Theme: THE OUTER LIMITS
15 (rows) x 16 (columns) to accommodate the 16-letter theme answer STUCK ONE'S NECK OUT.
21. Risked it big-time: LIVED ON THE EDGE.
37. Risked it big-time: STUCK ONE'S NECK OUT.
55. Risked it big-time: WENT OUT ON A LIMB.
Across:
1. Gets misty, with "up": FOGS.
5. Salon treatment, briefly: PEDI. Never gets old.
9. Benjamins: C SPOTS. $100 dollar bills. The "C" refers to the Roman numeral for 100.
15. Curly coif: AFRO.
16. Popular river name from the Welsh for "river": AVON. Learning moment, I did not know the origin.
17. They're exchanged in Hawaii: ALOHAS.
18. Nonstick cookware product: T-FAL. This brand name is a portmanteau of the words TEFlon and ALuminium. I use cast iron cookware almost exclusively. Once it's seasoned there is no issue with sticking.
19. Religious season: LENT. Religious season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. It is a traditional time for fasting or giving something up or abstinence.
20. "Don't take the blame": DENY IT.
24. Cooler filler: ICE.
25. Chinese zodiac critter: RAT. 2019 is a year of the Pig, starting from February 5th
2019 and ending on January 24th 2020. 2020 will
be a year of the Rat. 2018 was a year of the Dog.
26. Approximate nos.: ESTS.
27. MN and NM: STS. States - Minnesota and New Mexico.
30. Puts (in) tentatively: PENCILS. Who solves on paper? Pencil or pen?
32. Bad-mouth: DIS.
33. Word before bug or ant: FIRE.
34. Prov. bordering four Great Lakes: ONT. Ontario is bordered to the south by Great Lakes Superior, Huron, Erie & Ontario.
35. Hairpiece: RUG.
36. Hazardous gas: RADON.
42. Parrots geese: HONKS. Had a hard time deciphering this clue.
43. Fill up on: EAT.
44. Nero's 91: XCI.
45. Exclusive: ONLY.
46. Part of UNLV: LAS. University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
47. Wore: SPORTED.
51. BB-shaped veggie: PEA. Or pea-shaped ammo.
52. Coll. Board exams: SATS.
53. "I'm sorry, Dave" film computer: HAL. In the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL is a sentient computer that
controls the systems of the Discovery One spacecraft and interacts with
the ship's astronaut crew.
54. "__ you serious?": ARE.
59. Compensate for: OFFSET.
61. Short hoppers?: ROOS. Short for kangaROO.
62. Hall of Fame pitcher Randy "The Big __" Johnson: UNIT. From Wikipedia: During batting practice in 1988, the 6'10" Johnson, then with the Montreal Expos, collided head-first with outfielder Tim Raines, prompting his teammate to exclaim, "You're a big unit!" The nickname stuck.
63. Hairpiece: TOUPEE.
64. Pennsylvania county: ERIE.
65. 5 for B or 6 for C: AT. NO. Atomic Number is the number of protons found in the nucleus of every atom of that
element. The atomic number uniquely identifies a chemical element. It is
identical to the charge number of the nucleus.
66. Coffee and wine: COLORS. Sneaky.
67. Lairs: DENS.
68. One logging on: USER.
Down:
1. Fistfight souvenir: FAT LIP. Haha. Same amount of letters as SHINER, but perps prevented that.
2. __ hours: OFFICE.
3. Second Commandment adjective: GRAVEN. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image ..."
4. Footprint maker: SOLE.
5. Silicon Valley city: PALO ALTO.
6. Pentathlon's five: EVENTS. Fencing, freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, and a final combined event of pistol shooting and cross country running.
7. "That's a no-no!": DON'T.
8. Where losers of a race may be left: IN THE DUST.
9. West Point students: CADETS.
10. Gravity-powered vehicles: SLEDS. Wondering if we're going to have snow here in my neck of the woods this year, it's regularly below freezing overnight now.
11. Classic video game: PONG.
12. Reaffirming rebuttal: OH YES I DO.
13. __ chi: TAI.
14. Boomer that no longer booms: SST. Not our Boomer.
22. Screwdrivers, e.g.: DRINKS. Clever misdirection.
23. Give approval online, in a way: E-SIGN.
28. Slacks, briefly: TROU. If you say so.
29. Email status: SENT.
31. Far from self-effacing: COCKY.
33. Mystic on a bed of nails: FAKIR. A Sufi Muslim ascetic who has taken vows of poverty and worship, renouncing all relations and possessions.
35. Comforted: REASSURED.
36. Soda since 1905: RC COLA.
37. Explore OfferUp: SHOP.
38. Hue: TONE.
39. Prohibited: UNLAWFUL.
40. "Awesome!": NEATO.
41. Wide-open spaces: EXPANSES.
46. Coffeehouse orders: LATTES.
47. Sure winner: SHOO IN. This expression
purportedly comes from the practice of corrupt jockeys holding their
horses back and shooing a preselected winner across the finish line to
guarantee that it will win. A “shoo-in” is now an easy winner, with no connotation of dishonesty. “Shoe-in” is a common misspelling.
48. Contaminates: TAINTS.
49. White-coated weasel: ERMINE.
50. One with bills to pay: DEBTOR.
52. Look of disdain: SNEER.
56. Hockey's Phil, to fans: ESPO. Philip Anthony Esposito OC is a Canadian broadcaster, and former professional ice hockey executive, coach and player.
57. Sped: TORE.
58. Waikiki bash: LUAU.
59. Needing no Rx: OTC. Over The counter.
60. Egg __ yung: FOO. An asian omelet-like dish, usually served with gravy.
36 comments:
There was a bro from PALO ALTO
Wanted to SPORT a full-size AFRO.
But there was hell to pay
Over a hellish TOUPEE,
So he ditched the RUG and went as Sappho!
On the way into the head OFFICE
The nerd had ink leak on his pocket.
He might have been sensible
To switch to a PENCIL,
But the crossword puzzle was on his docket!
{B, A-.}
I always solve on paper in pencil. Doing it on line, it is too tempting to turn on red letters or hit the reveal button.
FIR, but erased bruise for FAT LIP, and c notes for C SPOTS.
I'm glad no one refers to me by the size of my unit.
In the south, some think haute cuisine is an RC COLA and a Moon Pie. I prefer a grilled Honey Bun and black coffee. (A grilled Honey Bun is better than a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut.)
Thanks to MJM for the fun challenge. My favorite was "parrot geese". Like melissa, I had to think about it for a minute. And thanks to melissa b for another interesting expo.
Great morning all.
Thanks MJM for an enjoyable workout this morning . Most everything came together rather easily . FIR in reasonably good time.
Only SHOO IN gave me pause , thinking it should be Shoe in .
Thanks melissa bee for explaining .
My son and his wife lived near Palo Alto for a spell when DIL was at Stanford in post doc studies thirteen years ago.
Cheers
Good morning everyone.
Didn't realize it was a 15 x 16 before reading Melissa's fine intro. Had C-note before C SPOT, the only wite-out. Got the theme early and it helped breeze through most of it. No searches; FIR.
ERIE - Is also a county in New York. BH and all 4 children were born there.
Good Morning:
This type of theme appeals to me so I enjoyed the solve very much. My Pedi started out as a Perm and my C Spots were first C Notes. It was fun to have the two sets of kissing cousins in the same grid, namely, Luau and Alohas and Rug and Toupee, though I could do with Trou altogether. My favorite C/A was Short hoppers=Roos. Several CSOs today: Tin (_ _ _), Canadian Eh (Tor), Abejo (Erie) and, last but far from least, the one and only, Boomer!
Thanks, Morton, for a nice, change of pace poser and thanks, Melissa, for the grand tour. Learning moment for me was Phil Espisito being Canadian. I guess avid hockey fans would know the players' backgrounds.
FLN
Bill G, keep us posted on your situation and stay safe all of you Californians.
Chase, thanks for dropping by; will look forward to solving your future puzzles.
Ray - O - Sunshine, I laughed out loud at your comment about Robinson Crusoe being an opera!
Have a great day.
Apologies to Mr. Esposito.
It is EERIE how often ERIE appears as an answer in a puzzle.
JINX, we may also think alike because I too loved the Parrot geeseclue.
We have not seen as much of Mr. Mendelson's work lately, with a Friday from June 2018 his most recent LAT appearance. He is doing well in the WSJ and Universal as well as an NYT appearance. This seemed easy but what do I know. Welcome back MJM and always welcome mb.
I started slow at the top but picked up speed as I went down - I don't know if it was the clues or I was just slow to wake up fully!
I usually solve with pencil unless I don't have one handy or it's a Monday! It's about the only thing I do with pencil -so it feels retro/blast from the past to do it.
Thanks Melissa and Morton - M squared!
I liked today's not risky puzzle. My favorite clue was parrots geese, a gimme. Most of the fill was a shoo in.
By last night Alan sounded like himself, but now I have a more moderate version of his cold. I feel weak and unmotivated.
I fell down the stairs six weeks ago and hurt my neck. I tend to minimize pain in my mind until it goes away, mind over matter, so I have a high pain threshold. However, this pain is not going away, but getting worse. Ibuprofen helps only marginally. I am kinda worried I may have done real damage, so I am going to see the doctor this AM.
On a happy note, my quarterly dental cleaning was amazingly pain free. I usually have to have calculus or plaque painfully dug from below the gum line. This time there was very little of it. I have read that stress greatly increases plaque production. Maybe this is a wonderful benefit of being an empty nester.
Usually I solve very, very lightly in pen on paper and darken the ones I am sure of. I like to be able to see the whole puzzle and clues at a glance. Very occasionally on a difficult puzzle I have an unreadable ink blob. Then I solve online.
Musings
-Now I remember why I always use Paper Mate Sharpwriter pencils. They have good erasers which saw rigorous duty today
-Hmmm… one Welsh town is called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch but the word for a Welsh river is AVON
-Every time we eat PEAS, Joann remembers that as a kid how much work it was to get enough of them for one meal
-At least it wasn’t “42. Apes geese” :-)
-John Kruk’s famous at-bat against The Big Unit (:59)
-Office HOURS at our post office never seem to fit my schedule
-The necessary element for those gravity-powered SLEDS is falling outside my window right now
-How are you at signing a screen with your finger?
-Lying on a bed of nails is a very simple physics demonstration anyone can do
-Seeing COCKY SHOO-INS get defeated is a fun part of sports
-After being raised forgiving DEBTORS, I had to start forgiving trespassers after marriage
I STUCK MY NECK OUT on a few of the answers and got them right for the most part. Although I did initially have CNOTES vs CSPOTS and PERM vs PEDI, perps stepped in and helped with the corrections.
When I get the opportunity to do the LA Times puzzle on paper (usually the Sunday Washington Post) I use my M301 Zebra lead pencil with HB lead and a good soft eraser. Sometimes I end up with a hole or two in the puzzle. If I did the puzzle in ink, it would be one big blot.
Jinx @ 6:59: Up here a "Grilled Stickies" (bun) is preferred over a donut. The Ye Olde College Diner that originated the "Grilled Stickies" has closed down, but the owner still makes them and you can buy them in most food stores and online. Pretty good with ice cream too.
Have to go for my 6 month check up with my sleep apnea doctor. My CPAP machine transmits all of my data on how well I'm sleeping every day to the medical supply company and they send all of the charts to the doc. Then she can tell me what I already know about how well I'm sleeping.
Have a great day everyone.
Thought this was a bit tougher than a usual Wednesday, but it was a fun puzzle. This Catholic boy never heard of GRAVEN used in the Second Commandment.
Hola!
Mahalo to MJM and Melissa Bee!
I see I'm in good company starting with PERM and CNOTES but it didn't take long to change them to PEDI and CSPOTS. The eraser on my PENCIL had a good workout today.
Before LIVED appeared, I had TRIED but that was going nowhere so I jumped around until a toehold in the center caught on.
I loved "parrots geese!" A light bulb flashed when I understood it.
Like Irish Miss I enjoyed the pairings of RUG and TOUPEE as well as ALOHA and LUAU.
Have the pentathlon EVENTS changed that much? I clearly remember Bruce Jenner in the Discus throw and how we all sighed in relief for his amazing win after the rigorous swimming, running and I believe pole vaulting.
Sigh. I distractedly filled SHOE-IN knowing it was SHOO!
Have a spectacular day, everyone!
HG, Loved the John Kruk clip. He really loved the game. He even loved that episode with that high fastball.
Bruce Jenner was in the Decathalon, which is 10 events over two days, all track and field related. It does not include swimming. You may be thinking of the Triathlon, which is swimming, bike riding and running.
The other thing I forgot to post was about ESPO, Phil Esposito, who shows up frequently in crosswords. He was not just a former hockey player; he is one of the all-timer greats, a prolific scorer, especially his years with the Boston Bruins, playing on the same team as Bobby Orr, another frequent crossword answer, who is by far the best defenseman ever, and universally viewed as one of the top three or four hockey players ever.
I'm afraid this may be a long post...
(that's how much I enjoyed todays puzzle!)
I made notes all along the way & now I have to edit out
all the cr*p...
1ST, I wish I had a pencil for this puzzle!
I persevered by using the slightest, ever so light ink
chicken-scratching, & even so, wound up with at least one
horrific inkblot. (FIR, but messy...)
Oh wait a sec!
It's ShoO-In?
Whew, I perped it right & didn't even know it...
Well, with my memory, it's a good thing (maybe) that I made notes.
But overall, this puzzle gave me a good run for my money!
(better break up these posts, but I might litter the Blog.)
(See comments ahead...)
Thank you, M AND M.
Not COCKY, but perhaps overconfident and surely being careless led to my second fail in three days this week.
The clue said "Chinese zodiac critter" and I interpreted "zodiac animal" so RAM went in and I never looked back (or at the cross). D'OH !
Loving this World Series !!!
2019 Timeline - Chance of Winning The World Series
Will be tuned in tonight !
The theme, "Stuck ones head out,"
got me side tracked with stuck in ones head...
So I am going with the alternate theme, Outer Limits!
The 3 letter Zodiac critter, I immediately put Rat,
then backtracked, overthinking that this current political
climate may have influenced my decision...
Great for trying to be PC, not so much for puzzle solving...
Yes, politics is confusing. Your best bet is to think for yourself...
(hmm, I am going to stop commenting right here...)
(the mind is a dangerous thing...)
26. Approximate nos.: (I thought Nth's)
it took me a while to figure it out...
27. MN and NM: Immediately put STS,
but when the perps were not working out,
thought it might be palindromic...
Living with Cats, Hal was a gimme...
65. 5 for B or 6 for C: (I put Code...)
I think this was the most painful perpage I have ever endured
to fix this to ATNO. Yes, I get it, but must I endure this Pain!
Oh yes I did retort gave me trouble for some reason...
Which brings me to (& yes, I did edit some Cr*p out)
"How are you at signing a screen with your finger?"
Jeez! I'm OCD!
I hate, absolutely hate using the communal pen (& it's my finger!)
(Where is that dang hand sanitizer, I hate it when it leaks in my pocket!)
(**(&%^%#%$#(*&&*)
Which brings me to (hopefully)
an end to my posts today.
You See, I had a different take on "parrots Geese."
Yes, I immediately (ever so lightly) inked in "Honks."
But being CED (possibly another condition similar to OCD...)
I look at things Askew...
Parroting Geese,
my 2nd thought, is that Geese poop everywhere,
which made me think maybe all these comments and links
are not in the best interest to the Blog.
CC, my apologies if I have been parroting Geese all over your Blog...
! My memory is hazy!
jfromvt, thank you. I guess the only thing I recall from back then is the Discus throw and the swimming. We watched in wonderment at Bruce's indefatigable feats as he went through all the paces and defeated all his rivals. Those were thrilling EVENTS in 1972, I believe.
Oops. 1976 not 72.
HG, I only use papermate sharpwriters! Love them.
Entered FOGS, erased it, then re-entered it. Perm before PEDI. C-note, then C-SPOT. Thought of AFRO, then thought no. And so on throughout this fun and easy-themed enjoyable puzzle. FIR with a few erasures.
Good luck with your neck, YR.
I'm very close to the Reagan Library, and the fire is threatening. We're packed just in case... but I don't think it's going to spread this far. Oh the fun of living in SoCal.
I always use a pen but I don't fill in an answer until I am sure. Yes, sometimes I get fooled like today with cnotes/cspots.
And I had to look of course:
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. The name means "St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the fierce whirlpool of St Tysilio of the red cave"
JB2
I love the biathlon. First you ski part of a cross country race. Heart rate, respiration and blood pressure are near their maximum. Then you have to shoot, which rewards low blood pressure and requires low respiration and heart rates. Then you have to ski some more.
But for shear athletic prowess, its hard to beat triathletes (except for golfers, of course).
Alice and Bill G, and all other Californians threatened by fire, I pray for your safety in this horribly scary situation. I look at the news photos and my heart goes out to all of you.
Alice, thanks for caring about my injury. The doctor gave me a new antiinflammatory to try. I will have an X Ray, and if that looks normal I will go for PT. If that doesn't help the doctor will order an MRI. He thinks that most likely I did no further damage to my bad cervical disc. I just returned to the Y last week. Exercising in the warm water pool should help my balance. I fall too easily these last few months.
I found another empty nester bonus, my blood pressure is back down to normal today.
We used to think Canada geese were special. Not these days. They have taken over our suburbs year round leaving their calling cards everywhere.
Anonymous@ 1:34, interesting comment about the Welsh name.
If you get Misty eyed, you can Tear up.
I was trying to get CNOTE. Never heard of a CSPOT for a Benjamin.
Why, thank you for the kind shout-out, Mailman 1959.
Where is D O?
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Morton J. Mendelson, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Melissa Bee, for a fine review.
Worked the puzzle this morning, then took a nap. That is unusual for me, but I felt tired.
Puzzle went easily, especially for a Wednesday.
ERIE, this time my old County. Spitz, there is also an Erie County in Ohio.
Liked the theme. Some long ones.
I also tried C NOTES before C SPOTS worked better.
Took me a while to figure out the format for 91 in Roman Numerals. XCI looks best to me. Thought IXC might be it, but I agree with the answer.
We had snow this morning as I was guarding. All melted now.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Anon@3:22, thanx for asking. I'm here, but I was late to the party and didn't have much to add. We had a windy thunderstorm yesterday that knocked out electric power for six hours, and the Internet for 18. I worked the puzzle before daylight, as usual, but spent most of this morning picking up branches and twigs that had come crashing down. No damage. Just a big mess. I hope to have something to contribute tomorrow.
I enjoyed this puzzle. For some reason 1 across made me think "Get Misty!" as in the movie "Get Shorty!" I noticed OFFICE cross ICE.
LW and I lived in PALO ALTO for 14 years.
I was talking about NEATO robot vacs a few days ago.
If I were to do puzzles on paper it would be with pencil. I've grown quite accustomed to doing them on line. The Washington Post site works best for me.
Good wishes to you all.
For Anon-T, (if you are out there...)
This blew me away...
Phil Collins on drums!
(not to mention everyone else!)
& in the comments, George Martin is conducting?
(& in the last few seconds, you see he is!)
Late to the dance and everything has been said about this clever puzzle. So many fun misdirections. Screwdrivers were not tools but DRINKS. Coffee and wine were not drinks but COLORS. Such fun.
I have kids in California near the fires so I share the fears of our California contingency. Stay safe everyone!
Oh, say it isn't so Jo(s)e! [Altuve. Sadness, :-(, 'Stros went down in Game 7. This is the 1st World Series ever where the visitors won every game.]
Ah, the puzzle. WEES, fun! IM put the nail on it - a fresh gimmick in the middle of the week + sparkling clechos. Thanks MJM and mb!
WO - AnON b/f AVON [D'uh!], SHOe-IN
ESPs: ERMINE, FAKIR
Fav: c/a HONKS
{B+, B+}
Sorry folks, so far this week has been a whirlwind [between work, baseball, and re-learning that dance for 1/2-time tomorrow] and I've not had much time to commit to posting, so I just lurked. I enjoyed everyone's say and glad to know that our So.Cal contingent is safe though, OMK didn't post today (a diagonalless 16x15 keep him away?) and haven't heard from Fermat nor Picard in a few days... Pipe-up that you're OK.
D-O: that blicin'blacken'flumin' cold weather came just in time to make me suffer tomorrow night at the football game. It wasn't that windy down hear but a new thunderstorm just started.
CED - Thanks for sharing, dude [oh, and your links have been LOL this week (maybe that's why I don't have time to post(???)). I'm going to listen to Sir Paul again.
Cheers, -T
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