google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday, July 19, 2020 Yaakov Bendavid & Yoni Glatt

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Jul 19, 2020

Sunday, July 19, 2020 Yaakov Bendavid & Yoni Glatt

Theme: "Fast x Furious IV" - Four definitions of "Fast" and "Furious".
 
23A. Fast: IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE.

53A. Furious: BLOWING A FUSE.

87A. Fast: LICKETY-SPLIT.

120A. Furious: FOAMING AT THE MOUTH.
 
3D. Furious: ON THE WAR PATH.

35D. Fast: AT A GOOD CLIP.
 
 47D. Furious: FIT TO BE TIED.

 67D. Fast: A MILE A MINUTE.

The duo is back. I just blogged the Yaakov Bendavid & Yoni Glatt puzzle last month.

The theme is simpler than last time. Basic definition puzzle. But all the theme entries are in the language. 

Across:

1. Bring up, as a subject: BROACH. Consonant-rich.

7. Longtime Syrian ruling family name: ASSAD. Quite a few names in this grid.

12. Rat on: NAME.

16. Passover mo., usually: APR.

19. Vaquero's home: RANCHO.

20. Ethiopia's Selassie: HAILE. Emperor of Ethiopia (1930 to 1974). Wiki says "The 1973 famine in Ethiopia led to Selassie's removal from the throne. He died on 27 August 1975 at age 83 following a coup d'état".


21. Puritan's conclusion?: ICAL. Puritanical.

22. Sulu portrayer John: CHO.

26. Vehicle in a queue: CAB.

27. Computer connection method: ETHERNET.

28. "Die Lorelei" poet: HEINE (Heinrich). Wiki says "He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of lieder (art songs) by composers such as Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert."


29. Wound: INJURE. Wish you speedy recovery, Wendybird and Gary! Last time Boomer fell from our stairs and bumped his head into the edge of our bookshelf. Quite scary. He loses his balance easily these days. Side effects from those cancer treatments and oral chemo.

31. Doctor Octopus, to Spidey: FOE.

32. Load: ONUS.

34. "The Flying Dutchman" soprano: SENTA. No idea.

36. Norse pantheon: AESIR.

37. Development site: WOMB.

40. "Groundhog Day" insurance salesman: NED.


42. Specifics, informally: DEETS. Details.

44. Rope fiber: BAST.

45. Carne __: steak dish: ASADA. And 49. Food: EATABLES.

47. Paying passengers: FARES.

51. Based on deduction as opposed to experience: A PRIORI.

56. Gentle attention-getters: TAPS.

57. Series-ending abbr.: ETC.

59. Radiate: EMIT.

60. "Nor to their idle __ doth sight appear": Milton: ORBS.

61. Part of Q.E.D.: ERAT.

62. Groups that get busy in Sept.: PTAS.

64. Charm: ENAMOR.

66. Fairy tale figures: HAGS.

70. T, on the NYSE: ATT.  & T.

71. Rootless sort: ROVER.

73. Hit the dirt on a diamond: SLIDE.

74. "So exciting--not": MEH.

75. Half of an alternative to 7-Down: MAHI. And 7. Sashimi staple: AHI TUNA.







77. Former White House family: OBAMAS.

79. Digitally stored: ON CD.

80. Stack: PILE.

81. Cathedral part: NAVE.

83. "No damage": I'M OK.

85. Actor Wallach: ELI.

86. Palindromic magazine: ELLE.

91. As an alternative: INSTEAD.

93. Philanderer first seen in Cervantes: LOTHARIO. In Don Quixote


94. Banjoist's aid: STRAP.

96. Choking up: TEARY.

97. Peak in Thessaly: OSSA.

98. Creator of Horton the Elephant: SEUSS.

101. Gardener's buy: SOD.

102. Rural spread: FARM.

103. Columbus' birthplace: GENOA.

105. Critical times, military-style: D-DAYS.

107. Author Morrison: TONI.

109. Dispassionate: ICY.

112. Vibrant photo: GLOSSY.

114. Region bordering the River Avon: ARDEN.

116. Showman named Phineas: P T BARNUM. He originated "There's a sucker born every minute".


119. Letters on a note: IOU.

123. Balaam's mount: ASS.

124. Cajun mainstay: OKRA.

125. Blake of ragtime: EUBIE. Quite a few names in this grid.

126. Herbal brew: RED TEA. I drink jasmine tea most of the time.

127. Understand: SEE.

128. Hold back: REIN.

129. __-no question: YES OR.

130. Nasty looks: SNEERS.


Down:

1. Bring up to speed: BRIEF.

2. Totaled, as a bill: RAN TO.

4. Have a hankering (for): ACHE.

5. "The Witches of Eastwick" co-star: CHER. Never saw it. Powerful cast.


6. Schmooze (with): HOBNOB.

8. Word in many California city names: SAN.

9. Many a Punjabi: SIKH.

10. Skin cream ingredients: ALOES.

11. Treated like it didn't exist, as gravity: DEFIED.

12. Tony Gwynn's uniform number: NINETEEN. Mr. Padre.


13. Frequent winner: ACE.

14. Polite question opener: MAY I.

15. Kagan on the bench: ELENA. She and ALITO has very crossword-friendly names.

16. Some finger-pointing: ACCUSALS.

17. One in an ancient Jewish sect: PHARISEE.

18. Rehnquist's successor: ROBERTS. John Roberts once clerked for Rehnquist.


24. "Total Recall" director Wiseman: LEN.

25. Klein of fashion: ANNE.

30. Son and brother of George: JEB BUSH.

33. Tennis' Novak Djokovic, for one: SERB.

38. Source of praise in verse: ODIST.

39. Red Guard leader: MAO. The crazy time. Chairman Mao died in Sept 1976. His wife, one of the Gang of Four, was then arrested. The Cultural Revolution slowly drew to a close, theoretically. In Xi'an, things did not return normal until 1984.


41. Editor's "Lose it": DELE.

43. Headed the cast of: STARRED IN.

45. The Binghamton Rumble Ponies, e.g.: AA TEAM.

46. Ancient Greek military power: SPARTA.


48. A little: SOME.

50. Andrews or Vandenberg: Abbr.: AFB.

52. "Tsk tsk" sayers: REPROVERS.

54. Pitching stat: WINS.

55. "Cosmicomics" author Calvino: ITALO.

58. Vena __: CAVA.

63. Big rollers: SEMIS.

65. __ shaft: MINE.

68. Buffy player Sarah Michelle __: GELLAR.

69. Ally of "The Breakfast Club": SHEEDY.

72. Stadium access: RAMP.

76. Like a supermarket before a major storm, perhaps: IN CHAOS. Now you can easily find toilet paper and hand sanitizers in our grocery stores. They also sell masks, 10 in a box. $14/box.

78. Musical fifths: SOLS.

80. Saint at a gate: PETER.

82. Name-linking trio: AKA.

84. LEGO buys: KITS.

87. Kind of situation to avoid: LOSE LOSE.  And 88. "What's the point?!": IT'S NO USE. And 89. "Way to go, bro!": YOU DA MAN. Three great fill.

90. Gentle gait: TROT.

92. __-puf: old laundry product: STA. Unfamiliar to me. Oh, I recently read an article on Buf-Puf sponge. Have any of you used it before?



93. Open galleries: LOGGIAS. New word to me.

95. Pet shelter visitor, maybe: ADOPTER.

99. Draped dress: SARI.

100. Bondi Beach city: SYDNEY.

102. Forensic evidence bits: FIBERS.

104. "Now, about ... ": AS FOR.

106. Seamless flow: SEGUE.

108. Large power: NTH.

110. More cuddly: CUTER.

111. Jewish community orgs.: YMHAS.

113. It helps a team pull together: YOKE.

115. Snatches: NABS.

117. Blessing follower: AMEN.

118. Went by car: RODE.

121. Actress Graynor: ARI.

122. Muchacho's uncle: TIO.

C.C.



55 comments:

D4E4H said...

Good morning Cornerites.

I'm ready to begin solving today's CW by Yaakov Bendavid & Yoni Glatt.

Fun awaits me.

Ðave 

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Slow and steady, top to bottom, won the day. No surprises...except that d-o managed to fill in all those names. The perps were kind. Wanted AMEN for that "Puritan's conclusion," but it was slated to appear further down. Thanx for the outing, Yaakov, Yoni, and C.C.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a straightforward solve with very few, if any, stumbling blocks. As CC noted, there were numerous proper names, including many I didn’t know: Senta, Heine, Cho, Aesir, and Ari. I also never heard or saw the word Bast. Perps were fair, though, so I finished in a timely manner at 27:26. I don’t care for Eatables in lieu of Edibles, but we’ve seen it before. I have mixed feelings about Sunday puzzles but I did enjoy this one and appreciated the balanced symmetry of two across clues and two down clues for both Fast and Furious.

Thanks, Yaakov and Yoni, for an enjoyable solve and thanks, CC, for the grand tour.

It’s supposed to hit 99 degrees here today. Yesterday was 92 and tomorrow’s forecast is 91. Thank God for a/c.

Have a great day.

billocohoes said...

No evidence Barnum ever said that, or even that "sucker" was in the language at the time.

STA Puf, my thought went to Ghostbusters, but the Marshmallow Man is spelled STAy-Puft

Bob Lee said...

All I can say is, thank goodness for the fast and furious long answers. I really enjoyed them and they helped me finish everything.

As a big Spidey fan, I knew he always called Doctor Octopus as "Doc Ock" so I stubbornly stuck to one of those as the 3-letter answer until I finally gave it up at the end to get FOE.

Oh snap on AATEAM. I really wanted it to be LATEAM like many of the other puzzle answers in the L.A.Times. Tricked me!

Disciple of NAN'L said...

Like PTBARNUM over THEMOUTH

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Thanks for an interesting Sunday challenge, Yaakov & Yoni. I'm never quite on your wave-lenghth, but I did okay with this. Took a few perps for each theme entry but then they came okay and were amusing.

Thank you, C.C., for the interesting and informative expo.

Last to fill: "C" of ACE/ICAL had to do a red-letter run or wouldn't have got it. The whole west middle section was last just before that. Couldn't come up with WOMB, MAO, A PRIORI, AATEAM, SPARTA, ATT, ODIST, TAPS, WARPATH. Had a couple words in there but had to run a few red letters then "guess & by golly" it was filled.

Bugs have been eating all the buds on my lovely Mother's Day potted plant. Went out in the still cooler air this morning and sprayed. Hope the spray doesn't kill the plant. Grocery store substituted from what I wanted. Weather forecast: hot, hot, hot!

TTP said...




Good morning.

38:36 for me today after another night with not enough sleep.

Each of the phrases were known. Just needed some/enough perps to recognize the phrases. Then it was a matter of answering all of the fill.

I was so tired I thought he was Jud BUSH, then realized it was JEd, and finally remembered JEB.

It was in that same area that I had trouble with PHARISEE, AESIR and BAST. I remembered the basic word as either AESeR or AESIR from a recent reading about Valhalla and the Edda. Finally determined it should be an I, and that PHARISEE would be most likely. That gave me BAST, which I did not previously know.

I'm tired. That's it for now.

desper-otto said...

What do you call a fellow who uses BAST to make rope?

PK said...

Desper-otto: you just gave me the best laugh of the morning. BAST___! Never heard of that fiber.

TTP said...

A ropemaker ?
A rope factory employee ?
A basta braider ?

OMaxiN said...

Too many errors in the northeast. ghwBUSH wrong. hemp totally wrong. PHARaSEE wrong. Finished it wrong!
MO

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Me too, PK, I had trouble tuning in the channel but had fun when it came into view.
-On Friday I fell IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE and was FIT TO BE TIED that I was so careless but told Joann, I’M OK.
-Oh I see, he didn’t want Lorelei to die
-My favorite ROVERS
-LOTHARIO, Romeo, Pollyanna, ETC. are now names that have become common nouns too
-A nearby development put a lot of SOD down on a 100oF day
-ARDEN region in England. Across the channel it’s the Ardennes where the Battle of the Bulge played out
-But for my stitches, I would have slapped my forehead when DEFIED (gravity) finally dawned on me!
-A pitcher can sit for 8 2/3 innings and still get the WIN with only one pitch
-What was the profession of the man of whom Tennessee Ernie Ford sang, “Saint PETER don't you call me 'cause I can't go”
-When my partner makes a nice putt – “ YOU DA MAN, Harvey!”
-We prefer LOGE seats at the Orpheum in Omaha
-SYDN_Y had to wait for HUBIE to become EUBIE. Duh!

Lemonade714 said...

Tom are you deleting my early morning posts to make me think I am crazy, or am I crazy? I would have sworn...

Lemonade714 said...

I always thought one of the advantages of being short is not falling so hard or so often, but our upstairs neighbor who is 5'3" has fallen three times in the last three months, the most recent time probably breaking his hip. I guess you need to be extra careful as you age no matter what.

Hungry Mother said...

A huge slogfest, but FIR. Had tent and SAck before SARI; otherwise, just inched along, aided by a very nice and helpful theme. As noted, a lot of names to contend with, but all gettable, so excusable.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Don't make rope jokes. That stuff is knot funny.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

D-O - @ 0900 - - A BASTER; same as the barbecue guy.

Finally got it all. What a slog. But wite-out supply was ample. Good thing the theme phrases were very much in the language. Fun to work on - kept my interest. Favorite clue/fill was probably WOMB.
HAILE Selassie was an Amhara, the traditional ruling ethnic group at the time. I knew an Ethiopian student at RPI who had that as a middle name.
BRIEF - I once attended a BRIEF for ADM Kidd during a NATO exercise in the late '70's. The logistics briefer was an Army major. ADM Kidd asked him how many NATO ships still burned black oil. (bunker oil or #6 or NSFO). He did not know nor did he have the info handy. The poor guy was reamed out like you couldn't believe. (Turns out Portugal was still using black oil then.)
SERB - There is a minority ethnic group in Saxony, Ger., called Sorbs. They are descendants of the western slav incursions into German lands in the early Middle Ages. They are genetically close to Poles and Czechs. Grist for a future puzzle?
Schmooze - English usage is a bit like lickspittle. German has the verb schmusen but it means to be cuddling; to be canoodling; to be smooching , which is the meaning I grew up with. The puzzle sense come from the Yiddish, I believe.

Yellowrocks said...

Fine puzzle, great theme, which was the easiest part. It took me a while to get my brain to wake up this AM. Then I was doing okay but soon I had to stop for ZOOM church. We got ZOOM bombed and had to ditch the session. Somehow I felt quite violated and had trouble concentrating after that. I FIR after a long time. Most difficult puzzle for me of the last 3. Difficulty is a very subjective thing, depending on the life experience and frame of mind of the solver.

Edible and eatable both refer to something that is "able to be eaten," but edible is usually used to describe something that is safe to eat, without regard to taste, while eatable often describes something that has some level of acceptable flavor.

Here the Jewish and the goyim use schmooze to mean gossip or shoot the breeze. The word apparently comes from Hebrew rather than German. "It was the Hebrew shěmu'ōth ("news, rumor") that provided Yiddish with the noun shmues ("talk") and the verb shmuesn ("to talk or chat")."
At Susquehanna U. (1960) I learned a priori and, in German Literature, Heine. Surprised I remember them.
From S-NT-, I wagged SENTA, knowing that Senta Berger was a singer, but didn't remember what she starred in.
Wish you a speedy recovery, Gary and Wendybird.

Yellowrocks said...

OMK, I must tell you how much I appreciated your reasoned discourse last Friday afternoon. I liked the way you stuck to the issues, instead of deflecting by substituting extraneous talking points, unusual these days. I guess I should have taken it off line. I had hoped to hear more you. I like to see the pros and cons of issues. I often end up with gray, instead of black and white. Often there are valid points on both sides.
Invective makes no valid points and makes its users seem unknowledgeable.
Polite discourse is becoming rarer and rarer.

Wilbur Charles said...

Frequent winner? ACE is always a winner but then I realized there are other winners. When I played ALL my winners were ACEs because my groundstrokes were lousy.

HEMP is going to be a common bad fill. Lots of splotch in that area. Had fuse, overwrote it, inked it in again. As said, thank God for long fills

I did FIR. I can see this as the hardest of the weekend. Sheer volume.

WC

Ps, -T, I read your late night, early morning posts and linked things like "Knives".

Lucina said...

Hola!

Though this was fun, it was not FAST for me. I leisurely sipped coffee while mulling over the possible answers. It Started with APR and down that strand then I jumped over to ASSAD and HAILE which was interesting to see them parallel to each other.

I was surprised to read that item about HAILE Selassie because in Jamaica, I believe, they revere him like a god.

I really enjoyed all the FAST and FURIOUS phrases. ITALO Calvino has become a staple in CWDs.

What a joy to see OBAMAS even if only in print. Fun to see SEUSS as well.

There is a large community of SIKH people here.

Tony Gwynn is completely unfamiliar to me but his number came up nicely with perps.

A supermarket called El RANCHO is popular here for Mexican food ingredients.

The husband of one of my cousins is named SAN.

If memory serves me right, Sarah Michelle GELLAR is married to Freddie Prinze, Jr. Yes, I just LIU.

FARM made me think of PK.

YMHAS is a new term for me.

I have only one TIO left alive and he is 90 years old. Another one by marriage to my aunt is 92.

I hope you are al having a glorious Sunday, or at least a restful one!

SwampCat said...

HG, a coal miner who loads 16 Tons.

Irish Miss said...

HG @ 10:00 You can’t imagine my chagrin when I found out your favorite Rovers were not The Irish Rovers! ☘️ 😥

Lemonade714 said...

USA TODAY 7-18-2020 C.C. is back at it.

Wendybird said...

This puzzle defeated me, but it was fun to meet the challenge. I got most of it, but a few dumb mistakes did me in. las/SAN, Grosuch/Roberts, ranup/RANTO, potables/EATABLES, hubie/EUBIE.

My favorite clue/answer was WOMB. Really cute.

Gary, I think the guy in the song was a miner.

Irish Miss, i couldn’t remember who had done battle with a watermelon. I’m glad you’re progressing.
I’ve never heard of BAST - learning moment.

Thank you Yaakov and Yoni for a clever and creative challenge. C.C., thanks for the excellent tour and for your concern at my tumble.

Have a great day everyone.

Anonymous said...

I really liked this puzzle, because the theme answers were all solid, and there were a lot of them. I don't think I would have clued PTBARNUM with "Phineas," though, since the "P" stands for Phineas. But I'm probably in the minority on that one.

Malodorous Manatee said...

I was "of counsel" on this one with my girlfriend doing much of the solving. I helped her with a few of the tough spots. As with many others here, this puzzle was a bit different in that the theme answers generally came more easily than the others. There were a couple of proper nouns that were solved with perps and I could have entirely done without You Da Man.

While I do enjoy The Rovers I listen far more often to The Chieftains.

desper-otto said...

IM, I, too, was expecting The Unicorn.

NaomiZ said...

Ha ha ha!

Anonymous said...

21st century language evolution
Would/should a modern editor DELE the use of the phrase ON THE WARPATH with so many other options available?

desper-otto said...

Lemonade, your link takes me to a Patrick Blindauer puzzle for 7/18/2020.

NaomiZ said...

This was a toughie for me but FIR with help from the theme answers. As a number of you have indicated, there is often more than one perfectly correct answer that fits a space, but is not the answer required. Sometimes we have to change our first response. That being so, what is the big deal about solving in ink? I'm really curious, because I've heard people say, "She solves crossword puzzles in INK!" as if that meant her brain was huge. Ink aficionados in the Corner always seem to have correction fluid at hand. Isn't the humble pencil more sensible?

Jayce said...

Pretty cool puzzle. It took me quite a bit of time and noodling to solve, but in the end it was satisfying. The fact that I knew ASSAD, HAILE, and CHO got me started. Didn't know HEINE or NED, though.

Senta Berger is a film actress. SENTA is the female character in the opera.

I also liked the clue for WOMB.

EUBIE Blake had really long fingers, a definite asset for a pianist.

I used to have to do a lot of schmoozing when I was working.

Good wishes to you all.

CrossEyedDave said...

I was just going to Lurk today,
but the Total Recall Director is actually Paul Verhoeven (1990)
with Arnold Schwarzenegger & SHaron Stone.
Why they remade it it 2012 is beyond me.
While the graphics are better,
the 1990 movie tells a better story.
Also read (by Phillip K. Dick), (short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale")

Also, Ally Sheedy, while interesting in The Breakfast Club,
has a much more endearing role in the comedy, "Short Circuit."
(Oh, and War Games of course...)

HG! I think you (& others) will like this new video,
MArs in 4K
& for Gods sake, don't watch it on your phone,
it needs to be seen on the biggest smart TV you have!
Freeze frame the video for stunningly clear pictures!

& please! tie up the rope jokes...

Wilbur Charles said...

Naomi, it comes down to the ink-worthy-ness of am answer. Today, HEMP was ink-worthy. And...looking back Strike that FIR. I had "in" CD which is synonymous* but my vague familiarity with ITALO should have saved me.

WC

Info gets stored ON CD but once there is IN CD.


Another point of difficulty with Sunday is there's so much to recheck.

Yellowrocks said...

Naomi Z,I often solve in ink, no special props for that. Ink is easier to see. I often write very lightly knowing that it might change. Sometimes I use erasable pen. (Strange the pen is not erasable, but that is in the language. Not very often I see erasable ink pen.) Sometimes I use pencil. Writing a proposed answer and changing it is not shameful IMO. It helps me see what it might be. Visualizing the wrong answer helps me. What every floats your boat, pen, pencil, online. Writeovers IMO are not bragging points.

Shankers said...

Checking in late here after Mass and breakfast out for my xx b-day. A lovely 113° day here in Phoenix/Scottsdale with some humidity to top it off. The extreme NE was my undoing. For the life of me could not get any of it except injure which was not enough to suss anything. Big fat DNF. Going out again tonight for a glass of White Zin and maybe a steak with DW and friends. Stay blessed everyone.

Lucina said...

I like to use ink because I can see it better, especially on Sunday's puzzle with the very small squares. And yes, I do keep a correction pen handy.

I've been watching the memorial videos for John Lewis; what a life well lived! He was a tower of strength throughout his lifetime.

Lucina said...

Shankers:
Happy birthday! Where did you find a Mass?

Lemonade714 said...

D-O, it does. C.C.'s puzzle is today, 7-19-2020. You can get it by clicking in the puzzle icon to the right and clicking on the correct date. Sorry, I am full of errors these days

I enjoyed SHORT CICUIT

Malodorous Manatee said...

Tie up the rope jokes? I'm a frayed knot!

Shankers said...

Hi Lucinda. I just got off the phone after talking to my twin sister in Ca. for half an hour. Anyway, I live around 68th St. and Chapparel. DW and I go to St. Thomas the Apostle on 24th St. just south of C/Back. They've been open for a good month at least, but limiting attendance to 200. There is a site you can go to in order to sign up which is on a first-come, first-serve basis. It's staphx.org. Let me know if that works for you. Meantime, stay cool!!

Anonymous T said...

Sunday Lurk say...

Well, Happy Birthday Shankers. I've enjoyed your posts and glad you decided to pipe-up at The Corner.

MManatee - LOL @ knot funny.

CED - You da Man! Thanks for the Mars video. So cool!
//I hope the ROVER doesn't Short Circuit and become sentient, cuz', boy will s/he be pissed that its friends died -- might even trigger the looming robot uprising!

And with that thought...

Cheers! :-)
-T

Spitzboov said...

NaomiZ - I, too, solve in ink. Nothing about the brain; black ink is just easier to read for these older eyes. It does make you pause, to be sure you're right but sometimes, there are several 'inkworthy' candidates, and you have to jump in with both feet. I prefer a fine (0.7mm) tip Pilot pen but any good ballpoint will do. Like others have said, there is no 'preferred' way; your method should be one you enjoy and are comfortable with.

LEO III said...

I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! Saw the theme as soon as I printed and looked over the grid! With a few perps, I figured out the theme answers rather easily (although I did have to make some minor corrections)! Figuring out 23A first and then 3D got me off to a great start. STILL GOT A GREAT BIG DNF! Oh, well… That’s life here in the fast lane!

Other than not getting it all correct, though, I really liked the puzzle. Thanks, Yaakov and Yoni and C.C.

Unknowns were HEINE, AESAR, BAST, APRIORI, OSSA and EUBIE, but I got them with perps also. Really bogged down in the REPROVERS and SOLS section. I don’t think I had ever stumbled across REPROVERS, and I was stumped by the clue for SOLS. Duh! My percentage of solved clues was very high, though. It really was a fun theme for me.

Namoi, like others said, I can see ink better. Also, when I got back into doing crossword puzzles a few years ago, I doubt that I could have put my hands on a pencil, let alone a pencil sharpener. Since I was doing them in the newspaper then, erasures were a pain and a mess. I also write very, very lightly when unsure, and Wite-Out is my friend. The REAL reason, however, is so that whenever anyone sees me doing one in ink and asks, my pat response is, “BECAUSE I AIN’T SKEERD!” Of course, I really am!

Lucina, after I print the Sunday puzzle off the LA Times website, I tear the grid away from the clues and blow it up to 150% on my printer. Yes, it’s a pain going back and forth between the grid and the clues, but I just cannot write legibly enough in that small grid, even with a sharp pen point. I don’t have to do that with the daily puzzles, which I print from the “Comical’s" website. They are already large enough.

Avg Joe said...

I'm with Naomi. The only use I have for #2 pencils is for my crossword addiction. The cost is astronomical at roughly a box every 3 or 4 years. But I'll pay it.

PK said...

Happy Birthday, Shankers!

Never have I known any real persons named Yaakov & Yoni. Wouldn't that be a clue that we live in slightly different worlds?

Anonymous T said...

Lurk is still out there say...

Today I was grilling chicken to add to my (garden!) basil pesto. I took the instant-read thermometer out of the bird and wiped it off. It still read 101.
Oh, it's that hot...
//Mrs. -T is going to make me shower b/f bed, I just know it.

Paternal Grandpa solved in pencil. When he learnt that Pop's 3rd wife's [Love her!] dad did the puzzle in INK, he said, "Well, that sonnofa..." but the new Gramp instantly earned Gramp T's respect.
So I do it in ink with as few smudges|write-overs as I can muster - just to piss off Gramps :-) //God Rest His Soul.

I loved that old man. He taught me so much stupid shit that I still do. Two examples just from today:
1) We had a "family message board" that was no longer useful. I pulled off the 3 hooks for repurpose & saved the cork-board for something else too.

2) I put the Girls a competition to draw flowers on a 2.6 litre* laundry-soap bottle (that I was converting to a watering can w/ Miracle Gro drops - a total Grampa move):
"What's the prize?"
"In 20 years, you will come to my garage and see it and think 'Ha! I remember doing that.'"

Cheers, -T
*for you C, Eh! :-)

Big Easy said...

Very late to work the puzzle and comment. The theme mad the puzzle solvable. Otherwise I wouldn't have filled LOTHARIO, LOGGIAS, PHARISEE, REPROVERS, BAST SENTA< GELLAR, SHEEDY, NED, SYDNEY, Johu CHO, & ARI Graynor, LEN Wiseman,- perps for all of them.

I know EDIBLES but have never heard of EAT-ABLES, but it fit.
Tony Gwynn's number had to wait for a few perps.

MAO & IN CHAOS- C.C.'s family had to live through it. Buf-Puf sponge- many years ago that was an item sold by Riker Labs, divison of 3M.

Dow Jones said...

Monday's (July 20) edition of the Wall Street Journal features a crossword puzzle (Free Ride) constructed by Steve Marron and C.C. Burnikel.

Enjoy Steve & CC's Puzzle

TTP said...



Lemonade, no, I have not deleted any of your comments. Unless you are posting under different blogger profiles with suspect links to online gaming websites, "best deals on swimming pool filter systems" or potions and magic spells that will repair love problems and money issues.

Try this: Tie a piece of string around your finger...


Steve and C.C.'s Wall Street Journal puzzle "Free Ride" was a gem. It was fresh, with some words you don't often see in crosswords. Too bad it wasn't published here.

NaomiZ said...

Hahaha!

NaomiZ said...

Expensive hobby! Hahaha!

NaomiZ said...

Belated thanks for all the comments about solving in ink versus pencil. Legibility is a reason I can accept. Pencil can be hard to see, depending on the angle of the light.