google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, January 19, 2023, Jerry Edelstein

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Jan 19, 2023

Thursday, January 19, 2023, Jerry Edelstein

You have to dial your Wayback Machine to  September 16, 2013 to find veteran Jerry Edelstein's first LA Times puzzle, blogged by the inimitable Argyle.  This marks Jerry's 39th appearance here, and today he schools us in a little business management with a lesson about

The C Team

As there are no circles, no stars, and no question marks you have to put your ear to the ground and listen very closely to hear the 4 homophonic themers:

20A. C's: MEDIOCRE GRADES.  Hand up if you never got one of these in college (I got some even worse).  Don't be shy ...

33A. Seas: GLOBAL SEPTET.   Our GLOBE is girt with Seven Oceans, traditionally called "The Seven Seas", but some sources cite others:

The Seven Seas
43A. Sees: GETS THE POINT.

58A. Seize: CAPTURE BY FORCE.  "Well it seemed like a good idea at the time." - V. Putin

And Jerry even threw in a pseudo-reveal, kinda sorta ...

28A. VIP with a corner office, perhaps: CEO.  "Leader of Executive Officers? abbr."

Here's the grid:
 


Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Sven's transport in "Frozen": SLED.  I've never seen Frozen, but my research indicates that it was Kristoff, an ice hauler who was being transported in a SLED pulled by the reindeer Sven:

Kristoff's Sled

5. 35-Down company founded in Milwaukee in 1844: PABST.  The Pabst Brewing Company is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and was, by 1889, named after Frederick Pabst. It is currently a holding company which contracts the brewing of over two dozen brands of beer and malt liquor:

10. Ziploc feature: SEAL.

14. Exercise target: CORE.   Why you should strengthen your core muscles.  And here are some exercises to do it.

15. "Love Me Like You Do" Grammy nominee Goulding: ELLIE.   Elena Jane "Ellie" Goulding, born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter.  "Love Me Like You Do" was included in the soundtrack to the 2015 film Fifty Shades of Grey.

16. Cut: PARE.

17. Missing: AWOL.

18. Spa amenity: SAUNA.  The word sauna is an ancient Finnish word referring to both the traditional Finnish bath and to the bathhouse itself.
Modern Finnish Sauna
19. Doesn't just assume: ASKS.

[Theme clue]

23. Start to mature?: PREPREMATURE, as in too soon.

24. Eyeglass frames: RIMS.  I'm running out of doctors to see.  I think my next one will be an optometrist.

25. Gift with an aloha: LEI.  The traditional greeting and gift to arrivals in HAWAII.
 
Hawaii Lei
26. Matter of debate: ISSUE.

[Theme clue] Kinda. Sorta.

30. Dec. 31: NYENew Years Eve.

[Theme clue]

38. Antlered deer: STAG.

41. Retro photo hue: SEPIA.  A word derived from the brown melanin-containing pigment from the ink of cuttlefishes.  It was used in old photographic prints and is a setting on most smart phone cameras.  Leonardo da Vinci also used the pigment to make ink:
Water Wheels
pen & ink by Leonardo da Vinci

42. Burial isle of many Scottish kings: IONA.  Also the name of the ABBEY on the island where early Scottish kings, as well as kings of Ireland, Norway, and France are buried.
Iona Scotland

[Theme clue]

46. Skin art, for short: TAT.

47. Unit of corn: EAR.

48. Titan with a heavy load: ATLASAtlas was one of the most famous Titans, the son of Iapetus and the Oceanid Asia (or, possibly, Clymene). He was the leader of the Titan rebellion against Zeus, and he got a fitting punishment after the end of the Titanomachy: he was condemned to eternally hold up the sky.  It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it ...

Atlas
52. "Hellboy" actor Perlman: RONHellboy is a 2004 American superhero film written and directed by Guillermo del Toro from a story by the latter and by Peter Briggs.  I think he's a good guy.


54. Comfort Revolution bra-maker: BALI.  None of the pics passed the breakfast test.

57. Tolkien terror: ORC.  Definitely bad guys.

[Theme clue]

62. Clicking devices: MICE.

63. Poet Dove and actress Moreno: RITAS.  We've seen Ms Dove before as a clue for her home state of OHIO.
Rita Dove
Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano December 11, 1931) is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer, and singer. Noted for her work across different areas of the entertainment industry, she has appeared in numerous film, television, and theater projects throughout her extensive career spanning over seven decades.  She is one of just 17 EGOT winners.
Rita Moreno

64. "Less" Pulitzer winner Andrew __ Greer: SEAN.  "A generous book, musical in its prose and expansive in its structure and range, about growing older and the essential nature of love".  Here's Greer on "Less" and so much more.
Andrew Sean Greer

65. "It's for you," on an env.: ATTN.

66. "Wrong!": NOT SO.

67. "Smooth Operator" singer: SADEHelen Folasade Adu CBE (Yoruba: Fọláṣadé Adú born 16 January 1959), known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade (shah-DAY), is a Nigerian-born British singer, known as the lead singer of her eponymous band.

68. Crime novelist Gerritsen: TESSTess Gerritsen (born Terry Tom; June 12, 1953) is the pseudonym of Terry Gerritsen, an American novelist and retired general physician. - "She has an imagination that allows her to conjure up depths of human behavior so dark and frightening that she makes Edgar Allan Poe and HP Lovecraft seem like goody-two-shoes..." - Chicago Trib.
Tess Gerritsen
69. Alloy containing carbon: STEEL. All you need to know about steel alloys.

70. Brewpub brews: ALES.

Down:

1. Shrimp dish: SCAMPIHere's a recipe.
Shrimp Scampi
2. Reduces: LOWERS.

3. Reduces slowly: ERODES.

4. Supermarket section: DELI.

5. "GoodFellas" Oscar winner: PESCIGoodFellas is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese.  It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi. Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco and Paul Sorvino, the film narrates the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill and his friends and family from 1955 to 1980. 

6. Heist obstacle: ALARM.

7. St. Louis team: BLUES.  The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, MO. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference.   Here's the latest Blues news.
8. Compete on "The Voice": SING.  Here's Bryce Leatherwood, winner of the 2022 competition, singing Justin Moore's "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away":
9. Rip: TEAR.

10. Digging tool: SPADE.

11. Gradually become familiar with: EASE INTO.

12. Slow-moving boats: ARKS.

13. Paul in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: LESLester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called the Log, served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul.  While Paul  is mainly known for jazz and popular music, he had an early career in country music. In the 1950s, he and his wife, singer and guitarist Mary Ford, recorded numerous records, selling millions of copies.  Among his many honors, Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent exhibit in the R&R HOF.  He is prominently named by the music museum on its website as an "architect" and a "key inductee".  He is the only inductee in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame AND the National Inventors Hall of Fame.  My Dad played the guitar and my Mom Mary sang and we watched every one of their shows on TV, so it was hard to stop with just one selection:

Here are Les and Mary performing How High the Moon:

And here's their The World is Waiting for Sunrise

And Teri found this tribute to Lucina: 

21. Former pitcher Hershiser: OREL. Orel Leonard Hershiser IV (born September 16, 1958) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983 to 2000. He later became a pitching coach for the Texas Rangers from 2002 to 2005 and a broadcast color analyst for the Dodgers. He is also a professional poker player.  Here are his stats.  
Orel Hershiser
22. Body wash ingredient: ALOE.

27. Some slouchy boots: UGGSUGH, not again!

28. Ad writer's award: CLIO.  The Clio Awards is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals.  For some reason they're named for the Greek Muse of History.  Nobody asked me but I think they should put some of their creative excellence into a better logo:

29. Actor Morales: ESAIEsai Manuel Morales Jr. (born October 1, 1962) is an American actor. He has had notable roles in the films Bad Boys with Sean Penn and La Bamba with Lou Diamond Phillips (1987).
Esai Morales
31. Desire: YEN.

32. Schedule abbr.: ETA.  Or the 7th letter of the Greek Alphabet ...
34. Hazmat monitor: OSHA.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. OSHA's mission is to "assure safe and healthy working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance" The agency is also charged with enforcing a variety of whistleblower statutes and regulations. 
35. Heady stuff?: BEER.  For example:

36. Smartphone download: APP.

37. The Panthers of the ACC: PITT.   The Pittsburgh Panthers football program is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh. Pitt competes as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

38. Lt.'s underling: SGTLieutenants outrank Sergeants.

39. Bagged leaves?: TEA.

40. Has some pull?: ATTRACTS.   GravityMagnetism?  Political connections?  Let's leave the latter unconnected.

44. Collapsible shelter: TENT.

45. Gullible sort: NAIFForrest Gump has been rated by at least one source as the #1 NAIF character in film history.   Here's a short clip of one of 25 great quotes from the film that proves that sometimes gullibility pays off.  Forrest has made a bit of money in the shrimping business and on the advice of his boat's first mate he has invested it in a fruit company (it's only a few seconds long so you may have to replay it to get the gag):

49. World's largest cosmetics company: LOREAL.  Here's one of their lip smacking ads.

50. Game keeper?: ARCADE.  The ? gave Jerry's game away and we knew right away he wasn't talking about lions and tigers, and bears.   Here's a short history of ARCADE gaming.

51. Movie parts: SCENES.  See trailer for 54D.

53. Makes the first bet: OPENS.

54. Actress Davis played by Susan Sarandon in TV's "Feud": BETTEFeud is an American television series that premiered on March 5, 2017. The eight episodes document the well-known  rivalry between Hollywood actresses Joan Crawford and Bette Davis during and after the production of their 1962 psychological horror thriller film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon star as respectively Crawford and Davis, supported by an all-star cast. This movie was so over the top that the trailer itself has 4 episodes:

55. Humiliate: ABASE.  The opposite of ANACID.  Either one will burn you.

56. Disinfectant brand: LYSOL.  The first Lysol Brand Antiseptic Disinfectant was introduced in 1889 by Gustav Raupenstrauch to help end a cholera epidemic happening in Germany.  In 1918, during the Spanish flu pandemic, Lysol advertised it as an effective countermeasure to the virus.  And it has helped a lot of us to get through the COVID pandemic.  OTOH in 1911, poisoning by drinking Lysol was the most common means of suicide in Australia and New York.
58. Quote: CITE.

59. Large garden planters: URNS.  Very versatile containers.  They can be used to serve coffee, ashes, and plants.

60. Barrel of laughs: RIOT.  A CSO to Ray - O

61. Mount of Greek legend: OSSA.  The legend sounds like it was a bit of a stretch.
Mount Ossa
Mount OSSA is in the region of Thessaly in West central Greece. 
62. Little rug: MAT.

Cheers,
Bill

As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism. 

And I have to add one very important member to Jerry's C TEAM, our inspiring Corner Maestra C.C. Burnikel. Some months back in one of her reviews she included a picture of a dish she called "Pine nuts and corn stir fry", which inspired me to come up with this recipe:
 
waseeley


41 comments:

  1. Good morning!

    Guess who missed the theme? I know, hard to believe. Still, d-o got 'er done in good time. There were lotsa names and proper nouns in this one, but the perps were helpful, so no foul. Good to see you again, Jerry. Thanx for the elucidation, Waseeley. (Took me awhile to get the ABASE/ANACID meaning. Must be too early for me.)

    Les PAUL -- How High The Moon, linked by Waseeley on the main blog page, display's Paul's experimentation with that newfangled invention -- audio tape. He could record his guitar at slow speed and play back at twice that speed, creating interesting sound effects. Plus multi-track tape allowed Mary Ford to sing harmony with herself.

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  2. It was interesting, learning Sade’s real name (a lady we see so often in cws) so thank you, Bill, for that. Otherwise I don’t have too much to say about this puzzle, which struck me as pretty straightforward. FIR, so I’m happy.

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  3. Lots of names, of which I knew about half. I did get the theme with the very first clue, which helped. I struggled most in the south central, where crossing names that I thought I knew (but wasn’t certain of) caused a lot of caution. Eventually I FIR, surprisingly with only one W/O: ANTES:OPENS. Thanx JE for the entertaining CW, and thanx Bill for the terrific, informative write-up.

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  4. Hola!

    Thank you for the CSO! I appreciate it. And thank you for the enlightening narrative, too.

    I agree with Subgenius that this puzzle was very straightforward and easy to complete. However, nothing MEDIOCRE about it.

    And I'll take another CSO at BALI since I help to keep the company in business. It's my ultimate support. That and L'OREAL creams.

    ESAI Morales often appears in CWD puzzles but I had not seen him in a while.

    Shrimp SCAMPI is one of my favorite foods though I don't care much for seafood otherwise.

    I like seeing RITAS crossing BETTE.

    Have beautiful day, everyone!

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  5. FIR, but erased know for ASKS and eve for NYE. I actually knew a lot of the names in this one.

    I had no idea OREL played professional poker. I remember he was a very devout Christian when he was a pitcher for the Dodgers, and that seemed odd. Then I remember that tons of denominations hold bingo fundraisers. Aha! Kinda like the first time I saw a Catholic priest drinking something stronger than Welsh's.

    I really liked this one, though I thought is was easy for Thursday. I didn't like "hazmat monitor" for OSHA. EPA monitors hazmats, OSHA and DOT monitors the handling of them. Unforced error, IMO.

    FLN: Leo, I also didn't know about the history of the TX/OK rivalry. Only after reading Michener's Texas did I appreciate the history. But I knew it was real. Cottonwood Valley is a beautiful golf course that used to be one of the courses used for the Byron Nelson Classic PGA tournament. I used to play that course frequently (vendor golf, I couldn't afford it myself.) The first green was shaped like Texas, and there was a huge sand trap behind it shaped like Oklahoma.

    Thanks to Jerry for the fun puzzle, and to Bill and Teri for the interesting explanation.

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  6. I was able to "see" this one through in 4:55.

    Seemed easy for a Thursday puzzle as I luckily knew many of the proper names, but I didn't know today's female writer (Tess), today's male writer's middle name (Sean), the bra maker, or the show "Feud."

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  7. FIR. Just a small thing, but I have never heard of New Years Eve referred to as NYE. Seems like hurried fill to me and a poor clue.

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  8. Good Morning:

    I like this type of theme because it piques my curiosity to see just how the constructor will define each themer, choosing rom the myriad of possibilities. It’s a nice change of pace, IMO, from the add/subtract letters and other popular themes. I don’t think I had any w/os but I needed perps for Sean and Sade. Seeing Good Fellas reminded me of the recent loss of Ray Liotta and also the jarring comparison that always comes to me of Joe Pesci’s character in Good Fellas vs My Cousin Vinny.

    Thanks, Jerry, for a Thursday treat and thanks, Bill, for the wonderful smorgasbord you presented to us to feast on today. Music, Sports, Literature, History, Cuisine, Geography, Mythology, Humor, etc. You outdid yourself today, much to our delight and appreciation. Kudos to Teri, as well, for being such an active participant in entertaining and informing us!

    Off to a medical appointment.

    Have a great day.

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  9. Nothing to C here since the theme was different spellings of the same pronunciation. That's an old type I've seen through the years but Jerry doesn't deserve a MEDIOCRE GRADE9S) for doing it. But the majority of veteran solvers GET(S) THE POINT. An easy NW to SE fill.

    Wanted to fill NOOB for "Gullible sort" by ATLAS stopped that thought. NAIF is a new word for me along with the unknowns RON Perlman, TESS, SEAN, and ELLIE.

    NYE for Dec. 31? An easy fill but never seen it before.

    NAIF- facts on the Forrest Gump video. The movie was made BEFORE many years Apple took off in value. Prior to the introduction of the I-POD in 2001 Apple Computer was just a niche PC maker with overpriced computers with very little market share ( IMAC still has very little market share). Their main business now is phones, I-pads, and watches- not PC's.

    But who knew Forrest would be right? Or the Simpsons' show having a show in 2000 with Donald Trump as president.

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  10. Good morning! I never know what to expect for a Thursday puzzle, but this one earned 2 thumbs up!! Thanks, Jerry. My only WO was eve to NYE given to me by YEN. Perps were working for SEAN, PITT, NAIF.
    My first introduction to ESAI Morales was in Hill Street Blues, but it was memorable! He's gone on to other movies, etc. that I haven't seen.
    Thanks, Bill for the review and links. Read your recipe & it sounds delish, but more quantity than I could eat in a month! Some recipes can be halved, some not so much such a baked goods: (half an egg LOL.) Well, I actually did it once - stirred it up & got the tablespoon out. Used the other half in my breakfast burrito!

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  11. Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Jerry, and waseeley and Teri. (It took a while, but I smiled when I finally parsed ABASE and ANACID.)
    I FIRed in good time, and saw the CSO theme.
    Plenty of names today, but perps were fair. We haven’t seen OREL in CWs for a while.

    Hand up for Eve before NYE (I am familiar with that abbreviation, and the Dec. in the clue did call for an abbreviation.)
    OTOH, is AWOL not an abbreviation? “Missing” clue does not call for one IMHO.
    I changed Tugs to ARKS.
    Another hand up for having Ante before OPENS.
    I learned NAÏF here in previous CWs.

    ABASE (LOWERS) today and not Abash. ABASE is totally humiliating, while Abash is merely embarrassing. A matter of degrees.
    I noted PABST, BEER, and ALES.
    We had TEAR and PARE, OSHA and OSSA. SPADE and SADE, NYE crossing YEN.
    SING beside BLUES was interesting too.

    The Finnish pronunciation of SAUNA is distinct. (Like Sowna not Sawna)

    Wishing you all a great day.

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  12. Delightful CW and delightful narrative. A great way to start the day. Several unknowns, but perps saved the day.

    I too first saw ESAI Morales in Hill Street Blues.

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  13. This seemed to be a pretty smooth filling Thursday - the fill for the themes was pretty straighforward which opened up a lot of the puzzle.

    I have only seen NYE for New Year's Eve in the past few years - probably because of textspeak shortening everything down to a few letters.
    My dad like Pabst and Schlitz- both Milwaukee based brewers. Amusing when Pabst became a favorite again recently for hipsters (of course abbreviated to PBRs)

    I like the word NAIF but don't see it often.

    Thanks Bill & Teri for the fun blog and Jerry for the puzzle

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  14. RosE @9:36 AM "The Pine Nuts and Corn" recipe could easily be halved or even quartered. We tend to make large quantities and freeze the leftovers for quick future meals.

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  15. FIR I solved bottom to top. I didn't get the theme until waseeley mentioned homophones. Duh! The theme was in the clues, not in the fill.
    There were so many names today, some known, some perped and wagged. Even when they are easy to get, having so many of them spoils the fun.
    Only NYE gave me pause. It fit the perps so well, but was new to me. I realized I needed an abbreviation and finally saw New Years Eve.
    IMO, UGGS,ugh! A floaty dress with combat boots is even more UGH worthy.
    The only C I had on my college GPA was for my non mandatory piano lessons. I have no ear and, besides, sometimes I skipped practice to play bridge with my fiancé. I had C's on a few tests. On one test most of the class stole the questions ahead of time. Naive me didn't and the test was graded on a curve.
    No nit with OSHA, a matter of semantics. The clue can be loosely interpreted.
    I like the word NAIF. NAIVE is a more common synonym for the adjective. NAIF works well for the noun, although it is an adjective, too.
    Here they make scampi with little or no garlic. Sacrilege! I spike my serving with garlic powder.
    I'm a big Bette Davis fan. I have watched many reruns of her old movies.
    I'm also a Rita Moreno fan.

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  16. I enjoyed the dual clue for Rita. Seems like this was more common in years past. Gives one a better chance of having heard of at least one of them! -Charlie Echo.

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  17. A "sea(s)", ("seize", "sees") change from yesterday....very Saturday-like. But eventually FIR

    Inkovers: eve/NYE, Skye/IONe/IONA, noway/NOTSO, ork/ORC,....(and last but not least, for " the heady stuff made in Milwaukee" I put Weed first 🤭 (is that a weed leaf on the PABST SEAL??)

    That SLED looks more like a killer sleigh
    ARKS, plural? Was here more than one? 😲.

    Etta James song about the Titan with the heavy load 😆

    NAÏF if your a gullible sort of guy (NAÏVE if a girl)...the dots mean the Ï is pronounced separately. "HELLBOY" woulda been RAN if one OPENS with Antes.

    Does BALI make "the Bro" or the "ManzIere?" 😁

    Waited for UGGS to perp STAG not buck
    "Barrel of laughs"....🐒🐒🐒 wouldn't fit.

    Makes....URNS
    At each point of the diamond....ABASE
    The debate was not about me but....ISSUE
    BEER, good fer what ____ yah...ALES

    A CW's difficulty level can be judged by how many alphabet runs I not so silently recite...with this one felt like I was back in Kindergarten

    🔤🔠

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  18. FIR today with a few WOs due to first thoughts not working out: evE/NYE (new to me), ActS/ASKS, anteS/OPENS (Hi, unclefred and C Eh), enyE/SADE (know tunes better than the artists) and last but not least haiR/BEER (forgot it linked to PABST!) I was surprised how many other first thoughts were right, on a Thursday and how many filled by perps that I only noticed while proofreading. Thanks, Jerry!

    Thanks waseeley and Teri for the complete review explaining the puzzle. I had noticed the theme by myself and appreciated its cleverness. As IM said, it's been a while since we've solved this type.

    Enjoy your day, everyone!

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  19. NAIF is masculine in French, but in English it refers to either gender.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I was going to make the same comment.

      Delete
  20. BTW, Waseely, I liked that Putin joke.

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  21. Musings
    -Those Ziplock SEALS beat the heck out of the waxed paper of my yute
    -Like Sunday’s puzzle, the gimmick was in the clues and was even more obvious
    -I stayed too long in the YMCA’s SAUNA and nearly fainted when I emerged
    -ISSUE – “Don’t mistake this for a debate!”
    -An Atlanta firefighter had to let her hair grow to cover her neck TAT which was against regs
    -My first heist obstacle for _ _ A R _ was GUARD
    -If OSHA had been around 50 years ago, I would not be wearing hearing aids
    -Possible burial URNS for me

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  22. Yikes! I counted 11 names Jerry used for clue answers…IMO that’s too many.

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  23. Somewhat easy for a Thursday but still interesting and fun. I didn’t know all the names, but the perps were kind. Thanks, Jerry.

    Bill (and Teri) gave us one of the best EVER (IMHO) tours. I got sidetracked many times, delving into the exceptionally interesting explanations of clues and answers. Learned more about mythology; loved listening to Les Paul and Mary Ford and watching his amazing “picking”; shared the scampi recipe with Jack, and he’s making it tonight!; learned the correct pronounciation of “naif”; I want to re-watch Forrest Gump after viewing the wonderful clips; etc., etc. It was as much fun as doing the puzzle.

    We’re enjoying the sunshine after many days of rain. Hopefully, our long drought is easing, although at terrible cost for folks in No. Cal.

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  24. Hi Y'all! Thanks, Jerry, for a fine puzzle which filling took two minutes less than yesterday's & 4 minutes more than Monday. Good week for cw puzzle fills even with lot I didn't know.

    Thanks, Bill & Teri.

    Theme? There was a theme? Ya gotta be kidding. Thanks for letting us know, Bill.

    I'm so naive, I never heard of NAIF before. Tried a "v" then WAGd "f".

    Raining, icy & nasty last night & this morning. Didn't even try to haul my almost-full trash can down the hill. Trash collectors looked glazed over this morning and didn't need mine. Drier right now. Supposed to be snow on Sat. Think I'm in hiberbation for the duration. Glad my grocery order (or most of it) came Tuesday.

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  25. Puzzling thoughts:

    A fun puzzle indeed with a fact-filled recap. Thanks, Jerry, Teri, and Bill

    I will take a CSO to 37-down "Pitt"; matriculated there in 1970 and graduated in 1974. While there, I saw a very MEDIOCRE football team until my senior year. The hiring of Johnny Majors (football) paid huge dividends, as the 1976 team went undefeated, and was named "National Champion". PITT was an independent team back then (no conference affiliation). They joined the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2013, and won the Conference Championship Title in 2021. Hail to Pitt!!

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  26. YR, I loved "besides, sometimes I skipped practice to play bridge with my fiancé." When I was in college we called it "doing some research in the library." BTW, I normally don't approve of capital punishment, but reading of someone who offers garlic-free scampi makes me reconsider. (Same for spaghetti puttenesca without anchovies, at least give me the option.)

    HG - The USN also had a requirement that tats had to be covered by the uniform, but they have relaxed the rule. Still no hand tats, though.

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  27. I immediately inked SCAMPI but couldn't make it work until I grok'ed MEDIOCRE.

    Henry Hill outed BC basketball players for shaving points. Many FBI are BC alum
    I believe OREL is in the hof

    I later inked antes/OPENS as did everybody I see

    "Donna" is the anthem of 50s RnR

    WC


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  28. Hi All!

    FIW - I had ORSA xing RIAN (LORiAL was misspelled too).

    Thanks Jerry for they homophonic puzzle - fun (except for all the names!)

    Thanks waseeley for the might-fine link-laden review. Your recipe looks Keto-friendly (DW's doing that) - I'll give it a try.

    WOs: N/A
    ESPs: ELLIE, ESAI, RON, BALI, TESS, BETTE (that's how she spelt Betty?) | RITAS, and NYE (why not Clued as Science guy Bill?)
    Fav: ARCADE - much misspent youth & quarters

    Waseeley - I got a few C's in college and even sucked-up an F (I didn't drop the class 'cuz I was afraid of losing financial-aid). I still graduated with a 3.3 (in EE!)

    D-O: Leave the instructions, "Don't forget to burp me" and you'd have come full-circle :-)

    Back to work, Cheers, -T

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  29. Delightful Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Jerry. And I always enjoy your and Teri's commentary, Bill, thanks for that too.

    Well, as soon as I saw PABST I looked forward to some good drinking, but what we got would hardly serve a STAG party, with just BEER and ALES and a little TEA for dessert. At least we could order some SCAMPI from the DELI--that wouldn't be bad. And if we could then get some folks to SING the BLUES, that would make for at least a MEDIOCRE party. I could handle that for a Thursday.

    Have a good one, everybody.

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  30. AnonT:
    That was my thought, too, for NYE. Science guy would have been a neat clue.

    it's been a couple of weeks since I bought my Nissan Altima but the check (which I got from insurance) had not been cashed. Today I found out why. They sent it to the wrong bank! Still, I was requested a cashier's check. It's a wonder they are in business!!!

    But I love my car!

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  31. You're right WC. I thought he was too, but the article I found on Hershiser downplayed his less than stellar performance in later years and seemed to indicate that he was still just a candidate. The article must have been pre-2018.

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  32. -T @2:36 PM One semester I stopped going to classes midterm and got all F's because I hadn't withdrawn from them. When I transferred to a new school to complete my BA they didn't average them in with my new courses and I ended up with a 3.2. Whew! I finally got that have my chest. The things we relate in Corner Confession!

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  33. I got a D! In Theology. As a freshman several of us made a deal to switch out of Math for Econ and take a D.

    Calculus required work

    WC

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  34. I had difficulty solving the YEN, NYE, ETA, IONA, SEPTET, PITT area. I had -APT--- BY F---- and tried BAPTISM BY FIRE, but it neither fit in the space nor related to the clue. RIOT and OSSA straightened it out.

    Yep, lotsa names. Trivia.

    Good wishes to you all.

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  35. I have gotten D's and F's in college, all of them because I got bored and quit doing the work.

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  36. Sometimes clues and answers can trigger vivid memories. Pabst [5A] beer was my grandfather's favorite. When we were little boys, he'd give my brother and me sips (no more than two!). It didn't go over well with my grandmother much to our delight!
    I painted the high cathedral ceiling of our first home when Sade's "Smooth Operator" [67A] was a hit. It was difficult to keep my balance on a very tall step ladder, paint roller in hand, and moving my swaying hips to the beat.

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  37. FIR. Nothing to "see" here.
    I liked your title, waseeley!
    The baggage area at HNL smells lovely, due to all the aloha LEIs.

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  38. Surprise! Surprise! I actually got an FIR today! I didn’t really need that much Wite-Out either. I must admit, however, that my last fill was a complete (well, maybe educated) WAG. I knew neither SEAN nor OSSA, so the S ended up being my best guess.

    I couldn’t figure out the theme.

    I always like listening to Les Paul and Mary Ford --- back in the good old days.

    My first beer was a Pabst. I forget what I drank in between that first one and when I moved to Denver and started drinking Rocky Mountain Spring Water (Coors and then Coors Light). I always said that if I could find a non-alcoholic beer that I liked, I’d switch. Pabst made one, and I liked it, and it was the cheapest NA to boot. Back at the turn of the century (this one!), though, I quit altogether.

    Jinx, I didn’t realize the Oklahoma/Texas rivalry was as strong as it is, until I moved to San Antonio. I remember being surprised when that same boss said he would be rooting against tu (that’s not a typo) in the first bowl game after I got here. Didn’t take me long to understand why. I could write volumes. Actually, though, I did have to root for their baseball team for a couple of years, because the kid who used to cut my grass in El Paso actually went there on a baseball scholarship.

    Thanks, Teri and Bill and Jerry!

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  39. LEOIII/Jinx. The OU (Boomer Sooner!)-Texas rival is so strong, UT calls it Texas-OU.
    //In Norman, it was OU/Texas weekend. Friday (pre-game) and Monday (post) classes were canceled (if OU won).

    Old Boss-Man at my last gig...
    He hired me 'cuz a) I was good b) an CS MS OU grad c) his Mom & DW taught together at OKCC [Oklahoma City Community College - DW taught Lit there while doing PhD at OU], was, jokingly(?), mad as hell that I hired a UT grad (hey, the kid was good!).

    Boss-man and my new hire took OU-Texas-OU very seriously and would bet on the game.
    Each would have to wear their school's neck-tie Monday after the game. Winner's school would get to scissor-cut the other's tie off at the knot in front of God and everyone.

    Fun times at the consultancy :-)

    Cheers, -T

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