to some convoluted connection between Genesis and Hamlet. (As in "Ay, there's the rub!")

    So now, while I completely understand and accept my error, I am truly disappointed. I was really looking forward to seeing how THE RUB was somehow the heavenly protector of Adam and Eve.
    Was it the secret nickname of the Snake?
    Was it a type of fig leaf?
    Was it the Hamlet family's middle name?
    (And did the Dane's 23rd great granddaddy lurk in the Garden?)

    Sometimes the right answer just feels flat.
    ~ OMK

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  33. Re Antonio Gaudi, he is associated with one unbuilt work in the USA. From 1908, the "Hotel Attraction" in New York City:

    http://www.sinehead.com/Gaudi1.html

    His works often appear in books about Art Nouveau architecture.

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  34. So ENES is the name of a person and not a stadium? Oh, I get it. NBA center, not NBA center.

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  35. Hello Puzzlers -

    Sussed the theme early, which simplified the solve. Hand up for spray can first.

    From yesterday, apparently: the post by Irish Miss today sent me looking for Lucina’s Cal Thomas article. Today’s language trends are disappointing to me, and the heavy use of “like” is right there at the top. It seems that youthful speech patterns are not being outgrown these days.

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  36. While likely unknown to all non-sports fans, ENES KANTER is in the news for much more than his play, which has very good at times. I know he is Turkish and not sure if his religion was relevant, particularly as I have read nothing about his personal religious beliefs, only his political beliefs, both of which are topic non grata here.

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  37. OMK, I sort of get your THE RUB deduction, but did TTRS mean to you?

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  38. Great link Anon 1:57 GAUDI DRAWINGS
    I have never studied or traveled to Barcelona so this is all new to me; I need to ask my son about Gaudi.

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  39. FLN You all are entitled to your opinions, but I see language differently. Let’s explore the other side of this debate. I just read Cal Thomas’s article. Thomas's Standard English is not the most prominent dialect of American English. Even those who staunchly espouse it do not use Standard English all of the time in their everyday speech. Standard English is the language of media, publishing, education, business, science, court, church, and most professions, but it is not the language of most people’s everyday speech.
    Did you ever notice that some professional people when out with their buddies use slang, colloquialisms, sentence fragments, different grammar and sometimes vulgarities. They would never talk or write like that at work. Aren't you more careful with the language you use with your boss or clients than the language you use with your friends? How dare Mr. Thomas put down casual speech he overheard among friends which was not intended to communicate with him!
    There is not one true dialect for all occasions. Teenagers use a different more formal language with their grandmas, than with their peers. Like it or not, some teenage language becomes the cutting edge and over time is incorporated into Standard English, where surprisingly it is vigorously defended by purists in later years.
    BTW, preboarding has entered or is close to entering the mainstream. English is not logical. Why can dust mean add dust or take off dust? Why can seeded mean having seeds or having seeds removed?
    Are the language police dictating pillow talk, too? You may not say, ”Love you, sweetums,” but must say, “I love you, dear.”
    I believe it is important to learn formal, Standard English, for all the activities above, in order to be taken seriously and to provide consistency in vital communication, but informal language will never die out. It is understood easily by the listeners.
    Standard English

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  40. Whoa, there, Yellow stuff. Take a chill pill!

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  41. Grammar Police, right back at cha. My message was please chill.

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  42. Hi All!

    Brian, this is your first puzzle so I'll be nice: EASE UP ON THE CLUING BRO! It's not Saturday :-)

    Like Misty, NW was EAZY as PIE. But, P&P with a lot of WAGs was need for the rest -- I just had to finish a Friday Franky-themed puzzle [Italian-Americans can't disappoint The Chairman - it's a rule :-)].
    This puzzle took me all morning on-and-off (lots of background puzzle-noodling while doing foreground work). MDs (wanted GPs for-ev-er!) finally came to me driving home from the gym.
    But I FIR! with no look-ups (even for spelling!).

    WEES about the NorthCentral and the NE. WORSE, I read 5d as 'Filling aid' and put in PUMP (Hi Ray O' Sun). 'Final' (I had DO ONE FINAL [BEST]) forced me to re-think PUMP and then I realized 'Down with Something' was never going to be DUG, dig?
    The AL that appeared from RASP and ILL finally gave me ALIENS and NC thawed.

    Hahtoolah, C, Eh! - I too had TAN for way too long, then CAN. It wasn’t until I was very unhappy with MAcENTA (could be a colour, what do I know?, I'm a guy) and DRANKEN (I wanted CRANKED for so long -- as in everyone is cranked, drunk, BOOZed-up, tanked), that I filled GUN [which was my first thought hours earlier!] and set my pen down.

    Other missteps: 11 sONGs in Hamilton. WORSt b/f WORSE.*

    Fav: STRIPES - That's the fact, Jack!

    So thanks Brian. I, though at times though "slog!," had fun finishing your grid. Congrats on the LAT.

    Thanks for the expo LEM. Enjoy'd listening to Frank while reading and TOSH's standup is much better than his TV show TOSH.0 (how I know him).
    The gratuitous Python & Izzard was Bonus!

    {B, B+}

    D-O: In case you missed it, I thanked you for the ALAN puzzle link the other day. It was fun to grok. [Picard, give it a whirl. 'Tis fun]

    PK - Interesting observation on 'gaudy'... You made me go back and look at the link b/f posting... I think you're onto something. :-)

    Hulka & Bartlett: A big smile as I read all the quotes. I could see every scene in mind's-eye. Love those movies. Thanks for taking the time to post 'em.
    HG - and a hearty-chuckle from the Carson clip.

    Picard - The photo, at first, looked like an adult-novelty shop - even the tag-line was vague (wigs, makeup, etc) - until I saw the anime-ish face on the right. Hence I made a joke that your idea of dressing up (for naughtiness) is a different meaning of COS for SCI-Fi; I guess I missed by half [I made myself giggle, so that's the other 1/2 :-)]
    Re: TUT. I'd have to look up when some pieces were at MFAH. But it's nap-time.

    Cheers, -T
    *My Grid [HUBS was tentatively Stns; I forgot what's under NAOMI (Norma?)].

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  43. Excellent commentary, Yellowrocks!
    You nailed it. Even in undergrad speech classes, we learned that "General American," the speech most American actors learn, is distinct from the old "Mid-Atlantic" that used to be taught. And very different from Oxford or British RP ("Received Pronunciation").
    And all these "formal" or "correct" variants were arrived at in an attempt to eliminate obvious provincial voicings & vulgarities. That is their chief raison d'être.
    Just as obviously, provincial sounds are what all of us speak in our various municipalities, regions, states ("provinces").
    (I was lucky, growing up in San Francisco, one of the least localized dialects in the country. [Take that, dear SoCal neighbors!])

    And in addition, we usually adopt--as you wisely point out--the idiom of our generation, of sub-groups, or of our friends and family, when we're in such company.
    It's human and natural.
    ~ OMK

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  44. Lemonade @3:05 ~
    It didn't make sense at all.
    (Shh. I didn't want to mention that.)
    ~ OMK

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  45. ShakeAlertLA, I read about that Shake Alert LA app also. As you have probably learned for yourself, the system is based on networks of many seismometers. The system detects P-waves, which travel quickly from the epicenter, to trigger the warning mechanism and send alert messages, seconds before the damage-causing S-waves arrive. The time from when you receive the alert and when the damaging shaking starts is very short, a matter of seconds. The seismometers cannot predict a quake before it occurs; they can only indicate when a quake is already occurring.

    Our company has been doing research with other types of sensors, including magnetometers, air ionization sensors, and infrared sensors, to detect precursors to earthquakes, which are events that occur weeks before an earthquake. We have seen them and know they exist. Our goal is to develop analysis and algorithmic techniques to reliably and quickly identify such precursors, without human intervention or "eyeballs," and eventually predict earthquakes reliably. As with the Shake Alert system, success depends on minimizing false positives and maximizing the identification of truly indicative events.

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  46. Coda:
    Well, that was easy.
    Picard - must have been sometime late '11 or early '12 [probably the latter, I procrastinate] for the MFAH TUT exhibit. //Hey, look! My company was a sponsor.

    Now, about my mini-vacation... -T

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  47. Well, this puzzle beat me up. No way could I solve it without doing a lot of looking up stuff. Maybe I'll get my lunch money back another day.

    I did notice the grid has two diagonals and I thought of Keith right away and what he would make of them.

    To imitate the Cornwallian dialect of 200 years ago, as seen on the PBS show Poldark, "I were knowing ye would try to do harm to we."

    Gould wishes to you all.

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  48. Well, every day I have tried to post a link on this IPad,
    And every day I run into some kind of error msg...

    Mostly, it is “http not allowed >A”

    Whatever the hell that means...

    Maybe I used a forward slash when a back slash
    Was required, I dunno...

    So I said, “to Hell with it.”
    I’m on vacation...

    I’ll figure it out when I get home.

    (5 plus years now, & I still have not figured it out...)

    And then, Yellowrocks gives me homework!
    Aw com’on, i’m On vacation!
    Sheesh, I am going out to dinner. Maybe I will read the entire link
    When I get back.

    (With my luck, English will change as soon as I read the dang thing anyway...)

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  49. Thanks Jayce for the response. You answered all my curiosities! :)

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  50. Jayce ~
    What diagonals did you find?
    I'm afraid neither main line goes all the way through. The NW to SE diag is blocked right after 38A POUT, while the mirror line NE to SW is interrupted after 30A TARP.

    But maybe you have a way of reading them that's different?
    ~ OMK

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  51. Keith, you're right. The diagonals do not go all the way, so I guess technically they are bot diagonal. I saw lines from PEND to OWL and from SIS to POUT. Sowwy.

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  52. Like is just a slang expression. I ignore it.

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  53. Re. the word 'like' added to sentences unnecessarily... For some people, it's a habit that becomes annoying and is hard to break. Back in earlier times, a nice young fellow in one of my algebra classes raised his hand and asked a question. In the process, he inserted several 'likes.' I replied, "Excellent question. But just for fun, try to ask the question again without the 'likes.' He smiled and started up again. About halfway through, a 'like' appeared. I smiled, he smiled and started up again. Another 'like' popped up in a different sentence. We all chuckled and he tried again, to no avail. Finally, we both laughed, I answered his question and we agreed that it was a hard thing for him to do.

    I don't think our kids were affected by the habit.

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  54. Greetings!

    Thanks to Brian and Lemonade!

    Liked the puzzle! FIR. Didn't know: SIS, PEND, NAOMI, OCEANS, EAZY, TOSH, CHERUB, ENES, PATEK, GAUDI and EGOLESS, at least not all right away.

    YR: Glad Alan is OK.

    Have a great evening!

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  55. “They” have been complaining about too many likes for 40 or 50 years (except on Facebook). It doesn’t seem to be fading at all.

    “Our praise for you will never cease. / All hail MAGENTA and cerise.”

    From the alma mater of Wossamotta U, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle movie

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  56. I used to think the name of this Song was Don Q. Shane*

    When you can hit me with a Sports question I don't know....
    The least you could do was clue 22d as "Former KC SS Freddie ___"

    I'm with big easy thinking of a new term DRUNKEN BOOZY
    Interesting juxtaposition of Turing and Bluto. I won't re-bore you with the Wilbur theory of Pearl Harbor, German spies and Enigma
    <YORK I was thinking S/Noho**

    RayO' , I put 2.50 reading glasses on. Good lighting helps which Winn Dixie*** has

    Re. "Like". The new Y'know
    ENES Kantor led me all the way back to Ataturk.

    Misty, HG's link will show you Ed McMahon, Johnny's sidekick. A fellow BC Man.

    WC

    * I thought it was Bobby Darin. In a strange coincidence Darin passed on the song and gave it to (Wayne) Newton
    ** South/North Of HOuston
    ***It's replaced McDonald's because WiFi works(but I'm in a dead cell zone)

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  57. I should have talked more about the xword. Not to be the antithesis of EGOLESS but I rolled right through it.

    YR, thanks for keeping us informed about Alan. Nice commentary today. Ignore the troll. Reminds me of the'gator who trawls the creek in back and must NEVER be fed.

    Good luck with Saturday.

    WC

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  58. Beside "like", the insertion that drives me nuts is "I mean" especially to start each sentence. I always want to yell: "Well, of course, you 'mean' it or you probably wouldn't say anything." But I don't get mean about it.

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  59. Lemonade@12:29
    Thank you for posting Robert Herrick's entire poem. The excerpt I posted is a framed one that is hanging on the wall in my hallway and is illustrated with roses. I really like it.

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  60. Bill G, thanks for bringing up that example in which the student could not navigate away from “like”. I couldn’t recall where that story had come from, but now I’m reasonably sure you posted it before. Of all the trends in present day language that I know of, the ongoing pointless insertion of “like” is the most irritating. I suspect it is in fact a very hard habit to break, and I have observed it in people who are well past school age. I do not think it is easy to shift away from, even when the speaker is facing a respected person upon whom they’d typically prefer to make a good impression. If this is a part of the natural evolution of language, I do not think it is a good thing.

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  61. Dudley, agreed, agreed, agreed.

    I'm sure you're correct about my having posted that story before. My father used to LOVE to tell stories. He would often ask me, "Did I tell you about such-and-such before? I would tell him yes, he had told me that story before. Then he would tell it all over again, maybe just shortening it up a little...

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  62. Yes, Wilbur--thanks! I can't find the link, but thanks for reminding me that it was Ed McMahon who was Johnny Carson's sidekick.

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  63. PSA - Abejo and other Knights of Columbus dues payers...
    I got a tweet 5 hours ago that the dues payment system (kofcdues.org) was infected by photominer [malware to steal credit-card info]. Wait a few days before paying dues.

    Misty - HG's Link so you don't have to scroll back.

    Billocohoes - Wossamotta U. score [read the comments] and the Football 1 of 5 episode. [side links should get you the rest].

    Business language? I was asked to check a documents for malware. I did and sent a message back indicating It was clean. The reply: "OK. Thx." She's VP, HR :-)

    Cheers, -T

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  64. YellowRocks @ 3:16, 4:03, et seq.:

    The use of "Standard English" is also quite dependent on set and setting. When I'm at a 7-11, I might use street English with the clerk, but I certainly wouldn't use, say, 'obstreperous.' When talking with friends in the morning, I might use a different set of words with the same friends when I'm tried in the evening. Or if I am mad about something., or if the moon is in Jupiter, or ....

    Language is a tool of expression, which is used -- like all tools -- different ways at different times.

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  65. Michael - DW, PhD Eng., calls it Code Switching. There's even a segment (or program? podcast?) on NPR called the same.

    G'night & Cheers, -T

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  66. What an entertaining day of comments; thank you all.

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