google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, February 9, 2022 Peter A. Collins

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Feb 9, 2022

Wednesday, February 9, 2022 Peter A. Collins

Theme: The Heat is on.  Each theme clue has a HOT answer.  Sewn together, they make an article of clothing.

24 A. *1977 Rod Stewart hit: HOT LEGS.

They had way too much fun making this.

26 A. *Difficult spot: HOT SEAT.  The position of someone who is in trouble or is being asked many difficult or embarrassing questions.  Many examples there days, but we won't go there 

45. *Microwaveable turnovers: HOTPOCKETS.  Thinking a lot about nutrition these days.  These are probably not the best.

71. Sexy '70s fad ... and where the answers to starred clues might be found?: HOT PANTS. Here is a brief view.

Hi, Gang - Jazzbumpa here to set the fashion trend for today's adventure.  This theme brings back fond memories of long ago.  Before we dive into the rest of the puzzle, let's take note of some of the unusual features of today's grid.  First, the longest fill is not a part of the theme.  You almost never see that.  Rows 9 and 10 have long strings of dark blocks. The symmetry is only bilateral around a vertical center line.  Grids often have rotational symmetry as well. 

OK, let's get going.  Wear you summer clothes - things are going to get HOT

Across:

1. Kid lit elephant: BABAR.



6. Lend support to: HELP.

10. Outdoor sitting area: PORCH.  A covered area adjoining the entrance to a building.

15. Love: ADORE.

16. Dunkable snack: OREO.  Crosswords' favorite trear

17. Leave no trace of: ERASE.  Wipe out completely

18. Feature that 4-Down lacks: SERIF.  A slight projection finishing off a stroke of a letter in certain typefaces.  


19. Prefix with type: LINO.  LINOTYPE  is a composing machine producing lines of words as single strips of metal, used chiefly for newspapers. It is now rarely used.

20. Some pastries: TARTS.  Small filled pastries without top crusts.

21. Measure used by navigators: NAUTICAL MILE.   Nautical miles are used to measure the distance traveled through the water. A nautical mile is slightly longer than a mile on land, equaling 1.1508 land-measured (or statute) miles. The nautical mile is based on the Earth's longitude and latitude coordinates, with one nautical mile equaling one minute of latitude.  Also, this puzzle's longest fill

29. NYSE debut: IPO.  Initial Public Offering.

30. Versed in creative writing: LITERATE.That's one definition.  Another is simply able to read and write.

33. Turkish title: AGA.   A military commander or official.

34. Semester: TERM.  A fixed time period.

36. Usually dramatic symphony ending: FINALE.  The last part of a piece of music, a performance, or a public event, especially when particularly dramatic or exciting.

37. "Miracle on 34th Street" hero Kringle: KRIS.  Aka, Santa Claus.

38. More than unkind: CRUEL.   Evil, mean and wicked, bad and nasty.

40. Part of Batman's outfit: COWL.  His head covering.

41. Owner's document: TITLE. This is probably more that you care to know.

42. Horse-drawn cab: HANSOM.  A kind of horse-drawn carriage designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from York.

44. Cuts needing stitches: GASHES.  Long, deep cuts or wounds.

50. Not out: SAFE.  Able to reach a base in baseball.

53. Minor, as a sin: VENIAL.  A relatively slight sin that that does not entail damnation of the soul.

54. Twin Falls-to-Sioux Falls direction: EAST.  Map lore.

58. Old Route 66 city: TULSA.  In Oklahoma

60. Gets some sun: TANS. Body baking.

61. Army leader sometimes seen in a bunker?: ARNIE.  Golfer Arnold Palmer.  His fans were called Arnie's Army.

62. Crest box abbr.: ADA. American Dental Association.

63. Sat atop: RESTED ON.

66. Bother: VEX.  Annoy

67. Wheel edge: RIM.  

68. Petitioner: CLAIMANT.  A person making a claim, especially in a lawsuit or for a government-sponsored benefit.

69. Food store letters: IGA.  Independent Grocers Alliance.  Where we get groceries on vacation.

70. Tip of a wing tip: TOE.  Front end of a shoe.

72. "__ MisÈrables": LES.  a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.  Also adapted into movies and a long running musical drama

Down:

1. Humanities degs.: BAs.  Batchelors of Arts.

2. Fruit drink suffix: -ADE.

3. 1975 Springsteen hit: BORN TO RUN.  



4. No-frills typeface: ARIAL. Looks like this.

5. Fill 'er up ... again: REFUEL

6. Like mind-and-body medicine: HOLISTIC.  Characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease.

7. __ the Red: ERIC.  Erik Thorvaldsson, known as Erik the Red, was a Norse explorer, described in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first settlement in Greenland.  This happened while he was in the midst of a 3 year exile as a result of disputes involving murder and mayhem. 

8. Horne of jazz: LENA.  Not a saxophone.


9. Shark's hangout: POOL HALL.   A pool shark is one whose goal is to con money out of others by using a combination of deception, talent, and straight coercion, combined with the game of billiards, to take advantage of susceptible players.

10. Diminutive: PETITE.  Also, PETITE clothing is specifically designed for women whose frames are 5'4” and under, and the clothing has been cut proportionally to fit and flatter the petite women's frame.

11. Postgrad tests: ORALS.  A test involving spoken questions and answers.

12. Promethium's element class: RARE EARTH.  These are chemically similar metallic elements comprising the lanthanide series and (usually) scandium and yttrium. They are not especially rare, but they tend to occur together in nature and are difficult to separate from one another.

13. Chicago hrs.: CST.  Central Standard Time.

14. Bulls and bucks: HEs.  Male of any species.

22. "Yay, the weekend!": TGIF.  Thank God It's Friday.  Oops - it's only Wednesday.  Lo siento.

23. Tiny bit of dust: MOTE.  A single particle

24. Snag: HITCH.  What could possibly go wrong?

25. Soap __: OPERA.  A television or radio drama series dealing typically with daily events in the lives of the same group of characters.  So called because the sponsors were often commercial cleaning products.

27. Nimble: AGILE.  Spry

28. Shocks, in a way: TASES.  In a bad way.

31. Brian of ambient music: ENO.  Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno RDI [Royal Designer for Industry; b 1948] is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his pioneering work in ambient music and contributions to rock, pop and electronica

32. Cold and rainy: RAW.  Stormy weather.

 

 35. Interacts well: MESHES.  Fits nicely

37. One fond of smooching: KISSER.  Well - yeah.

39. Place to go in Gloucester: LOO.  Lavatory.

41. Bit of arm art: TAT.  Body ink.  My friend lets his wife color in his tats whenever she's upset.  She just needs a shoulder to crayon.

43. 1981 cable debut: MTV.  An American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks, a division of ViacomCBS.

44. Pompadour need: GEL.  Hair glop.

46. Cared for a cat, say: PET SAT

47. How stock may be bought: ON A TIP.  Usually not the best decision.

48. Movie house: CINEMA.

49. "The Big Chill" director: KASDAN.  Lawrence Edward Kasdan [b1949] is an American filmmaker. He is the co-writer of the Star Wars films The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens, and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

50. Maze word: START.  


51. Zoom meeting component: AUDIO.  Also video.

52. Lover: FLAME.   finally - some heat!

55. Blacksmith's block: ANVIL. An anvil is a metalworking tool consisting of a large block of metal, with a flattened top surface, upon which another object is struck. Anvils are as massive as is practical, because the higher their inertia, the more efficiently they cause the energy of striking tools to be transferred to the work piece.  It appears at ca. 1:05 and 2:18.


56. Lengthy assault: SIEGE.

57. Where to find Katy and Austin: TEXAS.  Katy is just west of Houston.  Austin is about 2 1/2 hours northwest of Katy via US 290.

59. Part of a foot: ARCH.  The foot has three arches: two longitudinal (medial and lateral) arches and one anterior transverse arch. These arches are formed by the tarsal and metatarsal bones and are supported by the ligaments and tendons in the foot.


61. Colony members: ANTS.  Th hill, you say!

64. "Xanadu" rock gp.: ELO.  Electric Light Orchestra.

 

 65. Neighbor of N.Y. and Minn.: ONTaro, eh.

This wraps up another Wednesday.  Hope you didn't get scorched, or wind up hot and panting.

Hot regards!
JzB




55 comments:

  1. FIRight. An interesting puzzle! I was so distracted by all the HOTs that it wasn't until I hit the reveal that I saw the real gist of the themers were that they were PANTS parts, so this was a loss for me, re getting the theme.
    ARNIE was the most confusing answer. I had misspelt SeiGE, so VEX and ARNIE were my last fills.
    16x15, so OMK is foiled again!

    I just noticed Cruciverb.com has an interview with Paul Coulter. One short paragraph:
    "For me, one of the nicest aspects of constructing is, when I have a puzzle in the LAT that day, I always check in at the Crossword Corner. Folks enjoy hearing about the theme's origins. There's a nice give and take, not only about puzzles, but about life in general. The gang there is the friendliest bunch you'd ever meet, no negativity whatsoever. A warm shout-out to C. C. for hosting this great spot."

    ERIC was asked to adjudicate
    (Because he was so LITERATE)
    A contest of low-calorie
    Beers, from the gallery,
    So everyone could hear his LITE RATE!

    Verdana and ARIAL sat nursing their beer,
    At a saloon in the wild type frontier.
    In walked Times New Roman,
    His tin star to show, man,
    And announced, "I'm the new SERIF around here!"

    {B, A-.}

    ReplyDelete
  2. FIR, but erased patio for PORCH, cape for COWL, and nag for VEX. Had to wait for torts/TARTS, erik/ERIC, POOL room/HALL, and inch/ARCH. Only unknowns comprised my Natick: VENIAL x KASDAN.

    Unless you are in Congress, you must be careful of buying stock ON A TIP. You're OK if someone sees an opportunity after analyzing a company's public records. But if that person's tip is based on overhearing that a company is going to be awarded a big contract, buying the stock could get you in big trouble.

    OKL, thanks for sharing PC's kind words.

    Thanks to Peter for a good mid-week puzzle. My favorite was ARNIE. And thanks to JzB for the fun tour, although your explanation of NAUTICAL MILE would have been clearer without mentioning longitude.

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  3. Good morning!

    Saw the HOTs and got the theme early. Expected dw to appear, but HOT TEMPER was missing in action. RARE EARTH kept me from falling into the PORCH/patio trap. This one felt easy for a mid-weeker -- not a complaint. Thanx, Peter and Jzb. ("...shoulder to crayon." [groan]) Nice compliment to the corner from Paul Coulter. Thanx for posting, Owen.

    LINOtype : I've mentioned before, I used spend lotsa time watching the LINOtype operator at our local weekly newspaper. "Fascinating," as Spock would say.

    ANVIL : One of the traveling salesmen in The Music Man peddled ANVILs. "You gotta know the territory!"

    TEXAS : I'll take a CSO at that one. When I worked, our offices were technically in Katy -- a hair over 50 miles from where we live now. I expected the daily commute would force me to retire, and after three years, it worked.

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  4. I thought I went through this CW like a HOT knife through butter, but when I finished was surprised to see a FIR time of 29!! Could that be? Did I time myself wrong? I dunno. Anyway a very nice midweek bit of entertainment. Did not get ARNIE (all perps) till the V-8 moment when JzB ‘splained it. Only W/O HOME:SAFE. Thanx PAC for this Wednesday gem. And thanx too to JzB for the fun and entertaining write-up.

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  5. Good morning. Thank you, Peter and Jazzbumpa

    The design of the grid stood out. It looks like one of those old arcade figures that you had to get before it got you :>)

    A bit of calypso island music came to mind as I filled Peter's puzzle: Feeling Hot Hot Hot, As Owen said, HOT PANTS came as a bit of a surprise, but it is a good descriptor for the various parts of the britches.

    The only real issue with the solve was that I entered HOT LEGS into 26A rather than 24A.

    VENIAL was new to me. As compared to cardinal or mortal, I'd suppose. Also didn't know KASDAN, but that intersecting A was an easy guess.

    Recently solved another crossword with the rather infrequently used HANSOM as the answer. IIRC, it was a Mark McClain medium-difficulty crossword at Best Crosswords.

    Gets some sun = TANS. I mostly burn now, so I avoid too much of it, and protect against it when I can't.

    This is my new favorite commercial. I love the way she says "I'm good" and then brushes him off with "You're too far away, I can't hear you" Rapunzel and Dunkin’ at Home Coffee Commercial

    The Illini lost to the Boilermakers last night. Jamaican born Illini center Kofi Cockburn is big at 7' and 285 lbs and is an experienced and skilled player. I thought they'd win. But Purdue's center is Toronto, ONT born Zach Edey, who is 7'4" and 300 lbs.

    He's still developing as he's only been playing basketball for 5 or 6 years. He was born and raised in Ontario. What game do you think he played ? Can you imagine him on the ice ? I also read that he hasn't had a teacher taller than him since second grade.

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  6. Good Morning:

    What a fun theme! Naturally, Little Miss Oblivious didn’t see the clothing connection until filling in the reveal! I swear, I think I could be sitting next to a grizzly bear and wouldn’t notice until I became his dinner! I joined Jinx with Patio/Porch and Uncle Fred with Home/Safe. The only unknown was Kasdan. We had a few cute pairings with Ont/Ant(s), Elo/Eno, Aga/IGA, and Hes/Les. CSO to CanadianEh at Ont and to the Lone Star State posse with Texas.

    Thanks, Peter, for a mid-week treat and thanks, JazB, for an enlightening and entertaining summary.

    Owen, thanks for sharing Paul’s lovely compliments and for the two clever verses!

    FLN

    Lucina, I hope your woes are over so you can sashay away without a care in the world! 🤗

    I have to go for blood work later and I’m hoping I don’t end up with a huge black and blue splotch on my arm like the last time. I can’t wait to get off Eliquis.

    Have a great day.

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  7. Made "short" work of the hot pants today in 7:49. Sure did seem like "hot" appeared frequently.

    I agree with Mr. Coulter's assessment. Thanks, OwenKL, for sharing that.

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  8. Yes, Owen, thanks for sharing Paul's comments.


    I've only been using an answer from each day's crossword as the initial entry in Wordle. That seems to increase the challenge of the game.

    Still, that's not as difficult as trying to find the answers in 7 Little Words without looking at the clues or word lengths. Today I had 12 valid words that were wrong before working out the seven that were correct.


    Here's an oldie: Living on TULSA Time.

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  9. I thought the theme was just HOT. I didn't ask, "Why pants?" Wow! The answers were all parts of a pair of PANTS. When I had a spot in the grid that didn't fit, I should have erased or marked it. Two bad cells because I forgot to go back for a second look at this easy puzzle. My attention to detail is waning.
    Venial or venal "Venial means minor in the circumstances; when speaking specifically of sins, it's a slight sin, such as occasionally getting drunk or giving in to small temptations. Venal means corruptible, able to be bribed."
    Yellow rock means hug. We have a 90+ male square dancer who is an inveterate yellow rocker, a kisser. He has to give every lady in the room a quick kiss and a hug at every dance. I have seen only one lady who doesn't care for this. She just quietly backs away. She dances so frequently that he knows not kiss her. With the recent "wokeness", our club discussed whether to eliminate yellow rocks and our members unanimously said don't eliminate it. Hugging our kisser is liking hugging your grandpa. Normally yellow rocks are less frequent and more in context.
    Nice to see ADE listed as a suffix instead of a stand alone word.
    I am not a soap opera fan. I know ladies who are so into it, that they discuss the characters as though they were real.
    I never have heard of a cowl covering one's face. LIU, what batman wears is called a cowl. OTH, I get many compliments on my cowl neck sweater,

    ReplyDelete
  10. An interesting and enjoyable puzzle, and recap, to start the day. Thanks, Peter and JzzB.

    Paul Coulter's comments are very much on target and very much appreciated. Perhaps we'll see some additional visitors here as a result.

    ReplyDelete
  11. If only Rod Stewart and Janis Joplin could have made a duet with Chris Stapleton singing backup- what would have sounded like? Lots of HOTs in the puzzle and 'hotties' in the video.

    The puzzle was a straight forward fill until the Big Chill. KASDAN was all perps.
    VENIAL- never heard of that until I married a Catholic girl.

    LENA- in my newspaper's font 'rn' looks exactly like a 'm'. Had to change UTAH to LENA.
    JZ- is your neighbor 'who needs a shoulder to 'crayon' a HOT KISSER?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hola

    Owen, you really caught the theme! Great job!

    Though I'm still about half asleep I finished sans HELP and in good time. My PATIO changed to PORCH and ELO to ENO. Never heard of KASDAN so had KASDEN first. CLAIMANT corrected it.

    I have to tell you that I still have a pair of velvet HOT PANTS in my closet. They are size 5 so no chance of ever wearing them again. They just make me nostalgic. I still wear PETITE sizes but 12 not 5.

    My nun's habit did not have a COWL

    I'll take a CSO at ORALS and BA'S as will many other cornerites, especially Misty, Keith, Yellowrocks and others.

    I have been to TULSA once for my nephew's wedding. We stayed in an unfinished hotel though our rooms were in good condition but no amenities. None.

    CSO to my nephew ERIC, half brother to the groom mentioned above.

    Have a wonderful day, everyone!

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  13. Thank you, JazzB for a fine feature.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Peter and JazzB.
    I FIRed in good time and saw the HOT theme (but like YR, I missed the PANTS connection).

    Hand up for Patio before PORCH.
    I thought of Menial, but VENIAL fit the sin.
    The first thing that popped into my mind for “Not out” was In. Oh, we are playing baseball! (And golf with ARNIE.)
    The Shark was in a POOL HALL, not a coral reef (another first thought).
    Did anyone else run out of room trying to ink in BORN in the USA? That was released in 1984.

    I noted ENO and ELO, TAT and TART. Of course, IM always sees more.
    Yes, I’ll take a CSO with ONT. I knew Austin but not Katy, for our TEX Cornerites’ CSO.

    Lovely endorsement from Paul Coulter. Thanks for sharing, Owen.

    For some reason, I looked for diagonals today (they are divided with 8 letters each). The top one has no vowels, but if I borrow the A from the lower diagonal, use 7/8 and 1/2 of the letters, I can get a phrase that might tie in with a mistake by our navigators (NAUTICAL MILE) — CHART SLIGHT. Let’s see what OMK does with it. I’m an amateur.

    Wishing you all a great day.




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  15. Thanks Peter for a sizzling puzzle that was ALMOST too HOT TO HANDLE.

    And thanks Ron for your HEATED exposé. That clip for 71A said it all.

    A few favs:

    19A LINO. The LINOTYPE machine was invented in Baltimore by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1886. Essentially it allowed the castable "line by line" generation of type "on the fly". Prior to that, the technique of using precast type invented by Gutenberg, greatly limited the size of publications. The process was labor intensive and the space needed to store precast type increased exponentially with the size of the publication. The ability to generate type as needed overcame this difficulty and revolutionized the newspaper industry. The Baltimore Museum of Industry has a couple of working linotype machines and gives weekly demonstrations of their usage. Here's the trailer for a film called "Linotype: the Film" (streamable on Amazon Prime) featuring brief demos and interviews with several linotype operators. These guys have got to be the original GEEKS.

    21A NAUTICAL MILE. A CSO to Spitzboov.

    9D POOL HALL. That means there's Trouble in River City.

    55D ANVIL. Thanks JzB for the IL TROVATORE clip. ANVILS seem to be popular instruments in OPERA. Here the NIBELUNGS are clanging away in Wagner's Das Rheingold.

    Cheers,
    Bill

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  16. Word of the Day: quadriga

    Pronunciation: kwah-dree-gê

    Part of Speech: Noun

    Meaning: A chariot pulled by a team of four horses abreast.

    Notes: Hiyo, Silver!Today's rarely used word comes with a lexical family, that includes biga "a two-horse team" and triga "a three-horse team". Quadrigate is the adjective, meaning "like a quadriga" as 'a quadrigate coin', stamped with a quadriga, and another, quadrigarious, meaning "related to a quadriga". The most widely used plural of this noun is still the Latin quadrigae though, according to my spell checker, quadrigas works just as well.

    In Play: Today this word is used mostly for statuary and imprints on coins: "When Napoleon captured Berlin, he took the quadriga atop the Brandenburg Gate back to Paris with him as a war trophy." (See the picture of his trophy above.) As for coins, this word may occur in expressions like this: "The obverse of the coin featured a winged Victory, crowning a charioteer driving a quadriga."

    See Alpha Dictionary for more info.

    Bill's comment: The Four Horses atop St. Mark's Basilica in Venice were originally from a quadriga.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Good Morning.

    Thanks, Peter, for a bit of challenge today. My brain seems to be freezing up not only here, but sometimes on Jeopardy! I need more time to suss my answers. For example, I had to wait for all but one cross to get KASDEN, and I knew it.

    I liked seeing ARIAL cross SERIF. I took too long for HITCH because my first inclination was glitch. Not working.

    Thank you, JazzB, for the tour--especially the musical interludes. Nice choices.

    Stay cozy. Have a sunny day despite the February sky.

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  18. OwenKL @3:34 AM I was looking for additional interviews on Cruciverb after your post and stumbled upon some bad news: Nancy Salomon has passed away. Here is an interview that C.C. did with Nancy back in 2009.

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  19. First off, I didn't remember any film director named "Kasdan" but the perps were solid so I want with it. And like Irish Miss and Jinx, I had "patio" before "porch" too. Fortunately, I remembered "Babar, the elephant" so the first answer came quickly. And I remember "Miracle on 34th Street" but, even if you didn't, the name "Kris Kringle" was pretty obvious. As usual, several of the entries seemed more slanted toward senior citizens than millenials, but that's par for the course (like, Arnie's Army). Not that this 67-year old is complaining, just noticing it. FIR at the end, so that'll wrap it up, folks.

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  20. Musings
    -Rich decided that having three free spaces in three fills was just fine today
    -I set a record for confident fills that I had to ERASE
    -For some reason aviators sometimes use knots instead of mph and nautical miles instead of miles.
    -The prize for the most dramatic FINALE has to go to The 1812 Overture
    -I was 75 when I first saw the difference between VENAL and VENIAL. I gotta get out more!
    -The CLAIMANT in the McDonald’s hot coffee spill did not have a trivial case
    -Dramatic REFUELING
    -Soap OPERA – Mom listened to One Man’s Family on the radio
    -The H.S. basketball players we saw last night are AGILE. My ability to get up and down to the bleacher seats fairly easily makes me SPRY. :-)
    -Does anyone else ever get a sudden spasm in your ARCH?
    -Great note from Paul to include, Owen. We do have a very nice bunch here.

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  21. The SOPA OPERAS that I remember are STELLA DALLAS and one with music I hear in my head but don't recall the name. It might have been Lorenzo Jones or similar. Since radio was all we had in my youth, those are memorable.

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  22. Wow, so glad to see so many other people make the same mistakes I did. ;-) Lots of fun with this puzzle, although I didn't quite know that venial was a "little sin". Guess thats what I'll start calling finishing the last slice of pie, haha.

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  23. By the way, Owen, I don't know what you do for a living, but I think your verses are often ingenious, like they were today. I am in awe of your comic mastery!

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  24. I went to the satellite lab that I always go to and the phlebotomist had a hard time finding a viable vein. I mentioned the blood thinners and the excessive bruising from the last draw and, lo and behold, when she finally tried a vein, she no sooner started to insert the needle when the bruising started. She stopped immediately and asked for assistance from another tech, but they both decided I needed a smaller needle, which they didn’t have. Apparently, there’s a shortage. So, I trekked over to the hospital, went through the Covid check/questions, registration, waiting room and finally, the lab. This tech had no trouble but told me to hot pack my arm tonight a few times. The bruise is the size of a golf ball vs the last one which was the size of an orange. On the bright side, my Dewar’s delivery came and my Gibble’s chips and English Toffee orders are en route. Yay! 🤗

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  25. Thanks OwenKL,
    never saw the pants parts either.

    Anywho,
    my search for silly hot pants links did not go very far...

    hot legs was a total bust also...


    Famous last words from the Hot Seat.

    And,
    while I like puzzles,
    This one looking like it was smiling back at me
    was kind of unnerving. Now I am seeing faces in pockets everywhere!

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  26. 85 degrees and rising in Irvine today. Both Siri & Alexa are promising a high in the 90s.
    Warmer than most days in summer.
    The onshore winds have switched over to genuine Santa Anas.

    Climate change is Real.
    ~ OMK

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  27. Hope I got it right this time...🙄

    Fun humpday challenge. inkovers: cape/COWL, POOLroom/TABLE, inch/ARCH.😊

    Thought it said "Home of jazz. As in the picture Lena Horne was often filmed singing alone leaning against a column so that part of the movie could be removed when shown in the South.

    Je t'ADORE, French for "Shut the door". Plus now I know what "sans" (without) SERIF means. Almost put bench for PORCH. Agree with JzB about LITERATE. "Promiscuous element class"? oh ...wait...never mind.😉

    A surgeon bud once said: When HOLISTIC medicine doesn't work the patient blames himself ("I didn't use the right herbs, or in the right amount, or at the wrong time) but when conventional medicine doesn't work it's the practioner's fault.

    HOT POCKETS!!

    Spirit of "The Tempest"...ARIAL.
    Castle surround.....MOTE.
    No if, ____, or buts...ANTS.
    Exam for cats going to college..PET SAT

    Two more days of fun and sun then back to the Arctic circle.🧊🧊🧊

    IM..Are you on the right dose of Eliquis?






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  28. Between Batman and the sharks I had a mess since I inked room and cape/ HALL and COWL.

    Oops, it wasn't inCH* after all and of course it had to be TULSA so it was n/RESTED ON. So KAStEN is wrong too. All my FIWs occur early week and seem to be Yellowrocks syndrome

    The typeface for Horne and Home look much alike. But NOLA wouldn't fit. As BigE explained

    PETITE not minuTE. MILE and ERASE fixed that.

    I think one can go to the Maritime museum in Gloucester

    #2 gets a solid W, Owen.

    Re. Stock TIPS. Martha and Phil got into trouble that way.

    Agree with D-O, "...shoulder to crayon." was worth sharing. Dad joke hof

    ARNIE Clue was great.

    At confession the average Venial got you 10 Hail Marys with a few Our Father's thrown in.

    VT* cheerleaders debuted HOT PANTS at a 70s NIT

    WC

    * Virginia Tech

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  29. Hi gang -

    Owen, you had some gems today.

    This was a fun puzzle. Don't recall seeing a theme with a whole repeated word before.

    Thanks for the kind comments. This is a great group.

    Cheers!
    Ron

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  30. Back from the dentist with a new pseudo crown which will have to be replaced with the real thing and yes, it costs almost as much as a royal one but no jewels. This is expensive torture!

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  31. I liked this puzzle and Jazzbumpa's HOT PANTS video. Hand up for PATIO before PORCH. And, yes, CanadianEh, I noodled with BORN IN THE USA too.

    More later.

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  32. Hi All!

    Fun puzzle but I've never committed VENIAL sin (all mine are big! :-)) Learning moment there so thanks Peter. Theme wasn't '70s Rock :-( [see: 3d & 24a]

    And thank you JzB - I ADORE me some Boss & E.Street Band; 3d took NO perps (I have the double-jacket'd VINYL)

    WO: forgot the C in HOT POCKETS [Jim Gaffigan - Ray-O beat me to the (same!) link] for a moment.
    ESPs: VENIAL | KASDAN
    Fav: [see: 3d] Also, I want my MTV.
    //oh, sorry - I bet y'all were expecting Dire Straits
    Trivia Quiz Time: Name the first song on MTV. //TTP, you don't get to play 'cuz I know you know :-)

    Some House Cleaning:
    From Monday (Monday) [1/2 MAMAs, 1/2 PAPAs]:
    A wonderful ALL in the Family puzzle & expo. Thanks Andy, C.C. & Boomer!
    Fav: I'll go w/ Vinyl ALBUMs - Eldest collects them (wait 'till she finds my HiFi in the attic to play them on).
    Runner-up: SWEET TEA. Lately, I've gotten into brewing a pitcher on the weekends; 1/3c sugar to 3/4 gal of very strong Lipton. Soda? SURE.

    FLN:
    AHA instead of OHO got me a FIW; the two names' spelling did me in. ++LIRa.
    !Oy! On a Tuesday?!?

    TTP - thanks for linking all the pertinent puzzle songs. We got the same DRIFT with CONTENENTAL bands //and you beat me to it :-)

    Waseeley - We went to the Immersive Van Gogh. Given the $$$ spent (DW bought "VIP" tix(?!?)), I was not Impress[onist]ed. You sit in a room and watch 30+ overhead projectors while soft music plays. //I was more into counting projectors & the technology to put on the show rather than images oils I'm familiar with. I guess my hopes were high - I thought we'd see real Van Goghs!

    CED - Hahtoola should consult you on Comics. LOL CONTENETAL DRIFT visual.

    Ok, I'm caught(ish) up [oh!, Happy Anniversary Bill & Teri! //DW & I are 20yrs behind ya's] now.
    ====

    {B, A+}

    IM - Good the hesitant techs stopped. I was a lab-tech (92Bravo) in the Army (Reserves). During Desert Storm, I was a phlebotomist at Ft. Hood's blood-bank. We had a few VA guys that would build-up their own blood for a pending surgery. I always got someone more experienced to do those guys with paper-thin skin and impossible (for me) rolling veins.

    Glad to hear your dental woes are over, Lucina.

    I'm over lines so I'll save my insider-trading story for later...

    Enjoyed reading y'all the last few days when I had a moment of downtime.
    //guy resigned and we were already swamp'd (another long story for later).

    Cheers, -T

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  33. A pool shark and a billiards shark would be two different kettles of fish.

    I think I outdid everyone. Went from PATIO > PLAZA > PORCH.

    Subgenius, thanks for the accolade! I'm 71, retired since my hearing got too poor for the switchboard operator part of my job in my early 40's. I've got several books of poetry compiled, if anyone has an in with a publisher.

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  34. Anonymous T., I bet the Buggles would know what it was.
    And to you I offer a more obscure question: do you know the first video on VH-1?

    -Anonymous @ 7:36 (a.k.a. S.S., per Irish Miss)

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  35. Good Evening -

    Totally awesome puzzle for my birthday -
    HOT legs, pants and seat all in one grid ~!

    Splynter

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  36. Sorry, CanadianEh!
    Owen
    is right. The 16x15 grid does not allow for a pure* diagonal, so my anagramming capacity is undermined.
    ~ OMK
    ____________
    *
    I only work with diagonals that stretch directly from the top corners to the opposite bottom corners, giving 15 letters on a 15x15 grid.
    If one of those is in place, I'll then allow for top and bottom flanking diagonals of 14 letters each. But those only come into play if the main diagonal is present.
    Them's my rules. But nothing prevents you from going your own way.

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  37. Splynter!!!!
    Happy Birthday Bro. Long time no read. How's it going? Still building cool stuff out of wood? [no, I've not built that chess table from your blueprints yet :-( ]

    SpeedySolver - Oh, yeah. Go Blue with that moniker. I'll even build you an avatar if you want [give me a few weeks]...
    To your question: No. I had to LIU re: the 1st video on VH1. See, I wasn't so excited for their launch as I was for MTV's. Seriously, I ran home from middle-school to see if we got MTV from our [semi-pirated] cable. MTV promised the best new music any kid in the Midwest (SPI) could get.
    Ever read I want my MTV [Amazon Book]. I have two copies plus the party game. Sadly, they, MTV, no longer plays music.
    //not that I'm missing much - bunch of auto-tuned crap these days. [Cue: Blues Brother's opener] #SoapBox

    Cheers, -T

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  38. Thanks, T ~!

    Actually signed the contract for a house today - yay~!

    And I am leaving NY for quieter hills in Connecticut - yay~!

    Looking forward to doing a LOT of woodworking and renovations -

    because it's MY house - yay~!

    NOT looking forward to paying COVID lumber prices - boo :(

    Splynter

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  39. Anonymous T: I appreciate the offer. I'll consider it. I've been content to remain anonymous, as I am sure you can relate to.

    I don't think anyone, anywhere, was ever excited for VH-1, but it served its purpose.

    More than 25 years ago I wanted MTV to change its name, as it was no longer "music" television. I do enjoy listening to some of the "VJs" on Sirius from time to time, but I've never read the book or played the game. Speaking of MTV, I must say that I loved "Remote Control" - the game show.

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  40. Congrats on the house Splynter!

    SSolver - I get the Anon bit. I was until hubris (and C.C.!) got me and we published a puzzle together. //she did the heavy-lifting - gridding is a bugger.

    I should explain [semi-pirated] cable...

    Back in the day there were these little bullet-connector radio-frequency filters put into the cables out-back on the telephone poles (do we still call them that? I digress). These RF filters not only blocked TV channels but had a penchant for 'falling off.'

    //scene: I'm maybe 12yrs old at this point...
    Pop: "What's this son?"
    Me: "I donno... Looks like a connector of some sort. RG59? RG6?"
    "RGwhat? Huh?? Well, what the hell is it doing in the back yard? I almost hit it with the mower."
    "I donno. Musta fell off from up there.
    Wanna to see what's on HBO tonight?"

    Cheers, -T

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  41. Welcome back, Splynter. I missed you.

    -T Did you know that you could reach those cable bandstop (or were they bandpass) filters by standing on top of a red and white VW microbus? Heard that from a friend...

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  42. Happy Birthday, Splynter !   Congratulations are in order on your new home ownership.  I hear you about the cost of wood and building materials. I bought a sheet of 3/4 inch AC and a couple of 8 ft 2x4's a few weeks ago.  Good grief !

    Yellowrocks, thanks for 'splaining VENIAL. I did not know VENIAL, but did know venal. Afterall, I live in Chicago.

    Husker, I thought you are 75, so you learned the difference today ? :>)

    Dash T, sometimes when I link songs, I wonder if anyone bothers to check them out.  Every once in awhile, I like to throw in an oldie like Don Williams. D-O probably knew the song without linking to it.  TULSA also made me think about a coworker who is a SCORE mentor, like oc4beach.  Oh, yes, I knew the first MTV video. And the second.  I saw her up close and personal as she was just starting to get recognized, at an intimate club venue in Youngstown. If we ever meet personally, I'll share details...

    JzB, Krugman was just shown on a clip on PBS Newshour, speaking about inflation. Reticent. But hey... who knew what would unfold ? I was blindly successful in the markets the last couple of years.  Now, what to do ? It's been a wild ride this year. Stand pat ?  Growth v Value v REITs ? I guess I'll stay blissfully naive.  It's worked so far..., but past performance does not blah blah blah

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  43. TTP - you tease...
    D. Williams' TULSA Time.
    To be fully honest - I thought that was Clapton's song* and I like Clapton's up-beat tempo better.

    She is ??? #SeeMe :-)

    Splynter - I hope the up-outta-state suits you well and you have more time to play at The Corner. So happy to hear you're doing well. YouTube your wood projects!

    Cheers, -T
    *Though we won, them Brits stole Country & Blues(?!?) and... made it gooder. :-)

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  44. Happy birthday Spkynter, so great to see your moniker. Congrats on the new house, yes lumber has gone bananas.

    Drop in to the J blog and say hello to Chet and Lois. They're friends of a mutual friend of ours

    WC

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  45. Dash T, you probably already have, but if you haven't yet seen the "Standing at the Crossroads" video documentary about Clapton, it is must see TV. At least it is for some generations. It's on Prime. "Slow hand"

    Tony Iommi riffs, at the time (and still today), were the only ones that I thought could compare, but Clapton was the best I've ever heard. Plain and simple.

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  46. Splynter it is great to hear from you, and I thought the same thing that Peter Collins knew it was your birthday and scripted the puzzle for you. And many more.

    Many CSOs to me from all the real estate talk (I do closings for a living) to "__ADE" to my childhood hero, BABAR to Splynter moving to my home state -Connecticut.

    A wonderful shout out to C.C. and all of us from Paul C.
    and a great puzzle from a real professional, another PC.

    Great fun

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  47. SPYNKTER? Be careful or you can make an ass of yourself...

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  48. No problem with today’s puzzle. My only unknowns were BABAR and KASDAN. Never heard of a dust MOTE, but MITE wouldn’t have been correct, so….

    Back in my previous life, there was a time when I was assigned to our Tulsa Division, so I got to make a few trips up there, Living on Tulsa Time. Thanks for linking it, -T. I had it all cued up to link --- hours ago --- but then I got sidetracked again. Unfortunately, Don Williams passed away a few years ago. He was one of my favorites.

    Pompadour gel? Nope. I used to use Brylcreem!

    IPO: I keep complaining to myself that one of the biggest mistakes I made was not telling my financial guy to put most (if not everything) into Google’s IPO. I could have quadruped my portfolio in short order, and then diversified again.

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  49. A HOT puzzle from Peter that I FIR. Thanks for giving me confidence again. Like Jinx I put patio/PORCH and entered inCH/ARCH. Perps to the rescue. My other WO was the A in the KASDAN & CLAIMANT crossing. I wasn't sure about the proper name and that caused me to wonder which vowel worked for both words. Used the A as it just looked better.
    The themers made me wonder about the repetition of HOT, but the reveal explained it all. Thanks, Peter.

    So nice to see your review, JazzB. Thanks for explaining and illustrating the fill. Some new words. Like you, YR, I didn't know Batman's head and face covering is also a COWL, more coverage than a mask. I knew about cowl necked sweaters and such.

    FLN: Hope the birthday and wedding anniversary celebrations went well, RayO and waseeley.

    Your last limerick made me smile, OwenKL. Well done! Hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday. (Wrote this comment this morning and failed to post it then. Grumble, grumble!)

    Finally, so good to hear from the birthday boy, Splynter! Come by again when you're resting up from working on your new house!

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  50. Happy Birthday Splynter. Glad to hear from you. Congrats on the house.

    OMK- just a whim of mine today to look for a diagonal. Thanks for outlining your rules (although I think you had explained them before). I do appreciate the time and effort (and humour) you put into your diagonal search, even though I rarely comment on them.

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  51. Hello Splynter. How are your 'Frawnch' lessons doing? Lumber prices are jumping around every week.

    Anon T- as for 'telephone poles' they are usually 'electricity poles'. The highest wires are electricity and the lower wires are usually telephone and/or cable companies. Who pays for what is a good question but one of the public utilities has to own the poles.

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  52. Hehe - C, Eh! used extra Us again :-)
    //not to be too politics, but how's the trucker thing bothering y'all? I think there's some to your south riling things up... I'm really interested in your take.

    BigE - yep, 3phase on top and low voltage below. I tried to find a nice "why squirrels don't die" video but settled for dude working on transmission line. Do NOT touch ground or you won't Pass Go.

    TTP - my couch-potato strategy on Vangard500 seems to be doing just fine. I should have put everything there. Which leads to...

    LEOIII - guess what? I invested IRA$ in my $employer as our stock was falling from $$$. Struck at $$, I did. Then, it went to effectively ¢ I shoulda bought more then 'cuz now it's back almost $$. No insider trading here (or I'm seriously doing it wrong :-))

    Oh, Insider trading story...
    I guy I worked with disappeared from the floor one day. I didn't know why for a nearly a week. Apparently, he had a buddy in NYC that was feeding him STOCK TIPS that he traded on and they split the ill-gotten gains. FTC got 'em 3 years each for less than $0.5MM. I mean, NYC boy - that had to be his yearly. And the guy I knew, ~$200K(?) had to be his all-in w/ bennies & bonus. Why???!?. //unless FTC only got 'em on what they could prove.

    Not a great bed-time story, but there you are.

    Cheers, -T

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  53. TTP, -T, et alii:

    I appreciate your musical posts ... I try to listen to all of them, every day, but I fear I remain closer to a slightly modified P.D.Q.-ian "All Bach, All the Time."

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  54. Canadian Eh, humour is a 6 letter word ? :>)
    I had to bite my tonge when you used it in your comments :>)


    Dash T, I wouldn't want that job. The heights alone...
    - Yes to Vanguard funds. Low expense ratios and no loads. Their Admiral shares versions of their funds have even lower expense ratios than their Investor share versions. For instance, VFIAX (.040 expense ratio) rather than VFINX (.14 expense ratio). Those tenths matter >)
    - A friend put too many of his eggs in one basket with his company stock at Lucent. For years. Then it went south. Big time, compared to the highs. Another friend that did some IT consulting there took a risk and bought 10K shares when it was near its all time low under $1 a share. I thought she was nuts when she told me she had bought them. She more than quadrupled her money. I know she wished she had bought more.




    Don't know why I used reticent when trying to capture Krugman's demeanor as he spoke in the clip on PBS Newshour. I was trying to say that he conveyed a resigned acceptance that his prior thoughts about pandemic induced inflation were not correct.


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