google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, February 14, Lynn Lempel

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Feb 14, 2023

Tuesday, February 14, Lynn Lempel

I get by with a little Help from my Friends!  The first word of each theme answer is the surname of a singer or actor and the second word provides "support" for the celebrity.  Note that the first and last theme answers are males and the middle two names are females; and the first two are musicians, and the last two are actors.

For those who don't like seeing names in puzzles, here's your due warning that this puzzle might not be for you, since the theme itself is all 22-Down.

17-Across. Support group for singer-songwriter Neil?: YOUNG PEOPLE.  [Name # 1.]  In addition to a solo career, Neil YOUNG  (né Neil Percival Young; b. Nov. 12, 1945) has been associated with the band Buffalo Springfield and on and off with Crosby, Stills & Nash, making the later to be sometimes known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.  Sadly, his sometimes bandmate, David Crosby (né David Van Cortlandt Cosby; Aug. 14, 1941 ~ Jan. 18, 2023) died last month.

David Crosby (left) and Neil Young


28-Across. Support group for singer-songwriter Ruthie?: FOSTER FAMILY.  Ruthie FOSTER (née Ruthie Cecelia Foster; b. Feb. 10, 1964) is known for her blues, gospel, and folk music.  Her birthday was last Friday.  [Name # 2.]

49-Across. Support group for actress Glenn?: CLOSE FRIENDS.  Glenn CLOSE (née Glenda Veronica Close; b. Mar. 19, 1947) has been in numerous movies, but I mostly associate her with the 1987 movie, Fatal Attraction.  [Name # 3.]

65-Across. Support group for actor Jude?: LAW PARTNERS.  Jude LAW (né David Jude Heyworth Law; b. Dec. 29, 1972) has also been in numerous movies as well as television series, including The Young Pope and The New Pope.  [Name # 4.]

And here is a bonus "hint" to today's puzzle:

22-Down. First entry on many a form: NAME.

Across:
1. So last year: PASSÉ.

6. Home on the "I" page of many ABC books: IGLOO.  This clue threw me for a moment, until most of the letters were filled in by the perps.


11. Beer cask: KEG.  //  And 18-Down. Places with cold drafts: PUBS.  The latter is a nice misdirection.

14. Communion site: ALTAR.  Also the site of many weddings.


15. __ of salt: GRAIN.


16. Nest egg acronym: IRA.  As in an Individual Retirement Account.

19. Pen tip: NIB.


20. Mailed: SENT OUT.

21. Burns a bit: SINGES.

23. Reggae-like genre: SKA.  Everything you wanted to know about Ska, but didn't know to ask.

24. One who tweets a lot: BIRD.


27. Beaver creation: DAM.


33. Scatter, as seeds: STREW.

36. Route word: VIA.

37. LGBT rights activist Windsor: EDIE.  Edie Windsor (née Edith Schlain; June 20, 1929 ~ Sept. 12, 2017) was the lead plaintiff in the 2019 Supreme Court case of United States v. Windsor, which held that      Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional and that the federal government could not discriminate against married gay couples for the purpose of determining federal benefits and protections. [Name # 5.]

38. Shepherd's __: PIE.  Yummers!


39. Writing tablet: NOTE PAD.

43. Every bit of: ALL.

44. Fashion designer Schiaparelli: ELSA.  Elsa Shaiaparelli (née Elsa Luisa Maria Schiaparelli; Sept. 10, 1890 ~ Nov. 13, 1973) was a contemporary of Coco Chanel (née Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel; Aug. 19, 1883 ~ Jan. 10, 1971).  Her designs were avant garde and she collaborated with artists such as Salvador Dalí (May 11, 1904 ~ 1989). [Name # 6.]


46. In favor of: FOR.

47. Greek fable writer: ÆSOP.  He appeared in last Tuesday's puzzle, too.  [Name # 7.]

53. Veto: NIX.

54. Emperor during the Great Fire of Rome: NERO.  Nero probably didn't fiddle while Rome burned.   [Name # 8.]


55. Slangy "How's things?": 'SUP.


58. Balanced state: STASIS.

61. Revolts: RISES UP.

64. Coif flattener: HAT.

68. Most of a snow cone: ICE.


69. Make official, as a statute: ENACT.

70. Estate units: ACRES.


71. Sci-fi escape vehicle: POD.  So that's what that thing is in front of my neighbor's house.

not my actual neighbor.

72. Sealy rival: SERTA.  Both are mattress companies.

73. Under attack from all sides: BESET.




Down:
1. Foots the bill: PAYS.

2. Medicinal houseplants: ALOES.  This has become a Tuesday staple.  Aloe has appeared in the last 3 Tuesday puzzles.


3. Did horribly: STUNK.

4. New Mexico's capital: SANTA FE.  Anyone here from New Mexico?



5. "So, logically ... ": ERGO.

6. "No need to elaborate": I GET IT.  I first tried I Got It.

7. Miracle-__: gardening brand: GRO.


8. Spot for a napkin: LAP.

9. Cooking liquids that may be herb-infused: OILS.


10. Lake near Syracuse, New York: ONEIDA.  //  And 12-Down. Lake near Buffalo, New York: ERIE.  The latter is one of the Great Lakes.  The former is the largest lake that is entirely within the State of New York.


11. Ruler with a golden touch: KING MIDAS.  King Midas is a Greek mythological character.   [Name # 9.]

13. Chews the fat: GABS.

25. Daydream: REVERIE.

26. Slow leak: DRIP.


29. Part of MYOB and BYOB: OWN.  Mind Your OWN Business and Bring Your OWN Booze.

30. Safe skies agcy.: FAA.  As in the Federal Aviation Administration.



31. Disney's "__ & Stitch": LILO.  This was a 2002 animated film.  [Name adjacent.]

32. Kennel cry: YELP.

33. On __: without a contract: SPEC.

34. Cash register: TILL.


35. Struck a chord: RESONATED.

40. Not quite right: OFF.

41. Of two minds: TORN.

42. Father: DAD.

45. Tag sale caveat: AS IS.

48. Basic quality: ESSENCE.

50. Banishes: EXILES.


51. List of editorial goofs: ERRATA.  Today's Latin lesson.  This is the plural of Erratum, which is just one mistake.

52. Pinot __: red wine choice: NOIR.  Everything you wanted to know about Pinot Noir, but didn't know to ask.

56. Patrons: USERS.

57. Blender setting for making baby food: PURÉE.


58. Carnival vessel: SHIP.  Kathy Lee Gifford used to be the spokeswoman for the Carnival ship line.


59. Tex-Mex order: TACO.


60. Rational: SANE.

62. Dueler's injury: STAB.  Some famous sword fights.


63. Soft summons: PSST.

66. Realm of Ares and Mars: WAR.  Ares is the god of war and Mars is the Roman counterpart.  [Name adjacent]

67. Fractional amt.: PCT.  As in Percent, although our friends on the West Coast might think of the Pacific Crest Trail, which is a hiking trail. 

Here's the Grid:


חתולה


Happy Valentine's Day!


29 comments:

Subgenius said...

The only “performer “ I was unfamiliar with was Ruthie Foster, but her name was easily perped. The theme was clear from the start and, as there were no weird Hawaiian terms in this puzzle, I actually found it easier than yesterday’s. FIR, so I’m happy.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

This was a walk in the park compared to yesterday, and also five minutes faster. Saw the CSO to OKL at SANTA FE. That TILL photo looks like the one I operated in the drugstore of my ute. Morphing EXpelS to EXILES was my sole Wite-Out moment. Thanx for the outing, Lynn, and for the well-illustrated expo, Hahtoolah. (Methinks Ruthie's birthday was last week -- the perils of solving in advance.)

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Lynn is a seasoned pro and this delightful offering is a fine example of her talents. The theme is not complicated nor difficult to glean, but is it ever solidly tight! Celebrity + Support Group = Word Play at its best. Plus, as Hahtoolah pointed our, two singers and two actors, two females and two males, and all symmetrically placed. The names didn’t bother me, especially the theme names, as the only unknowns were Foster and Edie, as clued. Actually, nothing bothered me as my solve was as smooth as silk and as enjoyable as could be. I tripped a little with Scar/Stab and Pulse/Purée but both were quickly corrected by perps.

Thanks, Lynn, for a lovely Valentine and thanks, Hahtoolah, for your Valentine filled with fun, facts, and chuckles. Favorite cartoons today were the Talking Taco, the Snow Man/Cones, Nero, and the grand finale Fish Bowl.

FLN

I was unable to comment yesterday, but I agree that the puzzle was not a typical Monday level challenge. I believe that if the straightforward cluing had been amped up a little, it could have been in Wednesday/Thursday territory. I did like the theme, though.

Happy Valentine’s Day! 💞

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR without erasure. Hand up for not knowing FOSTER or ELSA, but I'm finally learning LILO. I'll bet Patti would reject "funny drunk _____ Brooks" for FOSTER - beyond her sphere of knowledge. "Creator of My Old Kentucky Home Steven _______," too.

I got stuck thinking that SHIP would have been caravel. Ha2La's example set my mind free.

"Patrons" for USERS was OK, like library USERS / patrons. But I think that patrons are far more often customers.

My former neighbors were very nice until they weren't. The husband became a good buddy and co-owner/skipper of my last racing sailboat. One day he came home from work to find a PODs container in front of his house. His wife had spent the day putting all of his belongings in it. After the divorce, he married a wonderful woman who loves sailing and racing as much as he and I do. (She also heads the art therapy department of a local hospital, but what she does on her own time is her business.)

I can't fill EXILE(S) without thinking of the classic album by the Stones, Exile on Main Street.

Thanks to Lynn for the fun romp, and to Ha2la for the illuminating tour.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

I meant to add that my friend's now-wife (and true soulmate) was taught to sail as a wee lass by her grandmother.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Crossword friends. Happy Valentine's Day!

QOD: When you love someone, you love the whole person as he or she is, and not as you would like them to be. ~ Leo Tolstoy (Sept. 9, 1828 ~ Nov. 20, 1910), Russian novelist

Anonymous said...

Took 4:28 today for me to put the celebrity together with his/her posse.

Much easier than yesterday's puzzle, which reminded me of my mother's admonition, "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

Unknowns today were Foster, Edie (Brickell anyone?), and Elsa (Frozen anyone?).

This was a very good Tuesday puzzle, although I was expecting a valentine's day theme.

Lucina said...

Hola!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I sailed through this puzzle very quickly. Thank you, Lynn Lempel and Susan.

CSO to my niece E(y)die.

It's always baffled me how an IGLOO can be a comfortable home.

Isn't it OWEN who is from SANTA FE?

I like how this puzzle was filled with PEOPLE, FAMILY, FRIENDS and even PARTNERS. Well done, Lynn.

My ALOES plants are nearly bursting out of their pots. I'd like to repot them but they are just too big and have some prickly thorns. I don't water them but we have just enough rain to keep them alive.

It's really early so I'm going back to bed. Have a spectacular VALENTINE'S Day, everyone!

inanehiker said...

Breezy, easy puzzle today - nice as I have out of town company as well as heading off to work!
I thought it felt Valentine's adjacent - since its all about people who support you in your life and love you unconditionally!

Thanks Susan and Lynn for a lovely start to the day!

KS said...

FIR. Compared to yesterday's puzzle, this one is day appropriate. I know proper names were in the theme, which I got early, but too many other names were added to the puzzle making the perps vital to my solve.

Wilbur Charles said...

Smooth, Monday-level xword

No problems. Thanks for the entertaining(as always) write-up hahtoolah

WC

ATLGranny said...

FIR today again, but with a few more WOs than yesterday, caused by entering fill before looking at perps. Sometimes first thoughts aren't right, (Odd/OFF, I'm looking at you!)

But I got the themers easy enough and appreciated their consistency. Thanks, Lynn, for puzzling our CC community.

Thanks, Hahtoolah, for your clever review, smile worthy as usual.

Hope everyone has a special Valentine's Day!

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

(Third time the charm?)

Except for some outliers a fair Tuesday with a gettable theme...

Almost put a dash "of salt" (pinch would work too). .."Carnival vessel" : Mardi Gras parade floats must me SHIPs? (Oh, the cruise line, I even took one years ago.)

🎼"Greeeeen ACRES is the place for me!"🎵

"Lake nearest (actually right in the city of) Syracuse" is Onondaga Lake: at one time considered the most polluted lake in the the USA.... Syracuse is about 1/2 hr drive from Oneida Lake's south shore. We are about the same distance from the eastern shore (Sylvan Beach and Verona Beach State Park).

I thought English pubs sold room temperature drafts. 🍺🍺 ....It's only Tuesday, why not Stephen Foster? Edie Falco?

SANTA FE should have been clued as an abbrev. The full name is La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís ('The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi) 😇.

We brothers will miss you so please_____... STASIS
Glen thought she had CLOSEFRIENDS but it was all just _____... ENACT.
Nice bunch of cowboys...PASSÉ

NYS lifted the hospital mask mandate yesterday but we still have too many Covid cases, and opted to continue for a few more weeks..😷.

Happy St. Valentine's Day to all 💗


Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning. Happy Valentine's Day.

Thanks, Lynn, for some early week fun. I didn't mine the names--Duh, I guess because I knew them! I struggle more with some of the currently popular musicians. My car radio is tunned to our classical station to counteract the crazy Indy 500 driving that developed during the pandemic when the roads were empty. I liked the theme once I figured it out at CLOSE FRIENDS.

Thank you, Hahtoolah, for such Valentine's Day fun. I laughed out loud at the fishbowl.

Have a sunny day. I hope there's also some chocolate involved.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Very welcome "Rain In The Plains" today!
-The school where I sub just underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation where they put in some very high-tech windows to eliminate cold drafts
-Yesterday a GRAIN of sand and today salt
-My HAT serves as a coif hider when I don’t feel like tending to it
-My former student/florist will be BESET by men wanting last minute roses today
-The penalty at the end of the Super Bowl – You either loved it, thought it STUNK (or didn’t care!)
-MYOB was frequent advice from Ann Landers
-A YELP might come from a WHELP
-Going on a Carnival SHIP these days doesn’t seem to be a SANE idea
-Fun write-up as always, Susan!

RosE said...

Good Morning! I enjoyed today's puzzle. Thanks, Lynn. Picked up on the theme right off but DNK Ruthie. I would have gone with David Foster as music related, or to upset the balance, Actor/Actress, Jodi for the clue.
Jumped on the O in IGLOO and started to fill with Ontario before I ran out of boxes. Too hasty!
ELSA and EDIE were perp fills.
My grandfather had a till in his store, and I remember opening the cash drawer to make the bell ring. Fun memory~
Thanks, Ha2lah for your fun-filled review.

Big Easy said...

Happy Valentine's Day. The theme was sticking out at YOUNG PEOPLE and it made an easy puzzle easier to guess, making many downs fills even easier. Ruth FOSTER was unknown; Steven or Jody would be a better clue for a Tuesday.

PUBS do NOT serve cold drafts. BARS do but PUBS don't. They draw draughts from a KEG lukewarm. Nothing like a warm one. Ugh.

SERTA, SEALY, SIMMONS- It's an S thing. I've got a Tempur-Pedic. There are too many options these days and it's hard to decide which type you want at a Mattress store. And mattresses are always "On Sale" except when you need one.

'Dueler's injury'- SCAR or SCAB before STAB which doesn't sound right

desper-otto said...

B-E, in Houston "Mattress Mack" sells Tempur-Pedic. He boasts that if you spend more than $3K on a mattress and the Astros win the World Series again next year, your mattress will be free. Too rich for my blood.

Monkey said...

When i saw all the cute little cartoons I knew it had to be Tuesday, Hahtoolah day.

What a lovely friendly puzzle this morning. One erasure expels for EXILES.

So old fashioned to think NOTE PAD when referring to a tablet. My only head scratcher is IGLOO. Perps helped there.

Happy Valentine day to all.

CanadianEh! said...

Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Lynn and Hahtoolah.
Well, this CW must have gotten its date switched with yesterday’s.
I breezed through and saw the names and their support groups (Love your musical title choice, Hahtoolah).
Finished quickly but came here to discover I FIWed with a silly mistake. This Canadian saw SANTA but entered NA thinking of Santa Ana, missed that I needed another A, didn’t know if it was Straw or Strow . . . SANTA FE (STREW) now makes sense. That’s my ERRATA for the day.

Our grain was SALT not sand today (hi HG), and we had GABS not Yak?
I waited for perps to decide between Pro or FOR, my mail was SENT Off before OUT, but I needed OFF later.
I had the AR and needed an alphabet run to W for the Aha with WAR.
Expels changed to EXILES with perps. (Hi d’o)

CSO to Tinbeni with ICE.
I thought Ray-o might claim ONEIDA and/or ERIE. I’m between ERIE and Ontario, but although north of the border I don’t need an IGLOO in this part of Ontario RosE).

Wishing you all a Happy Valentines Day.

Misty said...

Delightful Tuesday puzzle, Lynn--many thanks. And your commentary is always a treat, Hahtoolah, thank you for that too.

Nice to see that the YOUNG PEOPLE in this puzzle might become members of a FOSTER FAMILY, and no longer have to worry about being BESET by USERS but can live with a family of CLOSE FRIENDS, including a caring DAD. In winter they can make IGLOOS on the ACRES around the house, and have a BIRD for a pet, and write on NOTE PADS and learn how to cook a PIE and how to paint with OILS. But they'll have to wait until they're a bit older before they can visit PUBS. And it'll take a bit of time before they might be ready to go to the ALTAR and start their own family. But they're happy and that's great.

Have a good day, everybody.

Big Easy said...

d-otto, I've yet to find the "perfect" mattress. Soft ones, hard ones, pillow tops, water beds, inflatable, a sofa sleeper, sleeping on the couch, and even another S one- Select Comfort, that each person can inflate to their own specs.

I've experienced (not bought) all of the above. The Select Comfort at the hotel in Sedona kept losing air. The inflatable ones came in handy after hurricane Ida last year when we had 11 people staying for over 8 days. We have a Generac and most importantly, air conditioning.

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

FIR with no w/o's

From what I recall of doing Lynn Lempel puzzles, they are usually quite fair and tight; today's was all of that

Thanks Susan for the fun recap

HVD to all, and celebrate in style!!

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

C Moe...HVD? There a shot for that now
🤭

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle, which I felt was perfect for a Tuesday. Hand up for first entering SCAR, which I changed to SCAB and then to STAB.

Lucina said...

It's raining here off and on. It's such a rare event that sometimes windshield wipers rot from one rainy day to another. I haven't even tried mine but they should be in good form.

Hahtoolah, I forgot to tell you how much I enjoyed your choice of cartoons. You always seem to find the most appropriate ones.

Malodorous Manatee said...

I loved the slugs and the beaver! Thanks, Cat.

sumdaze said...

Thanks Lynn for your enjoyable puzzle and thanks, Hahtoolah, for your terrific write-up! I especially liked your link to the duels and the fishbowl cartoon.

TTP said...


Thank you, Lunn, and thank you Hahtoolah. Hand up for got before GET. I liked the POD cartoon the best.