google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, October 9, 2020, Will Tobias

Gary's Blog Map

Oct 9, 2020

Friday, October 9, 2020, Will Tobias

 Title: Play ball!

I have had the pleasure of introducing the cruciverb world to so many first time publications. One day, I should count them. In any event, Will Tobias is the next in line. His puzzle is a repurposing of common phrases used during a baseball broadcast by cluing them with descriptive and amusing images. He even includes, what I see as an unnecessary reveal. As we are working our way slowly toward a World Series, the timing is good. As a Friday there is some challenge-   39. "Strega __": Tomie dePaola Caldecott winner whose title means "Grandma Witch": NONA and 58. Goiânia greeting: OLA come to mind. He also squeezes in some sparkle with HIGHBALL,  PONTIFFS, NOR'EASTER, and PIRATICAL (an odd but easily inferrable word. So it is time to begin.

20A. *Where to hang a lei on a rhino?: AROUND THE HORN (13). A double play initiated by the third baseman who throws to second who throws to first. 

32A. *Bits of dialogue censored on network television?: FOUL LINES (9). Pretty funny. The ball is in play between the white lines.

40A. *Dracula after a hearty meal?: FULL COUNT (9). We will not ask what Vlad has eaten, but this too is funny.



51A. *Crime of someone who wants folks to get lost?: STEALING SIGNS (13). This is not so funny as it is the basis of a major league scandal in major league baseball causing teams to forfeit World Series wins. 

The reveal: 59D. Org. in which you'd hear the answers to starred clues: MLBMajor League Baseball.

On to the rest...

Across:

1. Travel pillow spot: NAPE. Not as controversial as NABE.

5. "Nothing but net": SWISH. That special sound in basketball as the ball slides down without hitting the rim.

10. One often looking down: SNOB. One's nose often; counterintuitively it is said to have arisen from the custom of writing “s. nob.”, that is, 'sine nobilitate,' after the names of children of untitled parents in certain English schools. 

14. Handmade blade: SHIV. I know some fun shiv stories. 

15. George who co-wrote the graphic memoir "They Called Us Enemy": TAKEI.

16. Do the honors: POUR. A CSO to our resident Sommelier and our friend TIN.

17. Blaze: FIRE. Look, there is a blaze; meh.

18. Circular gasket: O-RING. Very important in the machinery of all kinds.

19. "__ boy!": ATTA. ATTA Girl.

23. Acquire: GET.

25. Whitney and Washington: Abbr.: MTS. In California- the highest peak in 48 contiguous states and in New Hampshire with the highest winds.

26. Counted (on): BANKED. On banking on entertaining you, but so far it is a struggle.

27. Unstable time: CRISIS. No politics.

29. Bygone Russian title: TSAR. Not bygone from the puzzle world. 

31. Lawful: LICIT. Hence, illicit.

37. And others, in Lat.: ET AL. Alia or Alii.

38. Group of experts: PANEL.

39. "Strega __": Tomie dePaola Caldecott winner whose title means "Grandma Witch": NONA. If you speak Italian it is a very literal answer. 

42. Doughnut-shaped: TORIC. We have had this shape many times.

43. Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Donovan: ANNE.
Anne Donovan.

44. Musical inability: TIN EAR. More Tin.

45. Dark igneous rock: BASALT. Basalt is a dark-colored, fine-grained, igneous rock composed mainly of plagioclase and pyroxene minerals.

49. Suffix with bass: OON. Suffix with Sw? Please.

50. High card: ACE.

55. "The Sopranos" actor Robert: ILER. AJ, has left the building. 
A.J. Soprano

56. "And that's __!": FINAL. No, not yet.

57. Elemental unit: ATOM. Ant?

60. Belafonte classic: DAYO. The Banana Boat Song is back.

61. Cereal tidbit: FLAKE. Corny answer.

62. Auction, say: SELL. Or try to...

63. "Birds of Prey" actor McGregor: EWAN. Harley Quinn...

64. Attack: SET AT.

65. Cairo native: ARAB. A descendant of Ismael.

Down:

1. Bad check letters: NSFnon-sufficient funds

2. Poke tuna: AHI. Aha! Are you okay with POKE?

3. Given to plundering: PIRATICAL. You missed TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY. ARRGH!

4. At any time: EVER. We get into the filling fill.

5. Dark drafts: STOUTS. Rex? 

6. Cautions: WARNS

7. "Joke, joke": I KID.

8. Email status: SENT.

9. Tall drink: HIGHBALL. Another baseball possibility but not included in the theme. This drink recipe is one that every aspiring bartender should know and it is, quite simply, whiskey and ginger ale. 

10. Pitcher Warren with the most lifetime wins for a southpaw:  SPAHN.

11. Far from acceptable: NOT OK.

12. Quite unusual: OUTRE.

13. __ awareness: BRAND.

21. Drop: OMIT.

22. Rank between marquess and viscount: EARL. Did you all watch the movie?

23. Staff symbol: G CLEF. The treble clef is also called the "G clef" because the symbol at the beginning of the staff (a stylized letter "G") encircles the second line of the staff, indicating that line to be G4 (or g above middle C).

24. Verdi baritone aria: ERITU. Just in time for some opera.

28. Window ledge: SILL. What you not know and do not care about the WINDOW SILL.

29. 1,000 kilograms: TONNE. A metric ton. 

30. Bird feeder cake: SUET. Hard to think of suet as "cake."

32. Woodland spirit: FAUN.

33. Privy to: IN ON.

34. Stahm that may affect Bahston: NOR'EASTER.

35. Early computer: ENIAC.

36. "__ bleu!": SACRE.

38. Popes: PONTIFFS.

41. Ring up: CALL.

42. Sound of a tiny bell: TING.

44. __ water: TOILET.

45. It may be a sleeper hit: B-SIDE.

46. Shingle words: AT-LAW.

47. "Toodles!": SEE YA.

48. Judge on a diamond: AARON. Yankee star who is being overshadowed by Luke Volt and Gianncarlo Stanton in the playoffs. NY is down 2-1 to Tampa Bay, but Tinbeni can't lose.

49. Japanese financial hub: OSAKA. Also the US Tennis Open women's champion this year. 

52. River delta where the Rosetta Stone was found: NILE

53. Winged pest: GNAT. We get more midges in Florida. 

54. Mission Control org.: NASA.

58. Goiânia greeting: Olá. Goiânia is a city in Western Brazil. When you see Olá rather than ¡Hola! it is a clue you are looking for a Portuguese place, not Spanish. 

I am under the weather, so I leave it you all to make our newest constructor Will T. (Will Shortz, nor Will Shakespeare) feel at how here at the corner and ready to come to visit and talk with us. Lemonade out.





51 comments:

  1. Good morning!

    This was a very fast solve, especially for a Friday. Only needed Wite-Out to change "That's A WRAP" to FINAL. Minor nit with DAYO, that's not the name of the song. Auspicious debut, Will. Excellent expo, Lemonade (interesting about s. nob).

    Here we go again! Looks like our Nola denizens will escape the worst from Delta, but woe be unto the folks in Cameron and Lake Charles. They haven't recovered from Laura -- that was only six weeks ago. If Delta turns out to be a major hurricane, will they retire that letter from the Greek alphabet?

    ReplyDelete
  2. 34D, you can't fool a Connecticut yankee with that Boston accent. When I lived in Portsmouth NH, we would go up to Dovah to get a berah, cost a dollah to park the cah.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Strictly speaking that should have been NOREASTAH.

      Delete
  3. BobB, didn't you mean to say "pahk?"

    ReplyDelete
  4. Goofed up today. I had legit for lici, so didn't get the approval. With the correction took just under 10 minutes.

    I'm conflicted on this puzzle. Very clever/punny theme, but need to deduct points for: Nona, oon, & Eritu. I will begrudginly accept the clues for Anne and Iler, though neither seem "famous enough." Sometimes, when the clue contains "all star" or "hall of famer," it seems to be acknowleding that the person/clue is obscure, but that qualifier somehow legitimizes it; I don't buy into that premise. But, like I said, credit for using the baseball terms in non-baseball way, and even including the reveal.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hola!

    Clever puzzle but unappreciated by me who does not love baseball. I got it, but OK.

    I did like seeing George TAKEI whom I admire and since I now live alone I can listen to interviews and music at 5:30 A.M. I love The Banana Boat song.

    Tomie dePaola wrote many wonderful stories for children which my fourth graders loved but I don't recall that particular one. NONA is so close to nana.

    With a sports related theme I guess it's the only way to clue ANNE out of the numerous possible references. She is not familiar to me though, not surprisingly.

    PONTIFFS was easily and quickly filled.

    SACRE bleu is one of those French phrases that often occurs in books.

    CSO to Canadian Eh! at TONNE.

    Thank you, Will Tobias and Lemonade whose detailed information I always enjoy.

    Have a marvelous day, everyone! SEE YA (I couldn't help myself.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A fond memory was of a puppet miming Belafonte's Day O on a train in the Paris subway.

      Delete
  6. I love baseball, so this was right up my alley.

    In regards to STEALINGSIGNS, and the Astros scandal from 2017 - while they were heavily fined and the GM, Manager and a Coach were suspended for a year (or more), they actually did not forfeit any games. Their World Series championship should have been vacated in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good Morning:

    As soon as I entered Around The Horn, I knew the theme would be baseball related. In addition to the theme answers, Aaron Judge and Warren Spahn were nice added touches. The MLB reveal was necessary to non-baseball knowledgeable solvers, IMO. No w/os and perps or basic inference took care of the unknowns. Only noticed one duo, Sell/Sill, and, as always, appreciated the judicious use of three letter words. CSO to HG (NASA) and Wilbur (Nor’easter).

    Thanks, Will, for a very enjoyable solve and congrats on your debut and thanks, Lemony, for entertaining and informing us. Hope you feel better.

    I forgot to mention that my biggest challenge when the power went out on Wednesday was extricating myself from my electrically controlled recliner, without a repeat of the watermelon fiasco!

    Hope those in harm’s way stay safe and sound.

    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Musings
    -Very cold O-RINGS doomed the Challenger
    -Footprints in the Moon’s maria (seas) of BASALT look the same as the day they were made
    -The final episode of The Sopranos left you to make your own ending
    -DAYO is now a chant at baseball games (me wanna go home)
    -SENT – My Gmail allows me 10 seconds to reconsider
    -SUET, Niger seed, cracked corn and sunflower chips make up our bird buffet
    -Our 27” iMac is far from an ENIAC but it still heats up our computer room
    -PONTIFFS and EARLS are still just people to me
    -There are no other 4-letter rivers in Egypt (I looked it up)
    -Irish, here is my facemask! You can get order one too! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thought the clue said single words. Ohhh, shingle like roofing material or Irish M's ocular affliction (you did get the Shingrix shots right?)....almost ready to throw in the pen when my final synapse fired..and realized the answer was ATLAW. Wasn't sure about ILER (never watched the offensive "Sopranos") so FIR...whew!

    The Baseball theme flew right over my head like a fly ball when I reluctantly played outfield.

    Aways forget TORIC. I like mine glazed. OON added to a noun makes it big...(balloon etc). "Tally me banana" ("Add up my work loading bananas and pay me so I can go home"). Great vocalisits: Harry and his contemporary GNAT "KIng" Cole.

    "Strega (STRAY-gah) Nona" does not translate Grandma Witch. Nonna not Nona (not even in dialect) is italian for "grandma". She has a friend Strega Amelia so Nona may be her name. An American author writing a pseudo-Italian folk tale for an American audience. Odd. Takes place in Calabria (all 4 of my grandparents born there, called them "Grandma" and "Grampa")... Nona actually translates, "ninth" so in Italian: "Ninth Witch"

    The company is denying a refund? So ____ SUET.
    Mcgregor? Beat me up? _____ what army?...EWAN
    Because of COVID maybe neither Christmas _______ festivities....NOREASTER
    Longhorn's burning sensation...BRANDAWARENESS
    Undescended testicle familiarly..HIGHBALL.
    What Baseball loving fish do upstream....SPAHN

    Welcome Mr Tobias, where there's a Will there's a way. (or unhappy heirs). You get away with PIRATICAL this time.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Will's puzzle was easy for a Friday with a few crunchy places. The 34D clue had me stumped for the longest because I was fishing for some STAR before I realized the clue was 'Boston Speak'. NONA- A,E,I,O, or U. I tried them all and none made sense for the foreign clue until I realized it was EASTER not EA STAR. Had to change SALE to SELL. I hadn't read the 59D clue.

    But it was a DNF because I couldn't remember if it was ERE TU or ERI TU and LEGIT & LICIT were both good answers for 'Lawful'. PIRATICAL or PIRATIGAL-neither made any sense. PIRATABLE felt right but there was no way it would fit.

    The baseball theme was easy to see as soon as AR was in place and I finished AROUND THE HORN.
    EWAN, AARON, ANNE, TAKEI, BRAND- all perped
    OSAKA- never knew it was a financial hub

    NSF- I was on the receiving end of too many of those back in the 70s. The owner told me that once I finally collected, don't do business with them again. As the saying goes: 'You can't change the spots on a leopard or remove the stripes from a tiger;. Slow payers will always pay slow. NSF check writers will eventually go bust. They will eventually beat you out of the money and you will just waste your time dealing with them. Let them be a competitor's problem.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Lemon: Good job on the write-up.

    Two CSO's with POUR (always NEAT) and TIN EAR (which I have).

    Hope everyone has a SAFE weekend.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good morning everyone.

    A few scattered entries at first, but then the fill took root in the SE and slowly bloomed over the rest of the puzzle. Liked the theme; wanted something with 'tusk' at 20 a, but was glad I waited for AROUND THE HORN. Somehow remembered SPAHN. Some superb and clever cluing by Will.
    CSO's to CanEh! @ OUTRE and SACRE.
    An 'expert' is anyone 50 miles from home with a briefcase.
    BASALT - The NJ Palisades overlooking the Hudson are BASALT.
    TONNE - In the US, I think we are more likely to see 'metric ton'.

    Thanks Lemon for a fine outing and Will for a scintillating challenge.


    ReplyDelete
  13. Many of our seasonal owners who come down for the winter are of Italian heritage and speak primarily Italian. There are "NONA" vanity plates in the parking lot (even if it is not proper Italian. I repeat the bingo numbers called in Italian.

    Gary, your face-mask looks great, but I think you need at lest three-ply.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I really enjoyed this one which went much faster than the normal Friday. Got the theme immediately. Only slow spotspot was left center with Gclef at 23D. Piratical? Really? I totally loved the clue for nor'Easter as well as shingle words for at law. I've said it before that, despite being a lifelong sportsaholic, I have zero interest in following any of the games be it baseball, basketball, hockey or whatever owing to players and management using their sport to shove a political agenda down my throat. I think they are getting the message from the fans since ratings have tanked. Besides, baseball is sooo boooring. Let me count the ways. Is a five minute at bat between a pitcher, catcher and batter that captivating as the other fifteen players stand around spitting? You get the picture.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Before Ilose this thought.
    WIKI-In the Italian language, the word "strega" means "witch" and the word "nonna" means "grandmother". Just as "grandma" is a colloquial variation of "grandmother", "nona" is a colloquial variation of "nonna". Hence "Strega Nona" means "Grandma Witch". It is clear in the stories, mainly Strega Nona, Her Story, that Nona is the character's actual name.

    My students loved Strega Nona.

    See ya later.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm sure most of us can't believe C.C. didn't create this fun baseball puzzle.
    FIW with LegIT instead of LICIT.
    MO

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lemon
    My mask does have a second layer that forms a pocket on the inside and that pocket is open on the ends to accommodate any additional filter(s) I want to add

    ReplyDelete
  18. I was happy to get good chunks of this Friday puzzle before needing help, and enjoyed a lot of the clues and answers. So, many thanks Will, and welcome. Always like your commentary, Lemonade.

    Seems like TSAR shows up in practically every puzzle these days, but not SUET.
    Got EWAN and TAKEI, though didn't know ILER or the woman basketball player, sadly.
    Loved Belafonte's DAYO, DAYO, still plays in my ear.

    Have a good day, everybody.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Welcome, Will! Thanks Lemon!

    Yes, this one was a nice and easy Friday puzzle.

    Yes, I also got the baseball theme right off the bat, as it were.

    Yes, I also fell into the LICIT/LEGIT trap, for a great big FIW.

    Working at the museum at Hobby Airport today, on the southeast side of town. We had kind of a steady drizzle from Delta, but it has stopped raining, and the sky is slowly brightening up as the storm moves off to the east. The sun should be out soon.

    The weather peeps had this one charted absolutely correctly, but we hate seeing SW Louisiana getting hit again.

    Yes, “The Banana Boat Song” was a great hit for Belafonte, but THIS ONE (with Odetta) was my favorite of his:

    There's a Hole in the Bucket

    ReplyDelete

  20. I agree with waseeley...why did the answer not follow the clue in terms of pronunciation? I’m in SC and we get the occasional nor’easter here as well. You want to use the Boston accent, then it’s nor’eastuh or nor’eastah. IMHO. A bit sloppy, methinks.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I really loved this MLB puzzle! Although it took 28 minutes, I did get ‘er done. Had NANA at 39a for a while while I tried to figure out what 34d was about. Finally the lightbulb went on as it could be “NOREASTER” not “NAREASTER” and so (DOH!) 34d was Bahstonspeak. The other write-over was 33d “ONTO” became “INON” when “TORIC” emerged. Anyway, nice CW, thanx, WT, and as usual a terrific write-up, thanx Lemonade! Everyone stay safe. Too much death already.

    ReplyDelete
  22. FIR, easier than most Friday puzzles. It was solvable as a themeless. I went top to bottom solidly without gaps. When I came to STEALING SIGNS, I realized the theme was baseball which suggested MLB. Loved this theme which added spice.
    When I taught we had a monthly discussion group with our superintendent with a teacher representing each building. He called it going round the horn when asking each teacher in turn for input.
    DAYO was easy, even though it is not the actual title of the song.
    Only ANNE was new to me.
    PIRATICAL and ER TU nixed LEGIT and turned it to LICIT.
    SNOB, word origin. SNOB
    I agree that NOR'EASTER would be better ending in ah instead of er, but no problem.
    ILER is the only four letter actor I know beginning with I.
    Beautiful October day here. I had lunch at a patio restaurant. Back to work.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Felt good doing the puzzle this morning with only two w/o's that perps fixed: Neck/NAPE and NaNA/NONA. Unfortunately like some other solvers, I left in LegIT, thinking PIRATIgAL a bit strange, but a new word, who knows? ERe TU seemed OK. So ultimately, a FIW which Lemony gently pointed out in his review. The theme and all the rest of the puzzle went well. So, thanks for an interesting puzzle, Will. Look forward to your next!

    Hope you feel better soon, Lemony, and good luck to people in the path of Delta. Hope you all stay safe.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi All!

    Scoot over @7:33a & Leo3 (wait, what Hobby museum at the airport?) and let me in. Hand up for LEgIT. FIW.

    Thanks for the puzzle Will but that SW was a bear. Technically, I have a DNF 'cuz I had to look up ILER to get back on track in the SW. Knew the theme at 20a. Love me somes baseball.

    Fun Expo Lem! Thanks for POURing your time into it.

    WOs: Neck b/f NAPE, cobALT b/f cheat. SEE YA-> By now -> (back to) SEE YA. //COBALT really messed me up. Also TORId.
    ESPs: SPAHN ++cheating fill
    Fav: SACRE Bleu always make me think of Clouseau.

    FLN - WC: that's why I love TMBG; so meta funny. Glad you enjoyed it too.

    IM - glad you GOT up w/o hurting yourself.

    HG - we were in simpatico at O-RING.

    Nonna (NONA?) is what all the grandkids call Pop's wife. Grandma is what they call my mother. #ModernFamily :-)

    DW doesn't like my chili (I mean she likes it but doesn't want to eat it) 'cuz I start it with all the spices in ~1/4-lb of SUET. Sure there's a layer of grease on top but that's what flavors the oyster-crackers.

    Have a wonderful afternoon!

    Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  25. I haven't been a baseball fan since the NY Giants replaced my old San Francisco Pacific Coast team, the great San Francisco Seals.
    But I found this baseball-centric pzl easy to do, anyway. I guess it couldn't have been too tough on even less knowledgeable Cornerites.
    It was a fun game, Mr. Tobias! Thank you.

    ♫ Daylight come, an' me wanna go home. ♫
    Loved that old Belafonte song. It made a career as a longshoreman seem attractive.
    Even highly deadly black tarantulas sounded like fun!
    ~ OMK
    ___________
    DR:
    . Four diagonals today, one from NW to SE and three from NE to SW.
    I usually look first to the main near-side diagonal for an anagram. But today--would you believe it?--15 letters and not a SINGLE vowel.
    You could lose all your dough on Wheel of Fortune trying to buy vowels, to no avail!
    Well, the main far side diagonal comes through.
    It offers as an anagram, an article of clothing that might have been worn by Miss Josephine Baker. This would be her...
    "BANANA HAT"!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Well, I didn't exactly warm to this puzzle. It's not because I know basically nothing about the baseball business. I can't put my finger on why I "got no satisfaction" from solving it.

    Hand up for the LEGIT --> LICIT pitfall. I also had RELIED before BANKED and ITSA boy before ATTA boy. Not knowing SPAHN didn't help.

    We used to put cakes of SUET out for the birds during the winter. They look sort of like cakes of soap.

    Thanks to Ray-O I learned adding OON to a noun makes it big, as in balloon. However, I cannot think of any other examples besides bassoon and balloon. I don't think Walloon qualifies. Macaroon? Baboon?

    I guess PIRATICAL is another of those AL words like societal, tyrannical, and that word in a recent puzzle that bothered so many of us. (I forgot what it was).

    Lemonade, interesting about SNOB coming from 'sine nobilitate'. Yellowrocks linked to a different theory.

    When I saw "Shingle words" I immediately thought of S**T ON A but they wouldn't fit.

    I love the "bwong bwong" sound of the drums in The Banana Boat Song.

    Good wishes to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  27. STEALING SIGNS is a time honored tradition. Doing it electronically is verboten. But was it clear? In 1951 the New York Giants put a telescope in CF and a direct line to the dugout , won 31/40 to tie for Pennant and won on Bobby Thompson's Homerun heard round the world. I was watching Hopalong Cassidy and my mother was listening on the radio. "Turn on the TV!!!". And all I saw was the agony of defeat on the Dodgers as they funerally walked across the field to the lockers in back of CF. Was Thompson tipped off?

    "fun shiv stories.". Talk about an oxymoron.

    The T in TORIC and TING was a D(ing). Complete Natick FIW.

    SPAHN played for the same team in three cities. "SPAHN and Sain and pray for rain " was 1948 Boston Braves.*

    And sometimes a Duke is an EARL.

    If baseball wasn't enough of a CSO try NOREASTER. I just thought of 1978. Which reminds me of Bucky BLANKETY BLANK Dent. Btw, I had noted FLN that baseball was coming

    Now to read comments

    WC

    **Vern Bickford won 20 but didn't fit the rhymes. Braves lost to Indians in WS

    ReplyDelete
  28. Shankers- I'm with you on Pro sports. Have only watched LSU and grandson's HS football. And that includes WNBA. One of my neighbors is Theresa Plaisance of the Connecticut Suns.

    OMaxiN- I had the LEGIT mistake too.
    ATL granny- Piratigal looked as LEGIT as Piratical.

    Gary- put a coffee filter if you fell that you want extra protection. My take on COVID19 is based on the latest CDC statement. If it can be spread through the air everybody will eventually be exposed- everybody. Wash you hands frequently and keep out of other people's faces. Hope for the best.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I also insert a folded coffee filter in my mask. It still surprises me how many people walk around without a mask.

    Irish Miss:
    I'm glad you didn't hurt yourself climbing out of your chair.

    Mani-pedi day today. Plexiglass shields are installed at all the stations between the tech and the customer.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Had LegIT instead of LICIT which messed up the mid-West. Briefly had EdvAC, which might be a better answer. Not a baseball fan, but the rest was easy.

    ReplyDelete
  31. -T --- The 1940 Air Terminal Museum --- We are in the original Houston Municipal Airport terminal building, on the west side of the airport, two blocks off of Telephone Road. We're open 10-5, Tuesday through Saturday, and 1-5 on Sunday. We're closed on Monday.

    Right now, I'm working Wednesdays and Fridays, AND whenever the call/text/email and say, "HEY! Get over here!"

    We have a website (www.1940airterminal.org) and a Facebook page (The 1940 Air Terminal Museum).

    On the third Saturday of each month, we have Open Ramp Day or Wings and Wheels Day. We cone off our ramp and haul a couple of planes out of our hangar and also have some fly ins, and we let our visitors out on the ramp to see the planes upclose and personal.

    Next Saturday (10/17), we have the Tiger Flight scheduled in for Open Ramp Day, if they aren't working. They are a couple of United Airlines drivers, who fly a couple of small planes in formation. The control tower gives them a couple of low passes WITH SMOKE ON coming and going. We're also supposed to have an Ercoupe and a CAP plane fly in. We never know what is actually going to happen until it happens, though. Weather and schedules play a big role in who shows up.

    Let me know a couple of days before you come over, so that I can be here to give you the tour!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Adjective
    piratical (comparative more piratical, superlative most piratical)

    1. Of, pertaining to, or similar to pirates.
    1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert; Arthur Sullivan, composer, “When Frederic Was a Little Lad”, in The Pirates of Penzance […], Philadelphia: J.M. Stoddart & Co., published 1880, OCLC 1013339033, page 5:
    A nursery-maid is never afraid of what you people call work,
    So I made up my mind to go as a kind of piratical maid-of-all-work;
    2. (ornithology) Of a bird, practising kleptoparasitism.

    ReplyDelete
  33. OW, my eye! My I disappeared in ERI TU @1:19. Could it be that I am not a typist?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Puzzling thoughts:

    This was filling in so quickly I had to check the header on my newspaper to see if it was actually Friday! Several words filled themselves in; most notable was NONA

    Despite one of my faster Friday’s, I still managed to FIW, due to three Naticks: LEGIT/PIRATIGAL (must have been thinking of a word similar to Prodigal I guess ...). And a second Natick occurred there with ERETU/ERITU. The third one was DING/DORIC instead of TING/TORIC

    A few minor write overs ... nothing that caused a CRISIS

    Got all of the baseball fills; nice misdirection by Will Tobias, and an expected, great recap from L714. The origin of s.nob was a learning moment

    CSO to my daughter the BassOON professor at UGA. Helped OSAKA fill in, as well as TOILET

    I am fresh out of new ku’s ... so I am reposting (?) a couple, though I can’t vouch that they’ve seen this blog before. Maybe Haiku Harry did. I’ll have to check with him ...

    From October 9, 2018:
    My punny haikus du jour:

    Certain hotel chain
    Leaves mint on your pillow; they’re
    Called: Embassy Sweets.

    Comic, turned surgeon,
    Is quite funny with patients;
    Leaves them in stitches.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Nothing apropos...
    There was a ruckus [Breakfast Club] outside and I went to see what the birds where chirping about.

    I just watched (and listened to!) two Blue Jays chasing out a hawk from the neighbor's tree.

    If I were faster (or not as fascinated!), I'd have a video. It was pretty cool. Hawk did NOT come back [I think s/he thought about it for a minute but then went west]

    Back to your regularly scheduled blog.

    Cheers, -T
    //Leo3 - I'm going to take you up on that offer!

    ReplyDelete
  36. E.D., I am glad you were able to clear the bases today.

    Southwest really put Houston Hobby on the map. It was always odd it was the smaller airport but it had the HOU designation. Texas people?

    ReplyDelete
  37. LEM - IAH (International Airport, Houston) is now George Bush Intercontinental [call letters are still IAH] was (IIRC) the second airport in Houston.

    Southwest started out of LUV in Dallas but Herb put both on the map :-)

    I love Hobby [another interesting character [Wiki]]
    Airport, it's in and out with little friction.

    Plus you have Pappa's BBQ's Bloody Mary outside the gate for early morning flights.
    //The new "blue" parking lot is a hike though.

    Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  38. PIRATICAL: A revisionist baker of tortes

    ReplyDelete
  39. I had very little time for the puzzle today, and had to FIR quickly. Will's puzzle was obliging, although the long answers have no baseball meaning for me. I did not mind the alternate spelling of Nonna. Traveling in Italy with my mom, to visit my daughter when she lived there, I practiced my excuse to officials who wanted to hurry us along: "La nonna è stanca." The grandmother is tired. Being able to say a few words makes all the difference. Thanks to Lemonade for the review. Feel better!

    ReplyDelete
  40. //Mush alert//

    I want to once again thank all of you for your good birthday wishes yesterday. My dear, lovely wife (DW and LW) made me a lovely special dinner last night. Osso buco, polenta, sliced tomatoes, and broccoli. De Loach pinot noir to go with. Salty caramel ice cream for dessert. Simple but nice. To paraphrase Yakov Smirnoff, "Wat a wooman!" She's so sweet! I may be 79 now, but I sure feel like 49!

    //End alert//

    ReplyDelete
  41. Pie radical ? Anon, I think you've got it. Works for me.

    ReplyDelete
  42. A baker of tortes (pie) who is a revisionist (radical).

    ReplyDelete
  43. With all in the news these days...
    I missed Bob Gibson passed last Friday. :-(

    An An Interview. [48m NPR's Fresh Air]

    Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  44. Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Will (congrats on your debut) and Lemonade.
    I knew that I had a personal Natick at the crosses of ILER, AT LAW and EWAN. I had entered Evan and thought Robert might be Iter, but ATTAV made no sense for that shingle.
    Then I arrived here to discover that I will be sitting at the end of that bench for the Legit/Ere tu people. That bench will need to be very long, and if we socially distance, we may need a whole section of the baseball stadium.
    But I did get the TORIC /TING cross, although I wanted Ping (reminded me of It’s a Wonderful Life).

    I loved the baseball theme in October, but noted that some basketball snuck in - SWISH and BANKED! Plus, there are FOUL LINES in basketball. Maybe Will knew that the NBA finals would be tonight (But Miami hung on for another game)

    I’m honoured that you are all seeing CSOs to me with TONNE, SACRE, OUTRE; I didn’t even think about their spelling.
    I was totally confused by 34D clue; when NOR’EASTER dawned, I LOLed and thought immediately of WC.

    Wishing you all a good evening.
    Belated Happy Birthday to Jayce.
    This is a busy Thanksgiving weekend for me and I may be AWOL.

    ReplyDelete
  45. I am often remiss at adding my birthday wishes but not this time. Just late. All the best Jayce. (I'm 79 too!) Your wife's dinner menu sounded wonderful.

    Fond regards.

    Bill G.

    ~ Mind how you go...

    ReplyDelete


  46. Like Edward Teach. PIRATICAL.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Just got out of emergency ... bad cough, congestion...but NOT CORONA! WHEW! Why doesn't LAT put the title on the puzzle in the paper??? Struggled with the clue words until I saw the magic word BASEBALL. Finishedin three minutes after that. I'm a baseball memorsbelia collector. Have base balls signed by all the 66 LA Dodgers and one with eleven Hall of Famers including Ty Cobb plus -as a bonus- Jim Thorpe! I know they're authentic since I got them in person (I was 7 years old)!

    ReplyDelete

For custom-made birthday, anniversary or special occasion puzzles from C.C., please email crosswordc@gmail.com

Her book "Sip & Solve Easy Mini Crosswords" is available on Amazon.

Please click on Comments Section Abbrs for some blog-specific terms.

Please limit your posts to 5 per day and cap each post length at about 20 lines in Preview mode.

No politics, no religion and no personal attacks.