google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday January 31, 2021 Paul Coulter

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Jan 31, 2021

Sunday January 31, 2021 Paul Coulter

 

Theme: "Sportscast" - Each familiar phrase is humorously re-interpreted as if it's a action by the sports player in the clue.

 22A. The troublesome soccer player __: KICKED UP A RUCKUS.

 34A. The bombastic archer __: SHOT HIS BIG MOUTH OFF.

 44A The frugal lacrosse goalie __: SAVED IT FOR LATER.

 63A. The daredevil baseball pitcher __: THREW CAUTION TO THE WIND.

 81A. The politically ambitious sprinter __: RAN FOR PRESIDENT.

 90A. The lucky football receiver __: CAUGHT A FALLING STAR.

 111A. The foolhardy hockey player __: SKATED ON THIN ICE. - My favorite.

Fantastic title, Paul! So the first words are all verbs in past tense. They're all verbs associated with the sports player. 

I suspect this is the puzzle Paul mentioned that Rich asked him to dial down on the black squares.

Across:

1. Apollo's home: HARLEM. The Apollo Theater.

7. Cartesian concept: IDEE. French for "idea". Also 20. Former French coin: SOU.

11. Edwards, in Calif.: AFB. Air Force Base.

14. Spitting sound: PTUI. Saw this fill in Paul's June 17 puzzle. 

18. Early ball game score: ONE ONE.

19. His given name was spelled with horseshoes in the show's intro: MR ED. Minister Ed.

21. Ride, but not in a nice way: TAUNT.

25. Fragrant root used in perfumes: ORRIS. Looks pretty.

26. Actor Morales: ESAI.

27. Covent Garden architect Jones: INIGO. Learned from doing crosswords.

 


28. Sprightly: AIRY.

29. Chop finely: MINCE.

30. "Sure": YEP.

31. Biol. and chem.: SCIs.

32. Genetic "messenger" initials: RNA.

33. Many a Degas: PASTEL.

39. The Destroyer, in Hinduism: SHIVA.

42. Appearance: MIEN. Another word I only saw in crosswords.

43. 2020, por ejemplo: ANO.

50. Printer function: SCAN.

54. Mideast gulf port: ADEN.

55. Unassuming: MEEK.

56. Dash lengths: EMS.

57. Point a finger at: BLAME.

58. "Downton Abbey" title: EARL.

59. Open, as a bottle: UNCAP.

62. Fisherman with pots: EELER. Really miss freshly grilled eels.



70. Beat, e.g.: ROUTE.

71. Scolds, with "out": CHEWS.

72. Live wire's opposite: WIMP.

73. First name in mystery: EDGAR. Edgar Allan Poe.

74. Pro: ACE.

75. Vintner's prefix: OENO. For Chris.

76. European auto: OPEL.

80. Back talk: SASS.

86. Nintendo debut of 2006: WII.

88. "Dies __": hymn: IRAE.

89. Power source: MOTOR.

99. Masterful: ADROIT.

100. Feverish, maybe: ILL. Read this article before you take your vaccine shot. Basically don't take painkillers. Fever is normal.

101. Judge: DEEM.

102. Marienbad, for one: SPA. Wiki says it's a spa town in Czech Republic. Never heard of it.

105. Sting: SMART.

106. Single chip, perhaps: ANTE.

107. In pieces: APART.

109. Big name in cosmetics: OLAY. Getting quite pricey these days.

110. Pig out: BINGE.

114. Astrological ram: ARIES.

115. Part of HMS: HER.

116. Coatrack parts: PEGS.

117. Kvetch: YAMMER. I noticed both Hahtoolah and Anon-T used "Yummers" to mean "Yummy".

118. Principal, for one: HEAD.

119. Magazine VIPs: EDS.

120. "Dilbert" intern: ASOK. Been a long time since we last saw this guy.

121. Scornful smiles: SNEERS.

Down:
 
1. Contrived: HOKEY.

2. Biscotti flavoring: ANISE.

3. Go back over: RECAP.

4. Mythical trickster: LOKI.

5. Biloxi-to-Mobile dir.: ENE.

6. Sawbones: MEDICO.

7. Mischievous: IMPISH. Hi there, Spitzboov!


8. Slow party, say: DRAG.

9. MIT Chapel designer Saarinen: EERO. I know this!

10. Dean's email address ending: EDU.

11. For the __: ASKING.

12. Early hr.: FOUR AM.

13. On a tight schedule: BUSY.

14. Louisiana's county counterpart: PARISH.

15. Request help from: TURN TO.

16. Halloween charity: UNICEF.

17. What history repeats?: ITSELF. Not this brutal pandemic.

21. Whopper topper: TOMATO.

23. Condo, e.g.: UNIT.

24. Ship's-keel constellation: CARINA. Learning moment for me also.


31. Herring prized for its roe: SHAD.

33. "Piano is not my forte," e.g.: PUN.

34. Reindeer in "Frozen": SVEN.

35. "Don't worry about me": I'M OK.

36. Polite address: SIR.

37. __ canto: BEL.

38. Dinghy drivers: OARS.

39. Org. funded by FICA: SSA.

40. "If I __ to do it again ... ": HAD.

41. "__ seen worse": I'VE.

45. Apple variety: IMAC.

46. Prefix with byte: TERA.

47. Mediterranean sailing vessel: FELUCCA. Another unknown.

48. Milk source: TEAT.

49. Authorize: EMPOWER.

50. Passel: SLEW.

51. City WSW of Bogotá: CALI.

52. "Absolutely!": AMEN.

53. Unhip type: NERD.

57. Honk: BEEP.

58. The America's Cup trophy, e.g.: EWER.

59. One-eighty: UIE.

60. With "and" and 67-Down, occasionally: NOW. 67. See 60-Down: THEN.

61. Brain and spinal cord: Abbr.: CNS. OK, Central Nervous System.

63. "__ bien!": TRES.

64. "Today" co-host Kotb: HODA.

65. Floor coverings: RUGS.

66. LAX listings: ETAS.

68. One of three seen in Wood's "American Gothic": TINE. Amy Schumer & JK Simmons.

69. Managed care gps.: HMOs.

74. "Tosca" tune: ARIA.

75. Make the first bid: OPEN.

76. Aroma: ODOR.

77. One often talked down to?: PET. Cute.

78. Brian of ambient music: ENO.

79. Env. contents: LTR.

82. Salmon serving: FILLET.

83. Fla. NBA team: ORL. Orlando.

84. Italy's equivalent of the BBC: RAI. Radiotelevisione Italiana.

85. Muslim leader: IMAM.

86. Omelet ingredients for some diets: WHITES.

87. "The Addams Family" cousin: ITT.

90. Algerian quarter: CASBAH. Looks hilly.


91. Look up to: ADMIRE.

92. Astronomy Muse: URANIA.

93. Consumed greedily: GORGED.

94. Squealed: FINKED.

95. Sites for vows: ALTARS.

96. Birthplace of Solidarity: GDANSK. Poland.

97. Muralist José María __: SERT. Rockefeller Center muralist.

98. Moon of Saturn: TETHYS. One more learning moment.

102. Gunk: SLIME.

103. Reggie Miller, for his entire NBA career: PACER.

104. Australia's __ Rock: AYERS. Stunning color.


106. "Hard Road to Glory" author: ASHE.

107. Cool drinks: ADES.

108. "We have met the enemy and he is us" toon: POGO.

109. "My treat": ON ME.

112. Antipollution org.: EPA.

113. "At Seventeen" singer Janis __: IAN.


Happy birthday to dear Bill G! Here is a picture of Barbara, Bill and their three grandkids. This picture was taken quite a while ago when Bill still went out daily for his bike ride and coffee. He'd then mentioned to us what he saw and what annoyed him (kids glued to their phones). I missed those days, Bill! 


Look, so many deer visited D-Otto's backyard a few days ago.

C.C.

54 comments:

Paul Coulter said...

Thanks, C. C. Loved the pic of grilled eel - yum, looks good. I'm up early and already did your Uni - great job. As for the LAT title,I actually had Sports Cast originally, i.e., a cast of players, as a pun on sportscast, the televised presentation of a game.

As Cornerites have probably figured out by now, my favorite theme area involves food, but I also love sports. My favorite sport is soccer, which I played in college, along with hockey. Recently, one of the LAT regulars, who's no doubt a favorite here, contacted me with an interesting sports-based theme. Four of his seven theme answers came from baseball, and Rich had suggested he make all of them follow suit. We'd worked together before, so he asked if I could think of replacements. Now, I'm not much of a baseball fan, but my father was, so within a few minutes, I thought of a few baseball expressions of the right lengths that fit the theme. And yes, I have to admit I'll watch it if nothing else is on, though I read at the same time to stay sane. Apologies to fans, but baseball is so boring, you can read along for innings at a time. If anything interesting happens, the announcer's voice gets loud. Then you look up and there's a replay. Anyway, I hope my fellow constructor's theme is published - you'll enjoy it, even if you're not sports fans.

OwenKL said...

FIWrong. CaRINA + aIRY. I knew there was a constellation of a ship, but couldn't come up with its name. And 28a started as spRY, then wIRY, and that seemed better than AIRY.

Also had shire < PARISH, UNesco < UNICEF which messed up the NE, and a bunch of others that I forget, all eventually corrected by perps.

The soccer player KICKED UP A RUCKUS,
"That other team shouldn't a took us!
They were WIMPS,
But we were jinxed,
Because I spent so much time on my tuchas!

The ballplayer THREW CAUTION TO THE WIND
When he CAUGHT A FALLING STAR, chagrined!
He had his mitt,
But when it hit,
At three-thousand degrees Fahrenheit, it singed!

(And yes, I did look up that temperature!)

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Inked in FONEY for "Contrived," thinking we were going for a PH-to-F theme. Nope. HOKEY prevailed. Tried OLAF before SVEN, and Solidarity didn't start in POLAND, nor WARSAW, but GDANSK. Hooray for Wite-Out. Fortunately, missed seeing ASOK and CNS on the way through, because they were already filled in. I sensed that the verb matched the sports figure, but had no relation to the sport. That helped bigly with the solve. Thanx, Paul and C.C.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for a fun puzzle! Managed to solve in 34:01 with no help, just some trial and error insertions till I got it right. Also learned several new words which I will try to commit to memory for future solving (but probably won’t :). Orris, inigo, shiva, asok, carina, Sven, felucca, rai, and Tethys.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I liked the theme but the preponderance of unknown proper names made the solve a slog rather than a pleasant stroll: Orris, Shiva, Carina, Felucca, Rai, Tethys, and Inigo. No offense to Paul, but my feelings about large Sunday grids are more often negative than positive. There were some fun pairings with Hokey/Loki, I’m Ok/Asok, and Eno/Ano/Oeno (Hi, Moe). I had a few stumbles at Ecu/Sou, Tease/Taunt, and Miro/Sert. Spitz may have the Impish name but CED has the behavior, so CSO to both!

Thanks, Paul, for a challenging end to January and thanks, CC, for the summary and insider’s tidbits.

Happy Birthday, dear Bill G. Lovely photo. 🎂🎉🎈🎁🎊

DO, loved seeing your deer friends!

I’m getting my first vaccine shot at 12:50 today. It wasn’t an easy process obtaining the appointment but I am very grateful to have been successful.

Have a great day. Stay warm!

Hungry Mother said...

Usual Sunday slog, but I was entertained by the helpful themers. Good challenge to top off my morning. Luckily, I blew through the SB and the two NYT puzzles before taking on this one.

OwenKL said...

BTW, I'll take a CSO at LOKI. Years ago, when I was setting cryptic crosswords, Loki was my nom de crucis. That's still my name on my Gmail account.

Malodorous Manatee said...

"I liked the theme but the preponderance of unknown proper names made the solve a slog rather than a pleasant stroll: Orris, Shiva, Carina, Felucca, Rai, Tethys, and Inigo."
-- IM @ 09:30

To which Valerie and I add a hearty 52 Down.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Happy Birthday to Bill G. Hope your day is special.

Finished it all without error. FIR. The theme fills helped make it easier. Started in the SE; and then worked upward. No reason, it's just where the pen went. CARINA came from perps. Found out I did know the brightest star in CARINA: Canopus. The constellation cannot be seen in most of the US except for the most southerly areas.
In the Navy, TURN TO means: Begin working, or "Get to work!"
ORRIS - I was taken by C. C.'s visual and thought it looked a bit like a Crocus. L'dIU and found they are in different genera but in the same family. Orris is a kind of Iris.

Thanks to C. C. for a fine RECAP and Paul for the brain waker-upper.

We expect to get our first Covid shot on Feb. 10th, at a local drug chain. No charge to us.

-2º F. here this AM.



Shankers said...

I had many of the same hang-ups noted already by my fellow Cornerites, but managed to wade through all of them via susses and perps for satisfying Sunday FIR in normal time. Thank you Paul for a fun start to my day. Off to Mass in a half hour and breakfast out. Alas, no sports of interest today. What to do? Spend quality time with DW? 'S'pose so.

Lucina said...

Hola!

No time to read you all until after Mass.

Thank you, Paul and C.C.! This was a relatively easy Sunday solve in spite of the sports references which frankly annoyed me but I smiled in the end because I love puns!

The Y in YAMMER/TETHYS was my final fill. Both unknowns.

Have a spectacular Sunday, everyone! Happy birthday, Bill! I know it will be bittersweet but enjoy your family.

Anonymous said...

I loved the theme.
Grilled eel is one of my favorite types of sushi. CC, your picture looks yummy.
I have heard of orris root, but had no idea it comes from a type of iris, which is my favorite flower. So thanks for the picture, CC.
Although I got it, the NOW and THEN clues definitely are not my favorite type of clue.
One bad cell. I had CADINA, DNA, instead of CARINA, RNA. I never heard of carina.
TETHYS was new to me also, but YAMMER HELPED. Mom would say, "Quit yammering."
The FEL gave me FELUCCA.
Although I didn't find many unknowns, I had that one bad cell. GRR.
I very happy birthday, Bill G. I glad you continue to blog.
YR

desper-otto said...

Happy birthday, Bill G. Hope you can find a way to make it a pleasant one.

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

Several write-overs but I FIR; DICED/MINCE; MEGA/TERA; OINKED/FINKED (I took the clue literally!); ALOT/SLEW

I had my first Pfizer shot on Friday (quite alliterative, eh?!), and here it is two days later with no pain or side effects, touch wood

Moe-ku:

Louisiana
Now wants to call them counties.
I PARISH the thought ...

Paul Coulter said...

Chairman Moe - I also had my first Pfizer shot on Friday. What a relief, huh? It was very well organized here, with lots of National Guard troops staffing numerous checkpoints.

CC - No, that was a different puzzle where I had to remove blocks. Quite often, especially with Uni puzzles, I'm asked to add blocks, since I always try to have long Downs, but then David feels they don't allow for super-easy fill. This grid actually came together very fast. I only wrote it a month ago. Rich accepted it with only one or two changes.

Thanks everyone, and sorry about Carina, felucca, Tethys, etc. I swear I'm not trying to torture you. Sometimes, nothing else will fit but an uncommon word.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Thanks, Paul, for the apology. You're a "person of integrity and honor. A decent, upright, mature and responsible person". . . You know, a mensch (my apologies to Anonymous T, Mel, Gene and Cleavon).

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

As I've mentioned ad nauseum our Sunday paper prints a 2 week old NY Times puzzle that I just FIRed (a rarity) . A rebus (I usually run screaming from rebi), this one with a half dozen answers where 4 letters are squeezed into one square...🙄

Finished reading Charlotte McConaghy's "Migrations" meh

It's freezing ...Bored now so why not annoy my Cornerite buds?

Reviewed C. C.'s Excellent commentary for future clue/answers.

In spite of less than stellar reviews saw IMHO a great HBO movie last night "The Little Things" 3 academy award winners: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and crossword's own Jared Leto (pretty boy actor they had to "ugly" up for the role). Then watched a much- better-than-expected film version of a favorite novel "The Goldfinch"

Maybe I should do the Sudoku?

Naw 🥱

Happy birthday 🎂 Bill

waseeley said...

Loved the theme and clues in this puzzle Paul and thank you CC for the review. Thought I had a homer and took a leisurely trot around the bases, only to find when I came to the Corner that technically (okay really) I DNF: left the P off the end of RECAP and never came back to do an alphabet run to get YEP.

68D was my favorite clue/answer. It was just TINE with me. My now favorite pun was the one I heard FLN from (above)Avg Joe @5:20pm: "A pun has not reached maturity until it is full groan". CSO to Boomer!

16D Had UNICEF but didn't know it was a Halloween charity.

47D Felluca was new to me. Wanted TRIREME but it didn't perp.

Speaking of ships 21D CARINA was also new to me and wanted ARGO, that I knew from my amateur astronomy days, but it was too short. Turns out that the latter was too large and spread out and CARINA, part of a ship, was one of the components spun off in a new stellar atlas in 1755.

98D TETHYS was buried somewhere in the back of the unconscious, but needed perps to
bring it to the foreground.

103A I've heard of, but never seen, the 1961 avant-garde Franco-Italian film Last Year at Marienbad. BTW "Bad" is Deutch for "Bath". Apparently people are still taking the waters there.

Cheers,
Bill

p.s. we forgive you for the UTM's Paul. It is Sunday after all.

Anonymous T said...

Sunday Lurk Say...

Happy Birthday BillG! I know last year was especially hard on you - I can't imagine your pain. Carry on for Jordan; you need to teach him like only a grandfather can. May your next year be fantastic; you deserve it [and I want some math puzzles :-)].

MManatee - Blazing Saddles is one of the best movies (overall, not just in comedy) ever made... Right up there with Life of Brian. [OK, I have a penchant for brilliantly funny].
My favorite scene in the former is when, at the gallows, there's a noose around the horse's neck too.
DW: "Why that's so funny?"
After I catch my breath, "The horse aided and abetted the crime."
And then there's the logistics of hanging a horse.

I won't get into Life of Brian... Blog's rules (#religion).

Paul C. Thanks for stopping by. New/obscure words are fair game. Otherwise, how we gonna learn something? It's a new word that crosses a name that irks me :-)

Cheers, -T

ATLGranny said...

FIR today. Yes! There were plenty of sticking points and WOs, but eventually it came together. After lunch I saw my problem in the SE, where I had CAUGHT A FALLEN ....The perps weren't helpful there and with the AR ending, only cigAR seemed to fit. It made no sense. At last FALLING STAR came to mind. I should have known RAI sooner from TV in Europe. I also went through the progression of spRY to wiRY to AIRY, which worked better with CARINA (not CAdINA, which I also considered). I admit DH confirmed GDANSK and TETHYS while we lunched and I YAMMERed about my troubles with the puzzle. Another challenging puzzle from Paul, skillfully reviewed by C.C. Thanks to both for a good Sunday pastime for a rainy day and for coming by, Paul.

Happy Birthday to you, Bill G. It was nice to see that picture again. I expect the grandchildren are taller now. Our Colorado grandson is nearly 6'4" at age 16. Growth spurt, indeed!

Hungry Mother, which newspaper is the SB? I assume you aren't talking about blowing through the Super Bowl...

Spitzboov, I thought ORRIS was some kind of iris since we have some small ones that look similar. Thanks for LIU.

Hope everyone is warm and safe this weekend!

Anonymous said...

FIR.Easy boringness,followed by obscure proper names. I was able to get all of the proper nouns from the crosses but the sheer number of such proper nouns makes the solving process not much fun.Also a lot of crosswordese nonsense in this puzzle.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Every horse is sacred (okay, so it's a different movie).

Big Easy said...

The theme fills were easy after a few perps, too easy. A WIMP, NERD, & TEAT in the puzzle today. Good morning all. In spite of a few unknowns it was easy to ACE Paul's ADROIT puzzle. ORRIS, INIGO, YAMMER, ASOK, FELUCCA, PTUI, CARINA, RAI, TETHYS- filled by perps. Saturn has many moons and it will be many moons before I try to learn them or constellations other than the Big Dipper & Orions Belt, as in never.

AYERS Rock- just like Mt. McKinley-not any more. Now it ULURU.
TEHTYS Sea- a Mesozoic Ocean I remember from Geology classes.
GDANSK- known as Danzig in Germany. The border was always shifting in that region.
TAUNT- they call it trash talk these days.

Two designers intersecting- INIGO & EERO.

Alice said...

I loved the theme of your puzzle, Paul. It was fairly easy to figure out, and was barely sports related. Not like yesterday’s NO DECISION, for which I needed the blog.

Happy Birthday, Bill G.

So glad to hear everyone’s getting their vaccinations. I dearly long for the day we’re back to ‘normal’.

Kelly Clark said...

Great theme cluing on this puzzle, Paul -- and thank you, too, C.C. for the RECAP. My favorite themer is 63 Across. Happy Birthday, Bill!

Ala Ray-O-Snowstorms said...



Anemone's solo sister .... Oneone
A famous actor. full of himself .... Inigo
What you are asked for, at a Marine Base, down south .... Idee
A contraption, to open a 'certain' establishment ... Hokey
Shiva my timbers

.... favorite canadian metropolis ... Turnto
polite answer, to 'who is there ?' .... Imam
A no-no at a posh wedding reception, in Boston ... Casbah
Thats the correct reply ... Gdansk

someone recognized Vardalos .... Urania !
Those who support the motion ..... Ayers
A meeting of roman senators .... Fouram
ones disposition after nausea .... Felucca

whose towel is this, its hers .... Orris
Tinbeni's anathema .... Anise
... in other words, --- to mean ... Tethys
Imok, Asok can be ...
Collection of PSA announcements .... Admire



Anonymous T said...

Ray-O: I guess I mispronounced it; IN I GO again posting my ignorance.

Cash Bar was cute but, well, you gotta know - The ClashBah.

Cheers, -T

Lucina said...

INIGO Jones has always stuck with me because of the contrasting pairing of a Hispanic/English name. Of course I learned the name from doing crosswords.

Paul, it's so great that you comment on your puzzles as so few constructors do so and I enjoy learning about your various ways of decision making. How are your granddaughters? Are they enjoying the doll house?

Off to work on my taxes. The necessary documents have arrived early this year, of which I'm glad.

Wilbur Charles said...

I confused GDANSK with Odense(Denmark). I thought the last one, STAR, was inconsistent. But I got the FIR.

I got 72A,73A mixed up. I had lousy pen and wrong glasses. And of course SERT and TETHYS were unknowns.

And for a Sportscast, we had just PACER and ORL(thought he wanted Mag(ic)). Or to reverse what Lucina said: Despite having few Sports clues.

YR, that DNA-RNA has been a xword learning curve for me. Is the vaccine going to the D or the RNA? Reminds me, I haven't read CC's vaccine link.

Waseely, I'll give you a DNPlace. Not a win but payed. Better than a PUSH,(Or was that a WASH on that Sat XW)

-T, funny but "greatest"? Try Tinker Tailer with Alec Guineas. Humor is extremely subtle.

Owen, you got me to look up meteorite temps(and speed, it'll do more than singe at that speed)

Hbd, Bill G, carry on as they say

WC

CrossEyedDave said...

Happy Birthday Bill G!

Got a little miffed at being supplanted at Imp by Spitzboov,
But thanks to Irish Miss for reminding me to share,.,

Thanks Paul for apologising for all the long words,
But I knew Carina from my stargazin* days...
I get more miffed my the short words,
Like, some one spit on the NW corner of my puzzle!

Ptui?

Lucina said...

I can't make the tilde, but Inigo needs one over the N. It's pronounced ee-nyee-go. I know, you're making a joke.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Anon T...those are Alice @ 1:51's gems

I would addnor change:

Polish Joke:

At the polka party Krzysztoff wanted to ask Agnieszka "Can I have this GDANSK?" But she was already DANZIG with Stanisław. 🥵

Anonymous T said...

Ray-O @2:51: Ok, that one's fully grown :-) =T

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

BTW the CARINA is an important anatomical landmark. A keel-shaped cartilage end of the trachea.

OwenKL said...

Iñigo may be a Spanish name, but Inigo Jones was born in London, so more likely has an English pronunciation without the tilde. (BTW, buried in your start menu, possibly under "windows accessories", or somewheres else on an Apple or tablet, there is probably a little item called "character map" or similar. It will give you ñ, as well as Greek, Cyrillic, math, and lotsa other characters.) Anyway, I'd pronounce it In-i-go, but it seems like most people say either In-ee-go or In-go, with the middle I silent. Of course, I'm nearly deaf, so judge for yourself.

Paul Coulter said...

Lucina - My granddaughters are great! Thanks so much for asking. Addie's almost five and Ava's almost two. I called my son Dan today and Ava got on the phone talking about a bath ducky. I thought she was Addie at first. I'd never heard her say more than one word at a time before. The doll house is in her room now. It's a big hit with both of them. Two years ago, I got them an outside play house for their birthdays. Dan and I built it together, after my daughter-in-law Emily talked me out of a play system ( which is what they call swing-sets these days.) They have multiple levels, so they take constant supervision with small children. For their b'days this year, I've ordered one of those electric cars for kids they can ride around in together. Once I have my second shot, we can see each other again. Em's a teacher, and Dan's in Public Health, so they've been vaccinated, too.

CanadianEh! said...

Super Sunday (no Bowl until next week!). Thanks for the fun, Paul and C.C.
This CW took P&P but I finally saw how the theme worked and broke open some of those long Across areas. But there was no tennis player like ASHE in the theme!
Yes, many learning moments with TETHEYS, FELUCCA, CARINA.

I had Mega before TERA, Oinked before FINKED, iPod before IMAC.
I smiled at HOKEY and LOKI.
We have British aristocracy today with HER (Royal Majesty), SIR and EARL (although I think an EARL is addressed as "My Lord").
Will someone BEEP if I make a UIE?
YR had recommended BEL CANTO and I too enjoyed reading it recently.

I wanted Rout for 70A "Beat eg." thinking of overcoming, winning sense of the word. But I had an extra space and fought entering the E, even when it perped. Am I correct now in thinking that it is referring to a policeman's Beat?? or am I missing something else??

Happy Birthday Bill G. May your many memories of past celebrations and blessings allow you to find enjoyment in this day. We are all wishing you well for the next year.

Wishing you all a good day. Back later to read you all.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Some exotic entries today, but hey, I knew TETHYS!
-We don’t SCAN, we just take a picture of the document and Joann has been doing that for all the insurance, gov’t and nursing home facilities for his mother. As if that was not enough, Martha gets transferred tomorrow and we can’t see her.
-A paper ROUTE is a great lesson in capitalism
-A FB player with a lot of energy is said to have a “good MOTOR”
-Have you ever heard someone say, “I did a 360 when they meant I did a 180”?
-Our PET kitty lost a front “fang” and we’re off to the vet’s on Tuesday
-AYERS Rock (Uluru locally) as seen from the International Space Station
-Happy Birthday Bill G!

CrossEyedDave said...

An unusual star system in the carina constellation
has attracted a lot of attention
Over the past several hundred years...

inanehiker said...

Late to the puzzle again this Sunday- it was amusing. I only had trouble with CAUGHT A FALLING STAR.

Thanks CC and Paul!

Happy birthday Bill G!

Unknown said...

Route with an e on the end DOES NOT MEAN "beat." That is rout, no e. Route with the e means a way to go.

Spitzboov said...

A cop's beat is his/her route to patrol. I think the clue is fine.

Brian said...

Unknown @8:12 PM. Think a paper "route" and a policeman's beat.

LEO III said...

FIW. Actually, I got most of it finished correctly, but there were a few things I simply couldn’t make out, so I filled in my best guess and came to the Corner for my edification.

Except for ROUTE (I had ROUTS – stupid mistake), all of my troubles/errors were up top. Didn’t know EERO, CARINA, (couldn’t decide between DNA and RNA either), SVEN or WEWR. For 34A, I had WAS THIS…, so perps didn’t help there. Other perps were FELUCCA, RAI and TETHYS.

I was going to complain about tomato on Big Mac (“Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun”), but a quick Google search saved me from embarrassing myself. It DID take me a long time to fill it in for 21D. SESAME just didn't work!

SLIME IN THE ICE MACHINE!!! That was the catchphrase for one of the now dearly-departed Houston TV personalities, Marvin Zindler. He would have a camera footage of cleanliness violations in Houston area restaurants on the Friday evening newscasts. Yes, it was kinda a public service report, but his presentation was outrageous. He had big white hair in a pompadour, blue-tinted glasses, a 12-month-a-year suntan, and his SLIME... catchphrase and signoff were long, drawn-out syllables. Sometimes the regular news peeps had trouble keeping a straight face. He is also the guy who got The Chicken Ranch in La Grange, TX, shut down. The story was made into a Broadway play, and later a movie starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton, with Dom DeLuise playing the Marvin Zindler character.

LEO III said...

Oops! EWER. I meant to double check that, but forgot.

CanadianEh! said...

Spitzboov and Brian- thanks for confirming re beat=route.
Anon@ 8:12pm- my original thoughts were similar to yours, but a lightbulb moment, when I had ROUTE confirmed as correct, reminded me of a policeman “walking the beat”. A less-used definition for a Sunday CW. (But I don’t really think of a paper ROUTE being a beat.)

Misty said...

Fun Sunday puzzle, many thanks, Paul, and thanks for stopping by. And I always enjoy your pictures, C.C., many thanks for that too.

I'm not a sports fan, but that was no big problem. Only the long answers were a bit daunting. But it is a Sunday, after all, and so my favorite answers were PARISH, ALTARS, DIES IRAE and AMEN. Also nice to see EDGAR Allan Poe.

Happy Birthday, Bill G.

And have a great week coming up, everybody.

Peripatetic Puzzle Pacifist said...


Late at night, reading about the brou ha ha about ROUT and ROUTE ... for xrist sakes, the word was in the middle of the puzzle, encircled by a ton of other answers.

So, there was an extra E, it stands for entente, endearment and enrichment etc.,
Even if it was wrong, which it wasn't, and you just got ROUT,
you still got 80% of the answer, so quit kvetching, and go with the flow.

This is just a game, not a Covid vaccine.
Tomorrow is another day. Sheesh.

waseeley said...

Leo III @9:03PM DNA comprises a long string of molecular codes that define all of the body's GENES. The latter define the PROTEINS that build and maintain our body. RNA acts as a mediator (a "messenger") between DNA and molecular machinery outside the nucleus where the protein is synthesized. If the clue contains the word "CODE" or "GENE" then it probably refers to DNA. If it contains "MESSENGER" or "MESSAGE" it undoubtedly refers to RNA. Other than that you may have to wait for a perp for the first letter.

Bill

waseeley said...

LEO III - I should add that DNA resides exclusively in the cell NUCLEUS, whereas RNA is created in the nucleus (from snippets of DNA). The RNA then transits out of the nucleus to assist in the actual synthesis of proteins in the CYTOPLASM, the fluid that surrounds the nucleus.

Anonymous T said...

LEOIII - Marvin Zindler on Letterman.
I moved to Houston in '98 and soon learned about Slime in the Ice Machine. Then, Oh?, he got the Chicken Ranch [Best Little ...] shut down in La Grange [ZZ Top].

I only know the lore.
I had ZZ Top's song as my last 'day one' song on my MP3 player for the MS150 (cycling from Houston to Austin - midway was La Grange). Once "Haw, Haw, Haw" hit my brain, I peddle faster :-)

Cheers, -T

PK said...

Hi Y'all who are still awake: Thanks, Paul & C.C.

Thought the theme entries were fun & came fairly easy. Lot of unknowns WEES. Seemed like it took me forever. I wanted to stop and nap halfway thru but persevered. Took 65:24 minutes. Almost forever.

Happy Birthday, BillG. Hope you found some enjoyment. I decided to post even as late as it is just to let you know I'm thinking of you.

My bro & his wife are snowbirds, pulling a trailer to the Gulf Coast of Alabama. They were happy to report that state is vaccinating snowbirds over 65 yrs. of age regardless of where you come from. Among their friends are Canadians who snuck into the US from Canada by helicopter over Niagra.

Unknown said...

Two days in a row DNF. Both because too many interruptions. Grandkids, great grandkids, trying (unsuccessfully) to score a Covid vax ... just couldn't concentrate. Hope next weekend is less crowded

Anonymous T said...

PK - helicopters? How high a wall must we build to keep out the Canucks?

I think they're going to build (and pay for) it! to keep us in. :-)

Ever read David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest? It's absurd but funny [and long; I made it just past page 807 before I didn't care anymore].

Pop gets his vaccine next week. Christmas '21 is going to be fun.

Cheers, -T