google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday December 13, 2020 Garry Morse

Advertisements

Dec 13, 2020

Sunday December 13, 2020 Garry Morse

Theme:  "Paper Trail" - Each familiar phrase is punnily reinterpreted as if the last word is a newspaper name.

23A. Newspaper for jeans wearers?: CASUAL OBSERVER.

39A. Newspaper for newlyweds?: HITCHING POST.

57A. Newspaper for attorneys?: TRYING TIMES. What we are, right now.

81A. Newspaper for chefs?: GARLIC PRESS.

98A. Newspaper for traffic cops?: TWO-WAY MIRROR.

118A. Newspaper for Schwinn owners?: BICYCLE COURIER.

32D. Newspaper for hairstylists?: SETTING SUN.

53D. Newspaper for metalworkers?: BRONZE STAR.
 
Fun puzzle. We've seen this type of newspaper theme before, including one from me for the NYT ages ago. It's called "Paper Jam". I love the way today's puzzle is presented. 
 
A bit name-heavy.
 
Across:
 
1. Springlike: VERNAL. Not a word I use.

7. Word in France's national motto: EGALITE. "Liberte, egalite, fraternite"

 
14. Scratched, say: MARRED.

20. Skin care brand: AVEENO. Endorsed by Jennifer Aniston.


21. Michelle's successor: MELANIA.

22. Alpine climbing tool: ICE AXE.

25. Shake and bake, e.g.: RHYMES.

26. Rodeo ropes: RIATAS.

27. Essen article: DER.

28. For example: SAY.

29. "Leaves and Navels" artist: ARP. Not familiar with the work. Very abstract.



30. Philippine money: PESOS.

33. General on a menu: TSO.

34. "A Beautiful Mind" mathematician: NASH. John Nash.

36. At the discretion of: UP TO.

37. Preceding periods: EVES.

38. Apple platform: IOS.

43. Venetian Renaissance artist: TITIAN.

45. Chinese currency: YUAN. $1 = 6.55 Yuan now.

47. Six-time NBA MVP, familiarly: KAREEM. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.


48. Hi-tech medical image: CAT SCAN.

50. Investor's concern: RISK.

52. Like a solid theory: TENABLE.

56. U.S. maritime agcy.: ONI. Office of Naval Intelligence.

61. Not std.: IRREG.

62. Div. that, in its first year of existence, produced a World Series champ: NL EAST. OK, Mets won. Might be Rich's clue.

64. Best poker pair: ACES.

65. Phnom Penh river: MEKONG.

66. Saltimbocca spice: SAGE. Wrapped with prosciutto and sage.

 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Saltimbocca_raw_%282%29.jpg

68. Company whose spoofed horror film ad has the line, "Why can't we just get in the running car?": GEICO.

71. Swimmer Ledecky: KATIE. She's amazing.


73. Racer Ferrari: ENZO.

74. Paperwork, often: HASSLE.

76. Get exactly right: NAIL.

78. Fake: ERSATZ. Consonant-rich.

80. Island with Dutch as an official language: ARUBA.

84. Diminish: EBB.

87. 12th-century English king: HENRY II. And 16. King of Spain: REY. And 108. Tenth of 12 popes: PIUS X.

89. Place to park it: SEAT.

90. Fulfill: SATISFY.

92. It starts in the 60s, by most reckonings: OLD AGE. Hong Kong has the highest life expectancy in the world for the past decade. It's very close to Guangzhou. Same temperature. Same language (Cantonese). Same food (Cantonese). Soup every day.

95. Mine car: TRAM.

97. Wee bit: LITTLE. Cantonese bowls are small. So a bowl of soup or rice is not that much. Authentic Cantonese food is light and fresh.

102. 2010 health law: Abbr.: ACA.

104. Coal-rich valley: SAAR.

105. Cut: HEWN.

106. Sad: BLUE.

107. Four-term prez: FDR.

108. Auto repair bill component: PARTS.

109. Seine summer: ETE.

110. Prefix with cycle: TRI.

112. Deg. for drillers: DDS. The price for my dental package skyrockets again. Same with yours?

114. Like an accomplice: IN ON IT.

116. Make changes to: MODIFY.

123. Insect-sized superhero: ANT MAN.

124. Puts away: STASHES.

125. Poetic Bible book: PSALMS.

126. __ skills: PEOPLE.

127. Large chamber groups: SEPTETS.

128. Americans in Paris, maybe: EXPATS. Good old clue.

Down:

1. Short cleaner: VAC.

2. "Casino Royale" (2006) actress Green: EVA. First movie with Daniel Craig as Bond.


 3. High-__ monitor: RES.

4. Phobia, e.g.: NEUROSIS.

5. Diarist first name with a diaeresis: ANAIS.

6. Glaudini of early "Criminal Minds" episodes: LOLA.


7. Consulate cousin: EMBASSY. Guangzhou has an American Consulate. I was once here waiting in line. So was Bill, our new Thursday guide. So was Brad, a Nebraskan reader who used to live in the White Swan hotel nearby. Brad had a business in Guangzhou/Hong Kong area years ago.


8. Artwork base coat: GESSO.

9. Bar order: ALE.

10. Frying medium: LARD.

11. Create: INVENT.

12. Clothing store display aid: TIE RACK.

13. Kernel holder: EAR.

14. "Look!," to Luis: MIRA.

15. Sore: ACHY.

17. NY/NJ's __ Mountains: RAMAPO. Learning moment for me.



18. Applies: EXERTS.

19. Absolute ruler: DESPOT.

24. Due times four: OTTO. Due here refers to "Two" in Italian.

28. Team in some pickup games: SHIRTS.

30. San Diego's __ Park: PETCO.

31. Aquafina rival: EVIAN.

35. Doo-wop syllable: SHA.

36. Short seller's concern: UP MARKET. 49. Where Coca-Cola is KO: NYSE.

38. Steamed: IN A RAGE.

39. Reagan's first secretary of state: HAIG. "I'm in control here".

40. Photo-sharing app, briefly: INSTA. Instagram.

41. Once called: NEE.

42. 1992 Robin Williams role: GENIE.

44. Part of un opéra: ACTE.

46. Keats' "Sylvan historian": URN.

51. Complain: KICK.

54. Emmy winner Kay: LENZ.  Wiki says "For her role in the episode "After It Happened" of Midnight Caller, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series."


55. Wafflers brand: EGGO.

58. Singer Turner's memoir: I TINA.

59. "Give __ minute ... ": ME A.

60. Glyceride, for one: ESTER.

63. Longtime "Band of Renown" leader: LES BROWN.

65. "Ben-Hur" villain: MESSALA. No idea. Never saw the movie.

66. Ousted Iranian: SHAH.

67. Bern's river: AARE.

69. Caboose, for one: CAR.

70. Artist's medium: OILS.

72. Angers: IRES.

75. Clapton woman who's "got me on my knees": LAYLA.

77. Deceive: LIE TO.

79. Italian wine hub: ASTI.

81. 2000 A.L. MVP Jason: GIAMBI. He was really good when I first arrived in the US.

82. Gideon Fell creator John Dickson __: CARR.

83. Bk. fair organizer: PTA.

85. Key of Schumann's "Spring Symphony": B FLAT.

86. Joyce __, Winona Ryder's "Stranger Things" role: BYERS. Did any of the names cause you trouble today?

88. Mount __: Charley Weaver's home: IDY.

91. "Don't go in there!": IT'S A TRAP.

93. Grissom on "CSI": GIL.

94. Scholarly: ERUDITE.

96. "O, that way __ lies": Lear: MADNESS.

98. On __: famous: THE MAP. Long partial.

99. Sloppy kiss: WET ONE.

100. Had because of: OWED TO.

101. Baggage porter: REDCAP.

103. Foam footwear: CROC.

107. Sole order: FILET.

110. Nonstick kitchen brand: T-FAL. We have two of these. Change them about every two years.

111. Ex-Cub Sandberg: RYNE.

113. Part of DOS: Abbr.: SYST.

115. "Nuh-uh": NOPE.

117. Little dickens: IMP.

118. Undergrad degs.: BSS. And 122. Blog feed format letters: RSS. Really Simple Syndication.

119. Friend of Fidel: CHE.

120. Dockworker's gp.: ILA. International Longshoremen's Association.

121. CPR expert: EMT.

Best wishes to your wife and your family, Ray-O-Sunshine! So scary. Boomer's son also got COVID but has since recovered.

Please continue keeping Bill G and his wife Barbara in your thoughts and prayers. I echo Michael's time-tested advice for caregivers:  "Guard your energy".

Barbara, Bill & their grandchildren

C.C.

32 comments:

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

"Did any of the names cause you trouble today?" Yes, indeedy: PETCO park, RAMAPO mountains, provided a big assist on my way to a DNF. SOS for that "Short cleaner" also slowed me down, but cleaned up nicely with Wite-Out. At least d-o managed to get the theme, and was correct on all the theme answers, so that's some meager consolation. Thanx, Garry and C.C. (Your link for EMBASSY is "forbidden.")

YUAN: When our team visited China in the '80s, we each exchanged a small sum to YUAN. As I recall, you had to spend it. You couldn't change it back to dollars, and you weren't allowed to take YUAN out of the country.

LES BROWN: His featured vocalist 1940-1946 was Doris Day.

TFAL: I've got some All-Clad stainless pots and pans, but would never pay those prices for non-stick cookware. Stainless can last forever, but as C.C. says, non-stick has to be replaced every couple years.

Lemonade714 said...

This was a fun theme with a proper name slog, especially adding character names like GIL Grissom, MESSALA , and the extreme challenge of Joyce BYERS from STRANGER THINGS . I would count them but I don't have that much time. The only benefit was the CSO to our own OTTO .

More prayers for Bill and Barbara, and happy holidays no matter what. Thursday was the anniversary of my father's death in 1973 and my oldest brother in 2015. I am still blessed with my sons their SOs and my grandchildren. I don't get to see them in person much, but they Facetime to light the Chanukah candles every night and that lights up my life.

I have a few Yuan if you need them Tom. Thank you, Garry and C.C.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Proper nouns slog, indeed. RAMAPO was the toughest even tho' I seem to recall previously seeing that. Tried to make POCONO work. I do not use Instagram and wonder if referring to it as INSTA, which we have seen before, is a real world "thing". I am with D.O. on the All Clad. Good tools.

Big Easy said...

First it was a DNF with way too many unknowns crossing other unknowns. In the NE MIRA & RAMAPO crossing MARRED could have been HIRA & MAMAPO crossing HARMED- Mira & Ramapo- never heard of. Then there was PETCO & ONI crossing TITIAN- all unknowns that I didn't get.

"86. Joyce __, Winona Ryder's "Stranger Things" role: BYERS. Did any of the names cause you trouble today?" YES, OUI, JA, SI...ETC.

The newspaper fills solved a slew of other unknown proper names that I did manage to fill-ARP, NASH, NL EAST, SAGE, KATIE, EVA Green, LOLA Glaudini, INSTA, GENIE, Kay LENZ, MESSALA, GIAMBI, John CARR, Mount IDY, Joyce BYERS, GIL Grissom.

T-FAL- we don't have any of that brand but we got a generic 'copper square pan'- everything slides out.

Charlie Pride died yesterday. Everybody knows his song "Kiss an Angel Good Morning" but does our baseball 'statistician' C.C. know that he was a professional baseball player. After he retired from baseball and was an established singer he went to spring training every year with the LA Dodgers.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I just read last night’s comments and was saddened to read of Barbara’s decline. Bill G, you’re in for much sorrow and sadness but I hope you can find some comfort in the memories of the wonderful life and love that you and Barbara shared. Please know we are here for you in your time of need.

I liked the theme and variety of names for newspapers. (Just recently, The Hartford Courant, the oldest newspaper in the country, announced the demise of its print editions. I wonder how long it’ll be before other publications follow suit.) I agree with others that the grid is proper-name heavy, which is not unusual for a Sunday, but it’s frustrating when there are so many that are unfamiliar, at least to me: Messala, Byers, Carr, Lola, Layla, Lenz, etc. I knew and liked seeing Enzo because it reminded me of the dog in The Art of Racing In The Rain, a book that I loved. I also like the word Ersatz which I first came across many years ago in novels about WWII; it was used to describe certain improvised concoctions replacing the real thing, such as coffee, due to the food rationing. CSOs to DO (Otto), Ray O (CAT Scan), and CED (Imp).

Thanks, Garry, for a light Sunday diversion and thanks, CC, for the expo and cultural tidbits which I enjoy learning about.

FLN

YR, so glad you’re happy in your new apartment. Looking forward to hearing about your fellow residents, amenities, and activities.

Ray O, I hope Marcia and Catherine are on the mend.

Anon T, I spoke with my niece yesterday and she is feeling better. The fever broke, she has some strength back, and she’s resting and drinking lots of liquids. Unfortunately, one of her sons was visiting her before she had symptoms and he is now infected. He’s married so at least he has someone to take care of him. Thanks for asking. (I got a chuckle picturing your Grandma with her dueling Camels and the oxygen tank. I think my father smoked Camels.)

Have a great day.

D4E4H said...

Good morning Cornerites.

waseeley said... my surname for the Corner should be "E2C9C3H" and so it shall.

Thank you Garry Morse for your enjoyable Sunday cw.

Thank you C.C. for your excellent review.

:) :) :) :) Ðave
AKA  D4E4HE2C9C3H

Shankers said...

A toughie for Sunday as it should be. Thanks Garry for waking my lazy brain. It was slower than normal for a Sunday, but most eventually came together. In all I had four missed squares for a FIW. I wouldn't let go of crtscan at 48A and just couldn't suss rhymes at 25A either. Never heard of Ramapo. Messala and Byers came by perps. Fun theme and a good way to get the day off. Off to Mass in an hour or so. Stay safe, healthy and blessed.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Got it all except for one square. Messed up MESSALA. But I had fun and am satisfied (sated?). Newspaper theme helped make it easier and EBBed the toughness.
No Pocono, finally settled on RAMAPO. (Poconos don't extend into NY.). West Point is at the NE edge of the area.
AARE - First time in a while. A Rhine tributary. Is it RHENISH?
ERSATZ - From the German for (cheap) substitute.

Prayers for Barbara and Bill. Lots of good advice FLN. I'll second what Michael and CC said: Bill, don't forget to take care of yourself. Get all the nutrition and rest you can when you can.

Hungry Mother said...

Wow, four earned errors today. It was a long slog and didn’t bring a victory. I liked the theme and disliked all of the names, which I still blame on laziness.

Anon said...

Nine question clues. Do puzzle solvers think the question clues are witty or are they lame?

desper-otto said...

FLN:

BillG, very sorry to learn what you and Barbara are going through. Can't be easy for either of you.

Waseeley, when I read about he cleaver, "I've been using one for 55 years..." I expected the rest of the line to read, "and I've still got eight fingers."

YR, great to hear that you've moved, settled in, and love the new place. What a Christmas present that must be.

desper-otto said...

Anon@10:53, the question mark usually indicates that the answer won't be straight-forward. Today, it was used for the "coulda-been" newspaper name theme answers. Yes, sometimes the answers are lame, but they add a little spice/humor/variety to the routine definition clues. In general, I like 'em.

Misty said...

Neat Sunday puzzle with lots of fun items. My favorites were HITCHING POST for a newlyweds newspaper, and BRONZE STAR for the metalworker's paper. Also lots of names--I was happy to get MELANIA and ARP and PIUS X, but was sorry I missed KAREEM and others.

Many thanks, Garry,for a fun puzzle, and your commentary and pictures are always great, C.C. Thank you for keeping us up to date on how everyone is doing.

I hope your niece does well, Irish Miss.

Have a good Sunday, everybody.

waseeley said...

Actually I told Dave that if he changed his beloved handle the Cornerites would probably tar and feather me and run me out of town on a rail. �� But by appending E2C9C3 to the end he could make 'MUSIC' in IBM EBCDIC notation (only one H needed and at the end).

NaomiZ said...

I could not have FIR without DH's help on the sports clues, and many of the proper nouns were WAGs. After seeing the LA Times butcher the spelling of Anaïs Nin a couple of times recently, I have to applaud the clue "Diarist first name with a diaeresis," which allowed us to provide the correct spelling! I was stuck for a moment with BAS instead of BSS for "Undergrad degrees," but am baffled by the comment of Anonymous at 8:43 who wrote: "BS is not an "undergrad" degree. It's what makes the undergrad a graduate." What, then? Is a Bachelor's degree a graduate degree, now?

Bill G, I'm so sorry about your Barbara. Hopefully, with the help of hospice, her suffering will be alleviated and you can cherish peaceful moments together.

Thank you, C.C. et al.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Clever and challenging. MARRED not MARKED. KAMAPO looked as good as RAMAPO so…
-This is the countdown clock to the VERNAL Equinox (first day of spring)
-The German newspaper DER Spiegel means The Mirror (one way I assume)
-I’ll bet our constructor/retired art critic Jeffrey Wechsler is familiar with ARP’s work
-What did doctors do before there were CAT SCANS, MRI’s, X-Rays, EKG’s, etc?
-My grandson graduates from Lincoln Piux X this spring. I hope we can go to the ceremony.
-FB fans will understand that Tom Brady is an EX-PAT this year
-Why wasn’t the clue “Due time Quattro” if the fill was another Italian number?
-LES BROWN was Bob Hope’s bandleader for 50 years and did 18 USO tours with him
-Coincidence – IT’S A TRAP/”O that way MADNESS lies”

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Re: Puzzle editors

I always read with a half smile how "gracious " ccnstructors sound when after spending hours getting the puzzle just how they want it some so-called "puzzle editor" (who maybe just got promoted from the LAT mailroom) changes big chunks of the crossword cuz they know which clues work better. I'll bet what the CW authors really wanna say is. "Keep yer @#%$% paws off my puzzle you $#%&$" 😵😡🤯

Bad enough they have to submit to whining and nitpicking from knuckleheads like me.

Just got back filling DW's grocery list. She's sleeping quietly so I'll find out later how I screwed it up. (FIW)....Time to finally tackle our paper's 2 week old Sunday NYT puzzle

IM hope your niece and son do well. Only a few weeks ago we knew no one personally infected and now it's hitting everyone's family in some way.

D4E4H said...

Thanks to your prayers Carol may be DC'd from the COVID free Rehab facility this week. 

Please pray that Carol be released to "return here from Rehab." 

I pray for you. 

:) :) :):):) Ðavið
AKA  D4E4HE2C9C3H

inanehiker said...

This was a steady solve - I was amused by all the newspaper answers in the solve. I had a friend in college whose family owned a small town newspaper and we talked about all the names there are for newspapers. Her family's paper was The Chronotype and it was only one of 2 in North America with that name at the time. A paper near me is the "Osage County Unterrified Democrat"
In response to Anon at 8:43- the imaging can be called a CAT scan which is short for Computerized Axial Tomography - some terminology dropped the AXIAL to make it just a CT scan.
HG - you asked what doctors did before the imaging - a lot more exploratory surgery and a lot of final diagnosis only coming at autopsy!

Thanks CC and Garry!

Prayers for Bill& Barbara and all who are suffering.

waseeley said...

D-O @11:03 Last time I looked I had 16. But I may be seeing double from all that Stab Creek whiskey I've been downing to deaden the pain.

Anonymous T said...

Sunday Lurk Say...

In 1979 I started tossing Springfield, IL's State Journal-Register on my BMX bike. It was two papers until '74. The Journal was the morning paper and the Register was the afternoon paper. Both papers were owned by the same company since '42 but ran as two separate rags until '74. Even though it became one SJR, there were still morning and afternoon editions even after I left my routes 'cuz family moved to Louisiana when I was 15. It's now one pathetic morning paper with only one local reporter (in the state capital?!?) and the rest AP news-wire. :-(

Waseeley - OK, so I've been looking at cleavers. I have three different J.A. Henckles chef knifes but...
I see 5" -> 7" cleavers with prices ranging from $130 to greater than $600(!). Help?

Oh, and I typically use the chef-knife blade or a pasta-blade as my 'scoop' from cutting board to pot.

Here's hoping everyone is having a relaxing Sunday. Sibs & I have a 6:30 call to divvy up parents' Christmas wish-lists so... nap time for me :-)

Cheers, -T

Wilbur Charles said...

There goes my FIR streak. NE. Ok, Spanish and those mountains weren't Poconos. Finally, MARkED as in mark a scratch ticket and sHinES as in Dr J shined last night. "Shoulda seen him Shake and bake". How I missed the obvious RHYMES ?? And yes, REY is how I know the King.

Ah yes, MEKONG as in delta. My chopper pilot friend went down in Laos in flames but survived. His buddies fabricated missions to scour the area and picked him up several days later. We didn't admit missions in Laos at the time*.

I can go with soup every day and eschew meat, especially red.

Oops. I had kITTLE. As in jot and kittle (yes it's tittle). Btw, terrible clue wording eg "Not much" would be much better. But I should have had MASSALA
Ha, try the price of Dental work. VA will cover but I was too honest on my pain level. I told them 4 or 5.

Yep, RES not dEf. Oops, that's AVEENO/a. I suppose "Former Green Bay great Graham" for OTTO wouldn't pass Rich's muster.

Re. LENZ. RiP Phil Linz of harmonica incident fame**

Relatively difficult although most of the "PPs were gettable.

WC

*The first guy he looked for prior to being medivaced was moi so I could pay him. By chance his paycard hadn't been sent out and I paid him. His next of kin had already received the 10k insurance.
** Wiki has it wrong. Linz asked ", What'd Yogi say?". And Mantle said, "He wants you to play it louder". Apres ca, le deluge

Jamie said...

I enjoyed the question clues. I tend to enjoy the clues with something punny or puzzling more than the trivia-style clues where you either know it or you don't (especially when I don't know it!).
Although Anais Nin seems to be rather overworked lately, at least we got to give her first name this time!
I still have never encountered any reference to Jean Arp outside a crossword puzzle.
If I ever have to select a pen name, I'll pick a rare combination of three or four letters to guarantee myself crossword immortality!

ATLGranny said...

FIW in spite of my efforts to improve Sunday results. Sigh. I avoided the pitfalls in the NE corner and the block between PESOS and ONI only to have three wrong squares in unexpected places: Two cycle instead of TRI and LaLA, even though I know AVEENO. Actually that square is so full of ink it's hard to read but to be honest I left the A. The perps being the dreaded proper names didn't alert me to the mistakes, but I enjoyed the puzzle anyway, finding the variety of newspaper names in the theme. Thanks, Garry and C.C. for the day's project. Your explanation of the puzzle adds so much, C.C.

CrossEyedDave said...

Had a tough time with the names crossing names,
but the biggest kick in the pants had to to be
NY/NJ mountain range...

I could not come up with Ramapo!

Now,
bear in mind that NJ from East to West*
is basically a bunch of hills, or ridges,
each one a little taller than the next.
It would be tough to call any of them mountains,
but they do.

The nearest to me would be the Watchungs.
Hardly mountains at all.
In fact, here it is called Short hills.
(like the famous Mall)
and Far Hills.
And Ramapo, is known as the river that flows from north to south
through some of these ridges.

Anywho, what is busting my buns is that the Ramapo
Mountains
turns out to be my favorite hiking/camping spot
that We call Harriman State Park/Bear Mountain!
That picture you posted on the Blog overlooks the Ramapo River
(& the NY Thruway)

In fact, Here is a picture of Me on that very same rock!

(* disclaimer)
Referring to North NJ only.
South Jersey is a whole different animal
& flat as a pancake...

CrossEyedDave said...

P.S.
in the pic,
those little pointy things on the horizon
near my elbow are the buildings of New York City...

Ray-O-Sunshine doppelganger said...

Thank you CC for your great blog.

I am not going to be a spoil sport. Period.

When I saw, 'a diarist with diarrhea', I just knew it had to be ANAIS.
Serves her right for being so naughty.
Loose morals cause loose motions.

A lo-cal, albino national bird of the USA - EGALITE
I got hitched up, and then I disappered, so I got - MARRED
An artist who consumed too much Alka-Seltzer - ARP

As for TITIAN, I think, I better not even venture of going there.

Hard YUAN freedom is more valuable than hard earned dollars.
Watching the finals while licking an Ice KAREEM cone.

CAT SCAN flip and still land on their feet.
How the gorilla introduced himself, MEKONG, you puny.
Well fertilized old bushes can still have NEUROSIS.

Finally, because of Covid, I missed my trips to the beach, hence LES BROWN.












Wilbur Charles said...

RayO you sure have kept your sense of humor. I was so late I never really proofread. I was 35 minutes on NE and just wanted to read posts.
.
Btw, I really enjoyed CC's write-up today.

WC

Also, did anybody catch the Florida-LSU football game. Talk about Merkel's boner. I can give details if asked.

waseeley said...

Dash T @4:39 I would never spent that kind of money on a kitchen knife. The blade on mine is 3x6. Must be the cook's version. Unless you're chefing for an army, you don't need anything bigger

waseeley said...

CED @7:54OM Funny, you don't look CrossEyed. And definitely not CROSS. Though your AVATAR does make me a bit dizzy (well "er), if I stare at it too long.

Spitzboov said...

CED - Picture of you on the rock. - - Those look like striations from the last glacial period.

waseeley said...

Thank you Gary and thank you CC.
FIVVW. Were it not for my recent sermon to "play the hand that you're dealt", I might describe this puzzle as a "Nest of Naticks", but then to paraphrase Janice Joplin "a NATICK's just another word for a clue you do not know". I found a lot of them today, too many to enumerate, aside from PETCO (visited SD a few times) and a vague remembrance of Charlie Weaver, but not the mountain he called home, But thank you CC for shedding light in the darkness.

On top of that I threw away a few answers with careless filling of perps that I did know.

Just a few observations on some of the clues. The themers were fun and lauded a dying medium that despite it's many faults we need to find a way to preserve. Newspapers are generally staffed by professional journalists, not entertainers.

66A Technically SAGE is an HERB, not a a SPICE.

112A HURTLING might a better description for the rise in the price of DDS services.

7D EMBASSY, Guangzhou is a beautiful city. Our hotel was near a lovely park inhabited by enormous jade plants, many life-sized bronze statues, and people doing Tai Chi in the mornings. The White Swan Hotel that CC mentioned was very elegant and had beautiful views from the penthouse of the rivers and islands to the South.

75D LAYLA was also the heroine of Bizet's opera "The Pearl Fishers". She had TWO men on their knees

Bill G, we are praying for Barbara and for you.