google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday October 4, 2020 Mike Peluso

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Oct 4, 2020

Sunday October 4, 2020 Mike Peluso

Theme: "Mistaken Identity" - One part of each familiar phrase is replaced by its partner in a familiar duo.

22A. Banking convenience with the wrong comic magician?: AUTOMATIC PENN. Automatic teller. Penn & Teller.

34A. Builder with the wrong surveyor?: STONE DIXON. Stone mason. Mason & Dixon.

50A. Feeling blue with the wrong publisher?: IN A WAGNALLS. In a funk. Funk & Wagnalls.

68A. Metalworker with the wrong gun manufacturer?: BLACK WESSON. Blacksmith. Smith & Wesson.

84A. Cheap knockout with the wrong puppet?: SUCKER JUDY. Sucker punch. Punch and Judy.

102. African currency with the wrong mapmaker?: KRUGER MCNALLY. Krugerand. Rand & McNally.

2D. Louvre sculpture of the wrong sister?: SERENA DE MILO. Venus de Milo. Serena & Venus.

56D. Intel product with the wrong toon rodent?: COMPUTER DALE. Computer chip. Chip & Dale.

Very consistent theme. Most of the duos are iconic partners. And clues all point to who they are.

I'm not familiar with Krugerand. Wiki says it's "a compound of Paul Kruger, the former President of the South African Republic, and rand, the South African unit of currency."


Across: 

1. It often involves a password: USER ID. It precedes a password.

7. Really wet spot: SWAMP.

12. Lucy's neighbor of old TV: ETHEL.


17. Narrow, roadwise: ONE LANE.

18. Town square art: STATUE.

19. Aced: NAILED.

21. Abrasions: SCRAPES.

24. Prince Valiant's love: ALETA. Sometimes we see their son ARN.

25. Appear suddenly: CROP UP.

27. Prepare for cooking, as beans: SOAK. Often I just cook my adzuki bean directly. 

28. Org. once led by Bush 41: CIA.

29. Hereditary unit: GENE.

30. Les États-__: UNIS.

31. DEA agent: NARC.

32. Editor's "On second thought" decision: STET.

33. That, in Santiago: ESA. And 96. Mex. miss: SRTA. 98. "¿Quién __?": SABE. Who knows?

38. "The Age of Reason" writer: PAINE (Thomas)

39. Gives sparingly: DOLES.

41. CPR pro: EMT. And 67. Part of 41-Acr.: EMER.

42. Hosp. triage specialists: ER DOCS. We have a hero in the VA Hospital in Minneapolis.

43. Refuses to concede: DENIES.

44. Small file folders, e.g.: ICONS.

47. San Antonio-to-Dallas dir.: NNE.

48. Big Apple paper, for short: NYT. They have quite a staff for their crossword division. Unlike LAT. Rich and Patti do all the work.

49. Wanderers: NOMADS.

53. Seed cover: ARIL. Pomegranate.


54. Sean of "Stranger Things": ASTIN.

55. Miami suburb with a Seminole-derived name: OPA-LOCKA.

59. Timbuktu's land: MALI. Remember this Music from Ali Farka Touré.

60. Type of card or watch: SMART.

61. "My Cousin Vinny" Oscar winner: TOMEI.

63. Dom Pérignon maker, familiarly: MOET.

64. Narcissism: EGOMANIA.

66. Underworld: HADES.

71. Like rough seas: CHOPPY.

73. Sty wallower: SOW.

76. Chicago-based grocery franchise: IGA.

77. Amend: ALTER.

78. Saturn, to Greeks: CRONUS.

79. Serious searches: QUESTS.

81. "Smell Ready" deodorant brand: AXE.

82. Rent again: RE-LET.

83. In __: unborn: UTERO.

89. Corner key that may get you out of a corner: ESC. In a corner.

92. Pallid: ASHY.

93. First baseman Wally most famous for being replaced by Lou Gehrig: PIPP.

95. "Was __ harsh?": I TOO.

97. Intl. commerce group: WTO.

99. Liable to sing?: BLABBY. Not a word I use.

101. Tracking device: RADAR.

105. "You didn't start yet, did you?": AM I LATE.

107. Watergate judge John: SIRICA. I only know John Dean.
 

108. Enter: TYPE IN.

109. Tea prep vessels: KETTLES.

110. Exams for sophs and jrs.: PSATS.

111. Hindu life lesson: SUTRA. Vidwan is a sage.

112. Influenced: SWAYED.

Down: 

1. Reunion arrivals: UNCLES

3. Really tickle: ELATE.

4. __ Nui: Easter Island: RAPA.

5. Having four sharps: IN E.

6. Ancestry.com datum: Abbr.: DESC. Descendant.

7. Exasperating, like a car that won't start: STUPID.

8. '60s dance craze: WATUSI. Knew from doing crosswords.

9. Sitting on: ATOP.

10. Silent: MUM.

11. Type of blouse: PEASANT.

12. '40s-'50s "Giant Brain": ENIAC.

13. Stable supplies: TACK.

14. Cool: HIP.

15. Formal choice: ELECTION. We already sent in our ballots. I fear mine might not be counted though. After I sealed my envelope, I realized that I forgot to put the ballot in that little envelope they provided. Boomer helped me unseal and then re-seal the whole thing. They might think my envelope looks suspicious.

16. Judge's choice: LENIENCY.

17. Missouri tributary: OSAGE.

18. River to Lyon: SAONE.

20. Modern crime-solving aid: DNA TEST.

23. Blue Jays, in crawls: TOR. Toronto.

26. Vie for office: RUN.

31. Chinese menu assurance: NO MSG. Still popular in Chinese kitchens.

32. Blue: SAD.

34. Arrived in a cloud of dust, maybe: SLID. Pretty epic.

35. Golfer's pocketful: TEES.

36. CIA predecessor: OSS.

37. TV warrior princess: XENA.

38. Green shampoo: PRELL.

40. Where it's risky to be out: ON A LIMB.
 
42. China's Zhou __: EN LAI. The most beloved politician in Chinese history. He shielded many people from being persecuted in Cultural Revolution. Here he's with his wife. 
 
43. Biker's headgear, perhaps: DO RAG.

44. Kind of vb.: INTR. Intransitive.

45. "I Am __": Jenner reality show: CAIT.

46. Dominate: OWN.

47. Barbers trim them: NAPES.

49. Identify: NAME.

50. Crooner Chris: ISAAK.

51. Certain club restriction: NO MEN.

52. "Can __ help me?": SOMEONE. "Hi Tom, do you know how ..."  The amount of stuff D-Otto knows!

54. Genoa gal pal: AMICA.

57. Hangs on to: KEEPS.

58. "Give it __!": A TRY.

60. Hosiery headaches: SNAGS.

61. Subdue with a shock: TASE.

62. Telltale warning, maybe: ODOR.

65. Gorsuch colleague: ALITO.

66. Marshall Plan pres.: HST.

69. Dental office simulation: WAX UP. New term to me.

70. Power co. output: ELEC.

71. Street __: CRED.

72. Like some orders: HOLY.

73. Gripes: SQUAWKS.

74. Exceed: OUTSTRIP.

75. Time for night owls: WEE HOURS. Quite a few night owls on our blog.

78. Wine label word: CRU.

80. Texter's "My bad": SRY. Sorry.

81. Ways of looking at an issue: ASPECTS.

85. Impressive, as a deal: KILLER.

86. Latin catchall: ET ALIA.

87. One-named Swedish singer with the 1997 hit "Show Me Love": ROBYN.



88. __ fair: JOB.

90. Specified: STATED.

91. Shows concern: CARES. Thanks, Nina, for helping me understand some medical terms.

93. Law office helpers: PARAS. Paralegals.

94. "Big Blue": IBM.

96. Language description derived from sailors' chatter: SALTY.

98. Breakaway group: SECT.

99. John was one: Abbr.: BAPT.

100. Himalayan denizens: YAKS. Butter tea is made with yak butter.  Goes well with tsampa, which is made of roasted barley flour.

101. "Lovely" citation issuer of song: RITA.

103. Actress Scala: GIA.

104. Manhattan sch.: NYU.

106. Contribution from the kitty: MEW.

C.C.



37 comments:

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Figured out the partner theme early on, and it helped quite a bit with the solve. That X in WAX UP was my final fill. WAX UP? Whazzat? New to me. Tried URANUS before CRONUS became obvious. Wite-Out, please. Cute theme, Mike. Thanx for the tour, C.C.

MALI: The jet-setter's mantra -- Breakfast in New York, lunch in Paris, luggage in Timbuktu. Actually, I recently learned that Timbuktu was a major cultural center back in the 14th century.

ELECTION: We requested our mail-in ballots early...and are still waiting. I read on-line that in TX the ballots are to be mailed out 45 days before the election. When they didn't arrive...and still didn't arrive...I emailed the election office. Got a terse email from the Voter Registration Manager -- "Ballot [sic]are being mailed on a daily basis. You should receive your ballot with [sic] a couple of weeks. Have a great day."

Hungry Mother said...

FIR after a long slog and lots of write-overs. I was out of puzzle shape due to a long drive south for the last 3 days. A very nice theme which helped me get through it unscathed. My printed page is filled with partial answers, underlines, and check marks.

Big Easy said...

After SERENA appeared the wrong half of the duos made most of the puzzle easier. But...

Two days in a row for a DNF. I got stumped on WAXUP, Quien SABE, ROBYN & PIPP- never heard of any of them. I figured JUDY but the rest of the area couldn't be completed. ALETA, MOET, AXE, the term PEASANT blouse, & GIA were filled by perps.

About 30 years ago a customer told me a friend of his was investing in KRUGERrands. Probably thought he was evading taxes but the IRS will get you when you turn them into cash. Tough to spend gold coins.

EGOMANIA- disease afflicting actors and politicians (who are really actors).

ELECTION- C.C., you are correct. I would advise against mailing any ballot because there are just too many ways to mess it up. YOU can mess it up on your end and THEY can mess it up on their end. Signature has to be witnessed; does it match your original one and how would anybody know that your ballot was THROWN OUT? Did you mistakenly tear the flap with the signatures? Did you put a stamp on the return envelope? And then there is the problem of counting the ballots- most are done manually because most elections have very few mail in ballots- usually military. And if anybody is afraid of crowds every state has an EARLY VOTING WEEK which is never crowded. The 'actors' in Congress are talking about the mail system, which is total BS. The Post Office is very efficient with first class mail.

One time I voted by mail-never again.

Mark said...

Loved the theme after I figured it out (took 'till ComputerDale...) then went back and enjoyed the others.

Voted by mail in Wisconsin. Pretty smooth system; requested on line, they mailed it, I put it in a drive up ballot box. Tracked the whole process on line and saw that my completed ballot was cast.

OMaxiN said...

Filled every square. Even correctly wagged WAXUP (whatever that is). But no, I FIW with ASHe instead of ASHY. I text without shortcuts,so the crossing answer SRe looked okay to me.
MO

OMaxiN said...

Big Easy; Missouri does not offer early voting.
In person, absentee, or mail in are our only options. It's absentee for me.
MO

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Sorry to pester everyone on a Sunday:
Our local rag carries a 2 week old Sunday NYT puzzle but I like to show up to review LAT clues and answers for future ammo weekly challenges

Mike "hairy" Peluso didn't mention (maybe too young?) the infamous lovable old "Aunt BLABBY"

a frequent Ed McMahon visitor

Apologize but can't stop myself...

Alaskan newpaper classifieds....NOMADS

A domani..

waseeley said...

I suspect that 69D "wax up" is dental jargon for the wax impressions ("simulations"?) that dentists use for creating molds for permanent crowns, bite guards, etc. They stick a U-shaped tray in your mouth filled with a soft, quick setting wax (more like gooey rubber actually) and then send the hardened result off to the lab to cast the final product out of a permanent material. Believe me, everytime I've had one I felt like they did a "job" on me!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

First fill was RAPA; Like to go with firm fill before having to rely on smart guesses. Got it all except for WAX UP; new to me. Mainly liked the theme. Thought KRUGER (Rand) MCNALLY was a KILLER. Good job, Mike.
SQUAWK - - Also heard in pilot/air controller talk: "A squawk code is a discrete transponder code. Air traffic controllers will use the term “squawk” when requesting a pilot to identify their airplane on the air traffic control radar. Pilots will push a button on their transponder to show their location and become correctly associated with their identity."

Anonymous said...

Fun and fairly difficult puzzle which I was able to solve with no help (but many,many, wrong insertions initially) in 39:30. Cool theme and very well edited! Thanks for the challenge!

Shankers said...

I thought for sure this was going to be a DNF, but after much slogging, especially in the extreme SW and center, it ultimately became a FIR in greater than normal Sunday time. I have to agree with others that many clues were stretches. I'll reluctantly admit that the theme was clever although some answers felt like fingernails on a blackboard. It took many erasures to finish the SW with 73A going from pig to hog to sow which led to squawks and quests. The center was the last to fall with icon, Cait and own leading to my favorite--inawagnalls. Whew!! Time to get ready for Mass and give the old gray matter a rest. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay blessed.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Some new cluing gave me a delightful struggle in many places and I loved the theme! Gotta love IN A WAGNALLS!
-Our bank forces a password change so often, we hardly ever know what it is
-Our friend’s granddaughter had INUTERO heart surgey last week
-Me too - dear old Aunt BLABBY
-The Oklahoma Sooners did OWN Iowa State in Ames for 60 years but not last night
-Hangs on to – My daughters said, “I hope you’re not hanging on to those old pictures of your grandparents and their families for us”
-California’s need for power and water sometimes OUTSTRIPS the supply
-CAPT. John Smith didn’t make the Sunday lineup
-No wax in my mouth anymore. My dentist uses high tech equipment to measure for the new crown and then a printer to make it while I wait.

Husker Gary said...

-DESC. - Spitzboov saw an obit for a lady whose name was nearly the same as mine and who had lived near him but was from the same part of Switzerland as my grandfather. It appears her husband might have been a brother/cousin/uncle to my grandfather who I never met and I had a pleasant exchange with some of the Schlaepfer’s there but they didn’t know any more than I did. Thanks Al!

Lucina said...

Hola!

I see I'm in he minority about this theme; it's not my favorite and a bit too cute. After solving I saw the substitutions and realized why I was frustrated but I did manage to slog through it except for KRUGER which I had to LIU.

Now I recall that my late brother, Fred, bought some Rands many years ago as an investment. At the time I had never heard of them. I don't know if he ever cashed them in or converted them. Knowing him, I suspect he waited until they yielded the most profit. When he died his safe was filled with mucho cash.

I'll take a CSO at DALE.

IN A WAGNALLS was a good one. Rowan and Martin used to do a comical routine about Funk and WANGNALLS. Does anyone else remember it?

PEASANT blouses were a fad when I was in seventh or eighth grade.

I had trouble dredging up SAONE and only when AUTOMATIC emerged did that fill.

RAPA was my first fill, too.

PIPP is completely unknown to me but it emerged with four perps as Abejo would say.

I have voted by mail for many years and always look to check that my ballot was received. Our ballots arrive accompanied with a postage paid envelope. No problems have ever occurred and I don't expect any this year either.

ARIL often appeared in puzzles but I haven't seen it in a while until today.

Thank you, Mike Peluso and C.C. You always treat us to new and interesting tidbits of Chinese culture.

Have a most enjoyable day, everyone!

Malodorous Manatee said...

Wax On. Wax Off. WAX UP?! That and DESC were as bad as it got and that is really not bad. Not bad at all. The theme was a lot of fun. The Penn and Teller reference was the first to fall. Valerie and I went to see them in Las Vegas a year or two ago. I can think of no other reason to stop in Vegas.

Another hand up for Uranus before CRONUS. In the SW we first penciled in Hog where SOW needed to be.

Is a baby Raven a CRO PUP?
"Tarzan make soup. He chop onion. He CHOP PY."
"Did I get good grades? NO MA DS"

Old Okie said...

I wish I had a dentist like Gary's I had a root canal and a crown a couple of weeks ago , I think it took three weeks in all, and it coast me about $1300 with delta dental. GARY , not sure about every body here in Oklahoma but this fan is not happy with our team. I kinda think there may be some dissension between the quarterback and the offensive line. and the pass defense stinks.

Old Okie said...

I have never voted by mail in ballot, I go to the polls and vote, When I had a doughnut shop in Shawnee, I simply had to walk across the street, I was generally the fourth or fifth voter, always took them donuts.

Now I vote in Bethel Acres, usually have to wait a while but not too long.
It is a rural community and every body knows everybody. Haven't missed an election in over 50 years.

Yellowrocks said...

I loved this theme when I caught on to it. STONE (MASON) Dixon was my first one and it certainly helped the solve. I was somewhat distracted doing the puzzle during rest breaks in my cleaning. I am gathering strength to clean the stove and then I am done. I looked up KRUGER. Didn't know GIA. V8 can, please. Now I remember, too late. Otherwise I did well.
I have a friend name ALETA after Prince Valliant's love.
WAX UP makes sense thinking of the dentist's wax impression, but it took long to think of it.
Aunt Blabby was funny on Carson. He had so many great characters.
In NJ if we don't vote by mail in ballot, we must vote in person using a provisional ballot. That seems even more iffy.

Yuman said...

Kept trying to make 43 “go pro” instead of “do rag“ never heard of Robyn.
Wax up is a dental mock-up?
Here in AZ early voting begins Oct. 7th

WikWak said...

Much tougher for me than the usual Sunday but I did manage to FIR in something like time and a half.

RAPA seems to have been first fill for lotsa folks, as it was for me. I have spoken with amateur radio operators on RAPA Nui.

I loved the theme—once I tumbled to it. Very clever and very helpful too. Thanks, Mike.

HG, my dentist used that same machine on me, I think... but no printing there. She sent all the scanned data straight to the lab (electronically, natch) and they were probably working on it before I got finished paying the (substantial!) bill.

I’d have died without the perps today.

Too nice to stay inside any longer. Cool and crisp with leaves changing everywhere. Some clouds and a mild breeze, temp about 53 degrees F. Time for a walk.

Stay well.

Big Easy said...

For those who choose to vote by mail, cross your t's and dot your i's CORRECTLY. I just read an article in TODAY's WSJ about the irregularities that are already happening. I'm posting the first few paragraphs for the unaware. My state (LA) had such a problem with dead people voting and politicians PAYING voters that IDs have been required for at least the last 35 years. In the 1970s we had TWO Congressmen- Rick Tonry and Claude "Buddy" Leach thrown out of Congress for buying votes.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-surge-in-mail-voting-likely-to-lead-to-more-rejected-ballots-11601827201?mod=hp_lead_pos6

"As more Americans turn to voting by mail due to the coronavirus, some election officials are already seeing the kinds of mistakes that could lead to large volumes of ballots being disqualified.

Some fraction of mail-in ballots are disqualified every election. Around 1% of them was rejected nationally in the 2016 general election, according to the federal U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Common reasons include ballots being received after the deadline or voters not signing the ballot envelope or supplying a signature that doesn’t match state records.

This election, the Postal Service has urged voters to mail ballots at least a week before their state’s deadline, after complaints about delivery delays. In Pennsylvania, Democrats have raised alarms over a requirement for voters to mail ballots in two envelopes, an inner secrecy sleeve and an outer one for mailing. The state’s Supreme Court ruled last month that those mailed without the secrecy envelope, also called “naked ballots,” should be disqualified.

In North Carolina, more than 300,000 people have already successfully cast ballots by mail in the general election through Thursday, more than the total cast by mail in 2016. Still, around 3.4% of ballots returned had errors, so far slightly higher than four years ago, the State Board of Elections said.

A reason for the errors: “Many voters are casting their ballots by mail for the first time, so some mistakes are expected,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections. “We strongly encourage voters to carefully read the instructions and be sure to complete all required fields on the envelope.”

North Carolina, along with more than 30 other states, offer voters who make certain errors that would invalidate their ballots—such as missing or mismatched signatures—a chance to correct them.

Which ballots count and which get disqualified could prove critical in close elections up and down ballots. For the presidential race, the Trump and Biden campaigns have vowed full-scale efforts to monitor voting and ballot counting, and the Republican and Democratic parties are engaged in legal battles in many states over voting rules.

Voting-by-mail rules, which vary across states, specify the deadlines for when mailed ballots should be postmarked and received by election officials and detail how ballots are to be filled out.

These requirements, combined with the surge in voters expected to cast ballots by mail for the first time due to the coronavirus, are likely to produce high numbers of rejected mail ballots, according to some election scholars.

“People who are moving into voting by mail because of the pandemic…are more prone to making mistakes,” said University of Florida political-science professor Daniel Smith. “This is the grave concern.”

sasses said...

The post office is good. In California, we can trace our ballot.

CanadianEh! said...

Sunday toughie! Thanks for the fun, Mike and C.C.
I finished after more than an hour (with several interruptions) and about four visits to Google. But I smiled at the themers - SERENA DEMILO was the first to fall.
This Canadian does not know her guns and was thinking of BLACK Colt and WESSON. Thanks to C.C. for my lightbulb moment.
Another lightbulb moment with BAPT. - oh, John the Baptist! (BLABBY was a nose-wrinkle)

My "Sty wallower" moved from a Pig to a Hog to a SOW. (Okay, NO MEN allowed)

My local hospital has Triage nurses who perform that function and then assign the patients to the ER DOCS.
"A specially trained Triage Nurse, who is located at the front of the Emergency Department, conducts the initial assessment of the patient. Patients are seen on a priority basis, not on a first-come first-served basis. Canadian hospitals all use the same triage scale when assessing patients to ensure the most urgent cases are seen first."

Enjoy the day.

NaomiZ said...

I enjoyed Mike's puzzle, and was able to use the theme to help solve it, which is always a plus. I was enjoying C.C.'s review, too, when I was distracted by a visit from my lovely DIL. We chatted outside in the shade, sitting a good 15 feet or so apart, wearing masks! This adds to the challenge of understanding, since English is a recent acquisition for her, but I'm very impressed with anyone who takes up life in a foreign land with a new language. Coming back to the Corner, I see that I FIW: I didn't really like my answer "skid" for "arrived in a cloud of dust, maybe" but I thought it had to be, and since I didn't get SLID, I wound up with a big question mark next to "dokes" for "gives sparingly." How is C.C. going to explain DOKES, I wondered? She's not, you dolt! It's DOLES! Ah, well. Thanks, C.C. Thanks, Mike. Thanks, everyone.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle okay and did get a big kick out of the theme gimmick. Last to fill was the final P in PIPP because I knew neither him nor the term WAX UP. I wrinkled my nose big time at CRONUS, which is the Latinization of the Greek god KRONOS, which is what I filled at first. Hand up for filling PIG then HOG then SOW. Having ENLAI in place led me astray with regard to PESCI vs TOMEI; I shoulda gotten that one right on the first try but I didn't.

Good wishes to you all.

Anonymous T said...

Sunday Lurk Say...

FLN - DNF. Just didn't get back to it before bed. SE is still mostly blank. But it was fun Even as was the review HG.

FLN - wendybird: Cool KAWASAKI story.

FLN OMK - Break California & Texas into multiple states seems to be the only fix.

Triage nurse - Back in '89, Buddy of mine (big black guy - not important but I'm painting the picture) from the Army Reserves [we were a medical unit] was on duty at LSU-S's ER [public Hospital for folks w/o insurance] when I brought DW in. There's a guy with a gun-shot wound next to us.
My buddy comes in, sees me, and says "Spec C, what's up?"
"DW's having issues."
"Come on back," he says.
"Um, Sarge, there's a guy bleeding."
"He's next."
//I later learnt the bleeding guy had already been treated/triaged and was waiting on an open table for operation.

C.C. - With all the "fake mail-in ballot" talk over the summer (and some very pedantic requirements BigE cited), DW & I decided we will risk it at the poll on the day of [mind you we've been in stores only 5 times (combined) since March 13]. This will be both Girls' first Prez election so we will go [mask'd-up] as a family to vote. //HG - Eldest is even driving home from OU.

Cheers, -T

TXMs said...

WAX-UP? Never ever heard that term used before despite numerous dental procedures over the years. Well, that created a holy mess as Punch and Judy never registered at all at 1:30 am. Vaguely remember the name now, if that, as I've never seen the show or whatever it was.

Every time I see PARA(S) as a clue or an answer, it totally grates on my nerves. Today, I'm venting - apologies for my snitty mood - but I do wish Rich would retire that lame clue/answer. I've worked in Houston law firms for 42+ years, and paralegals were never referred to as such. LEMONADE, what say you? [end of rant] Guess it's up there with ELHI, right, educators?

D-O, if it's any consolation, the interim Harris County Clerk, Chris Hollis, has created a website where we can track the status of applications received, ballot processing, receipt, etc. My application was received on the 23rd, and it's been "processing" since the 26th.

Will check back later to read the comments.

LEO III said...

Well, I thought I had a FIR, but nope! As C.C. so graciously pointed out in her expo, I messed up twice, for a great big FIW! Hey, at least I finished! In spite of that, I really liked this puzzle, Mike, and I loved the theme!

My trip was pretty much like others have described. I saw COMPUTERDALE and AUTOMATICPENN first, and I was able to figure out the rest (some faster than others), which is probably the only reason I was able to finish. Needed lots of long perps for all the unknown names!

My first error (really stupid) was not properly reading the 64A clue correctly and then incorrectly pumping in EGOMANIAC, which I also spelled wrong. Duh! I know how to spell ISAAK, but I just ignored the error and went on about my business. The second one was a real unknown with CRONUS/CRU.

Basically, the east fell quickly, and then I spent the rest of the time out west. SAONE (unknown) was the last fill. Froze up on ALETA for a while, although I read Prince Valiant. Kinda embarrassed to say that I have never known where Timbuktu is, and the chances are I’ll forget it. The southwest finally fell when SOW kicked both HOG and PIG off the grid. Whew! It also took a while to figure out DORAG. Knew WATUSI, but I never DID it.

Best bud’s nephew’s first offspring (a girl) is SUPPOSED to be moving ex-UTERO today. If she waits four and a half more hours (EDT), she’ll be born on my younger daughter’s birthday.

I've been early voting ever since moving to beautiful downtown Clodine. I always go out to the early voting location in beautiful downtown Fulshear (12 miles west on the troll road), walk right in, vote, walk right out. It usually takes longer to work my way through the ballot than it does to actually get into the voting booth. Of course, I then have to reward myself by having lunch at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants there in town. Probably won't be doing that this time, though.

Have a good week, everyone!

Anonymous T said...

@5:24 - In the Army, triage is a bit different.
First, you figure out who's going to take the most time to save... Others get treatment first (unless it's a relatively minor issue).

That is, if there are 20 wounded guys that can be saved in an hour and a guy that might take 20 hours of surgery put him back together, latter is doped-up and condolences to the family.

Grim? Yes, war is. -T

ATLGranny said...

Well today was the day I'd been waiting for: FIW. First since last Sunday. Do I see a pattern here? I had looked at it off and on through the day, caught onto the theme, and s l o w l y finished all but IN A WAGNALLS and ASTIN. My WAGs were wrong for 4 squares there and I didn't get the meaning "in a funk", which would have been a big help. As I read CC's helpful review, I found two other wrong squares, which were caused by carelessness. The puzzle was a good Sunday pastime and I thank you Mike.

Tomorrow, Monday, is another day and a fresh start. Hope you all are doing well. We dropped our completed ballots in a drop box yesterday and wished them Godspeed. Not risking crowds on Election Day this year.

Bobbi said...

WOW! My comment never was published - something about a "Google Account" Don't even know what that is???? Am I being shut out? In a nutshell: Two puzzlers in a row that were impossible to solve. My warning: these sorts of esoteric puzzles are appealing to a shrinking audience - WAY too esoteric. All too soon, this newspaper feature will disappear as did high buttoned shoes.

Yellowrocks said...

More Cornerites commented positively than negatively about this puzzle. Thank you for satisfying the tastes of many of us, Rich

Edward Duarte said...

I had brain surgery AND insurance to I was seen first!

👍

CanadianEh! said...

Anonymous@5:13- Apology accepted. I too have had humour backfire. And especially now in recognizing my “white privilege”, I am more sensitive, hopefully, to how statements might be taken.
Yes, I have two X chromosomes, but I did not feel it warranted correcting you. But I am happy to be considered nurturing. Perhaps my seven grandchildren prove it 😁
Isn’t that the great thing about this blog. We can discuss, correct and learn from each other. A true community.

Re Triage (I assume you are the same Anonymous @5:24- our Canadian ERs can also get backlogged with people who don’t really require ER. They are directed to Urgent Care centres. But I was surprised by the CW answer of ER DOCS, because it is primarily nurses who perform triage duty here.

Dow Jones said...


Monday's (10/5/20) edition of the Wall Street Journal features a crossword puzzle (Variety Pack) constructed by C.C. Burnikel.

C.C.'s Puzzle

Enjoy !

Dow Jones said...

I couldn't provide a link so this will get you there:


https://www.wsj.com/articles/variety-pack-monday-crossword-october-5-01601870526

Wilbur Charles said...


TB-Times had wrong (last Sunday's) XW. So I finally solved the Evan Birnholz Wa-Post from last Sunday. Finally, after traveling north to Dunellon and the last hail Mary of the 49er game failed, I started.

Did not get the theme. Went to bed with a dozen blank squares. Got up and tackled it again finally realizing AUTOMATIC PENN(and Teller). CAIT was tough but I knew Wally PIPP. He had a cold, was replaced by Lou Gehrig and never got to first base again.

The COMPUTER (I just got it Chip and DALE) says my net time was over two hours. Hardest Sunday ever but mostly because I couldn't grok the theme.

WC

Okay, now that all the commotion had died down, Mrs Lincoln, I must admit that was a clever play.

Btw, Evan's theme wanted five VOICE PARTS . Wanna try to name them