google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, August 15, 2023 Zachary David Levy

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Aug 15, 2023

Tuesday, August 15, 2023 Zachary David Levy

My Treat.  I'll PAY the BILL.  Give me the CHECK and put it on my TAB, then you can CHARGE my card.

17-Across. Wild West stage name of William Cody: BUFFALO BILL.  Buffalo Bill (né William Frederick Cody; Feb. 26, 1846 ~ Jan. 10, 1917) was a soldier, bison hunter, and showman.  At age 15, he became a Pony Express rider.  In 1883, he founded his famous Buffalo Bill's Wild West, a touring company that traveled through out the United States and Europe putting on shows that romanticized the American West.  [Name #1.]

29-Across. Word processor error finder: SPELL CHECK.  I had a boss named Darryl.  I had to be careful when I sent him emails, because spell check always wanted to change his name to Diarrhea.

43-Across. Something opened while on Safari?: BROWSER TAB.
It's been discontinued.

59. Underwater explosive: DEPTH CHARGE.



And the unifier:

34-Across. Vow made while shaking one's fist or when referring to the ends of 17-, 29-, 43-, and 59-Across?: YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS.  You may need Anger Management, you Angry bird.

Across:
1. Language also known as Persian: FARSI.  Farsi is the official language of Iran. It is also spoken in parts of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates.  It is written in the Arabic alphabet.

6. "In memory of ... " poem, e.g.: ELEGY.  Elegy or Eulogy?

11. Past the "sell by" date, perhaps: BAD.  But is it still safe to eat?


14. __-proof: easy to operate: IDIOT.

15. Double agents: MOLES.
16. Sporty truck, briefly: UTE.  UTE is short for Utility Vehicle.

19. Stubbing victim: TOE.


20. Early residents: SETTLERS.

21. Inclined walkway: RAMP.

22. __ fide: BONA.

23. South Pacific island region: OCEANIA.  There are 14 countries in Oceania.


26. "Les Misérables" novelist Victor: HUGO.  Victor-Marie Hugo (Feb. 26, 1802 ~ May 22, 1885) wrote many books in addition to Les Misérables.  I had to read Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame when I was in High [Name # 2.]

Victor Hugo

31. "The Shipping News" novelist Proulx: ANNIE.  Annie Proulx (née Edna Ann Proulx; b. Aug. 22, 1935) will celebrate her 88th birthday next Tuesday.  She also wrote Brokeback Mountain, which was made into a movie.   [Name # 3.]


33. Earth goddess: GAIA.  It's Greek to me.  [Name # 4.]


41. "You crack __!": ME UP.


42. Birthing coach: DOULA.  Today's Greek lesson.  The word originally referred to a female slave, however.

49. With skill: ABLY.

50. __ Stone: software for language learners: ROSETTA.  The original Egyptian Rosetta Stone was found in July 1799.  The original stone is now housed in the British Museum in London.


51. Shortening: LARD.

53. Enclosed by: AMID.

54. TV 64-Across from the planet Remulak (or France): CONE HEAD.  //  And 64-Across Extraterrestrial: ALIEN.  A blast from the past!


58. __ for the course: PAR.  //  Not to be confused with 61-Down:  Each: PER.

62. Singer DiFranco: ANI.  Fall 2023 dates for Ani DiFranco's (née Angela Maria DiFranco; b. Sept. 23, 1970) Righteous Babe consort tour.  [Name # 5.]


63. "Carmen" or "Elektra": OPERA.  Have I ever mentioned that Carmen is one of my favorite operas?


65. Spanish two: DOS.  Hi, Lucina!

66. British nobles: EARLS.


67. Consecrate: BLESS.  I misread this clue as Concrete, so confidently wrote in SOLID.

Down:
1. Little lies: FIBS.

2. Together, in music: A DUE.  Today's French and music lesson.  We have occasionally seen this phrase in the puzzles.

3. Break in relations: RIFT.

Great Rift Valley

4. Cook for three minutes, as an egg: SOFT BOIL.

5. Writer Calvino: ITALO.  I am familiar with the name of Italo Calvino (né Italo Giovanni Calvino Mameli; Oct. 15, 1923 ~ Sept. 19, 1985), but have never read any of his works.   [Name # 6.]


6. Genre for Lil Uzi Vert: EMO RAP.  Emo Rap is a fusion of Hip Hop and Emo music.  Lil Uzi Vert (né Semer Bysil Woods; b. July 31, 1995) is probably not a household name to most of us.  [Name # 7.]


7. Tosses gently: LOBS.

8. One of the "Manningcast" brothers: ELI.  Manningcast is a football broadcast hosted by the two Manning brothers ~ Payton (né Payton Williams Manning; b. Mar. 24, 1976) and Eli (né Elisha Nelson Manning; Jan. 3, 1981).  The Manning brothers were both born in New Orleans.  [Name # 8.]


9. Hair goo: GEL.


10. Couture initials: YSL.  Yves Saint Laurent (né Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent; Aug. 1, 1936 ~ June 1, 2008) makes frequent appearances in the puzzles.  [Name # 9.]


11. Lighter filler: BUTANE.

12. Super hot, as wing sauce: ATOMIC.

13. New Age writer Chopra: DEEPAK.  Deepak Chopra (b. Oct. 22, 1946) is an Indian-American author and advocate of alternative medicine.  [Name # 9.]


18. Telescope part: LENS.
21. "Go team!": RAH.

23. "Frozen" snowman: OLAF.  [Name # 10.]

24. Advertising award: CLIO.  The Clio Awards are named after the Greek goddess Clio, the mythological muse known for celebrating great deeds and accomplishments.  [Name # 11.]


25. Stampless greeting: E-CARD.

26. Foal food: HAY.

27. Spanish one: UNO.  Also the name of a card game.


28. Wildebeest: GNU.  What's gnu with you?


30. Land of pharaohs and pyramids: EGYPT.  //  And 45-Down. God of the dead, in ancient 30-Down: OSIRIS.  Everything you wanted to know about Osiris but didn't know to ask.  [Name # 12.]


32. Horror film loc.: ELM ST.

35. Amanda of "Brockmire": PEET.  Brockmire is a sit-com about Jim Brockmire major league baseball announcer who suffers an embarrassing on-air meltdown, then tries to reconstruct his career several years later.  I am not familiar with the show, but am familiar with the actress Amanda Peet (b. Jan. 11, 1972)[Name # 13.]


36. Mystical glow: AURA.

37. "The Wind in the Willows" residence: TOAD HALL.  The Wind in the Willows is a children's book that was first published in 1908.  I wonder if children still read this book or whether it seems too antiquated.


38. Center: HUB.  In case you are wondering, Boston, Massachusetts is the Hub of the Universe.


39. Under the weather: ILL.

40. Remark: SAY.

43. Undergarment insert: BRA PAD.

44. Pecorino __ cheese: ROMANO.  This is a hard, salty Italian cheese.  It is often used as a grating cheese.  Pecorino means ovine, thus, the cheese is made of sheep's milk.

46. Become one: WED.

47. Hawaiian greetings: ALOHAS.


48. Judicial seat: BANC.

52. Postop regimen: REHAB.  Well wishes to our friend Vidwan.  We have missed you.

54. Bottom-row PC key: CTRL.


55. Keystone State port: ERIE.  Pennsylvania is the Keystone State.  It got its nickname because of its essential role in the founding of the United States.


56. Forever and a day: AGES.


57. Lairs: DENS.

59. Female deer: DOE.

60. Clean air org.: EPA.  The Environmental Protection Agency makes frequent appearances in the Tuesday puzzles.


Here's the Grid:



חתולה






29 comments:

  1. I don’t have too much to say about this puzzle. It seemed like pretty standard Tuesday fare to me. The reveal was clever, though. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.

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  2. Good morning!

    Typical Tuesday. D-o forgot to look for the theme and missed reading the full reveal clue. No Wite-Out (received a new 4-pack yesterday) required. Good to see you again, Zachary. Enjoyed your expo, Hahtoolah.

    Today the great house-leveling continues. Yesterday their electric jack-hammer repeatedly tripped the breaker. The outside outlets are now dead. An electrician is scheduled to show up later today to replace the failed breaker. Great fun!

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  3. FIR, having guess right at my Natick TOAD HALL x DOULA. Erased arm pad for BRA PAD, which I guess is what we used to call "falsies." My grandmother used to wear 5 Day Deodorant Pads. IIRC, they didn't work too good.

    Today is:
    NATIONAL LEATHERCRAFT DAY ("sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me")
    NATIONAL RELAXATION DAY (The same day as leathercraft day?)
    NATIONAL LEMON MERINGUE PIE DAY (Now you're talkin')
    V-J DAY (Closely following the incidents of 8/6/45 and 8/9/45.) Interesting that today's fill includes ATOMIC and D.O.E. (the agency managing the United States nuclear arsenal.)

    I guess that YMMV applies to crosswords. I found this on to be very hard for a Tuesday offering.

    Software Darwinism: If you make it IDIOT-proof, you just breed a better class of IDIOT.

    I'm not too sure about MOLES being double agents.

    I remember the CONEHEADS. From waaay back when SNL was funny.

    Thanks to Zachary for the workout, and to Ha2la for the funny and colorful review.

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  4. FIR. Got the theme early and threw down "you'll pay for this" right off. A couple of tricky clues, and Annie Proulx was a complete unknown, but got 'er done in the end.

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  5. RosE said...
    Good Morning! Pretty smooth going for me today with two crunchy areas, the upper middle and the SE.
    Thanks, Zachary, for a fun puzzle and Hah2lah, for an entertaining recap. Your opening paragraph revealed the theme which I hadn’t stopped to suss.
    WO: spies -> MOLES & email -> ECARD which I saw when I got to SPELL_HECK 🤣🤣
    WAGs: BANC crossing CONEHEAD, and I've never heard of EMORAP.
    ALOHA, my heart goes out to the devastating news from Maui.

    August 15, 2023 at 7:42 AM

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  6. This felt like a slog but actually solved faster than yesterday.

    This had a lot of answers in my wheelhouse: I performed in "Annie Get Your Gun" in high school and BUFFALO BILL was a main character. "Les Miz" is one of all time favorite musicals. My daughter had a DOULA during her labor and delivery.
    I wore many a BRA PAD when I was working during my nursing days with three kiddos.
    I thought "Shipping News" by ANNIE Proulx was an excellent read.

    TOAD HALL was still enjoyed by my kids, but it remains to be seen with the next generation - but many of the books the littles are having read to them are still the classics. Mr Toad's Wild Ride was always a favorite in Fantasyland - it still exists in Disneyland in California but closed in 1998 at Disney World in Florida. I think it became something with Winnie the Pooh there.

    Thanks Hatoolah for the always fun write-up with cartoons. and Thanks to ZDL for the puzzle!

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  7. Took 4:11 today for me to pay the invoice.

    I agree with inanehiker that this felt like a slog, but for me it was just a tad longer than yesterday's.

    I didn't know the god or goddess, the writer Annie, emo rap, or the clue for romano.

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  8. inanehiker: I wish they would reopen TOAD HALL at Disney World. It's a family favorite and Disneyland just doesn't work for the NYC crowd.

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  9. Good Morning, Crossword friends.

    Inanehiker: Maybe the classics stay with the next generation because the parents liked the books so much the read them to their children. The Story of Ferdinand was one of my dad's favorite books, and is now a favorite of his great-granddaughter.

    Rosé: the fires and news from Hawaii are truly devastating.

    QOD: The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook. ~ Julia Child (née Julie Carolyn McWilliams; Aug. 15, 1912 ~ Aug. 13, 2004), American cook

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  10. Good Morning:

    After filling in Buffalo Bill and Spell Check, I read the reveal clue and immediately entered You’ll Pay For This and inwardly smiled, remembering an incident of a few hours earlier.* I found this solve much easier than yesterday’s with only one unknown, Emo Rap and only one w/o, Spies/Moles. I’m always disappointed with this type of grid because, usually, the theme is given away too soon. However, the solve itself was enjoyable, so all is well. BTW, I soft boil my eggs exactly 3 1/2 minutes.

    *Yesterday at the supermarket, the woman in front of me in the checkout line paid for my order before I even knew what she was doing. I protested vigorously to no avail but her response was “This is what I do. It makes me happy.” It wasn’t as though I had just a few items, either, as I estimated the total order was around $65.00. I’m still a little bewildered but I certainly appreciated her kindness and generosity.

    Thanks, Zachary, for a Tuesday treat and thanks, Hahtoolah, for the usual and much appreciated facts and fun. Favorite cartoons today: 101 Damnations, Hair Gel, Lion in the den, Spider/Lens, Gnu Math and, of course, the ubiquitous Coda Cat. Also enjoyed your favorite opera’s Aria and the clip from My Fair Lady. Some of those hats could serve as lethal weapons!

    I wish Wilbur would chime in and let us know how he’s doing. Hopefully, he’s okay.

    Have a great day.

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  11. My desired post just took a powder, so I will just say congrats to Zach and H2LH for a job well done.

    ALOHA

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  12. Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Zachary and Hahtoolah.
    I finished in good time and say the PAYment theme , but arrived here to discover that I FIWed- twice!
    Vowel problems today. I had Bone instead of BONA (which made EMOREP a giant question mark). Then the cross of Greek gods was messed up by my use of E instead of I, giving me Cleo/Gaea.
    Ah well.
    All other unknown names perped.

    I noted ANNIE and ANI.
    We had DOS and ADUE (plus UNO).
    I send Jacquie Lawson ECARDs.

    I was misled with the Safari clue and was thinking of that GNU and Lairs for lions before my Aha moment.
    Favourite misdirection today was the “stubbing victim” TOE.

    Wishing you all a great day.

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  13. Monday level CW for me. No hitches or Naticks. I liked the theme and got it right away since I solved BUFFALO BILL and right after that went to the reveal.

    ITALO Calvino one of my all time favorite writer. Safari is usually my BROWSER of choice.

    Hahtoolah as usual delighted me with her facts and funnies. I especially liked the kitty at the wheel. By the way, I believe A DUE is Italian and á deux is French.

    Interesting how we usually have to wait for perps to decide on OTROS or OTRAS, but that’s not the case with DOS.

    We’re expecting a weak 😎 front to lower our humidity, therefore the night time temps. Fingers crossed it doesn’t peter out.


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  14. EMO RAP and the guy who came to pick up your daughter? Never heard of either.

    Good morning. the BILL, CHECK, PAY, and CHARGE sequence flew over my head. I'd filled most of the downs and filled BUFFALO BILL, YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, and BROWSER TAB without looking at the clues.

    ANNIE, PEET, and CONEHEAD were unknowns as clues.
    BRA PAD- in my day we called them falsies.
    I'd never heard of DOULA until last year when our legislature passed some law for doulas to get paid my Medicaid for helping in childbirth.

    With ILL and SAY next to each other on the grid, 'I'LL SAY" that's neat.

    ZDL- have you checked out the prices at Disney World? $109-189/day (depends on to the day) to wait in long lines and pay insane prices for food.

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  15. IM @ 8:48: IM, what happened to you at the checkout counter couldn’t have happened to a nicer, or more deserving person! Just my two cents.

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  16. Wow. And I thought yesterday was fast. This one went even faster! What I didn't know perped easily. Emo Rap? -I'll pass, thank you. At least today's quotation of fill-ins were fairly simple. I wonder what Walt would think if he could see what Disney has become. Once upon a time, a family could afford a visit without taking out a second mortgage! If there's nae Dwarfs, there's nae Snow White!

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  17. Subgenius @ 10:55 ~ I’m not sure what I’ve ever done or said to deserve those kind words and thoughts, but thank you, kind sir.

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  18. Quota, not quotation! Thanks, spellchecker. (FTPR. Failure to proof read!)

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  19. Hahtoolah Thanks for the CONEHEADs movie preview!

    Here I was watching DEEPAK CHOPRA speaking at the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness conference in 2017.

    He is a regular speaker at our conferences. I have had some arguments with him and he is someone who always has to win. Even if he is wrong.

    From Yesterday:
    sumdaze Thanks for the additional information about your heroic bike journey. Wow!

    There are conflicting stories of the origin of the ADAM ANT name. One claim:
    "Adam Ant was inspired to pick this name when relieving himself in a gent's urinal manufactured under the trade name of Adamant."

    From July 13:
    CrossEyedDave Thanks for the psychedelic biker image that reminded you of me! I found it while catching up on the puzzles I missed during our travels.

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  20. Hola!

    Many thanks to Zachary and Susan for today's fun. I enjoyed this puzzle.

    The Shipping News by ANNIE Proulx is why my friend, Marsha, and I traveled to Newfoundland. We often went in search of our favorite authors' homelands. I also enjoyed the movie with Judy Dench.

    Thankfully I've never had to use a BRAPAD.

    I tried reading one of DEEPAK Chopra's books but halfway through it I stopped. It was just too esoteric for me. I guess that proves I'm shallow.

    THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS was one of the books I read to my daughter when she was small. At one time McDonald's (I think) gave their figurines inside the lunches. I still have some of them.

    Today is also the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven. When I was in Ephesus the locals recounted the story of how that happened on their mountain and every year they re-enact the event with a candle-light procession.

    I'm so sad about the tragic events on Maui of which I have some happy memories.

    ALOHA for now!


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  21. Thank you, ZDL for your puzzle and for posting on The Corner!
    Stubbing victim took a bit.
    FAV: TOAD HALL. DH & I listened to "Wind in the Willows" on CD while on a road trip last winter.

    Thank you, Hahtoolah, for another enjoyable Tues. review. FAV: GNU math. LOL!

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  22. Neat Tuesday puzzle, many thanks, Zachary. And always enjoy your commentary, Susan, thanks for that too.

    I always look forward to finding food in puzzles, but this one was more about travel, I guess. There were possibly exciting trips to OCEANIA and EGYPT, but we're probably more likely to make it to BUFFALO or to ERIE. At least we won't have to deal with any ALIENS, and maybe we can even go to the OPERA and see some EARLS hanging out there. That would give the place a good AURA. Wouldn't be a BAD way to spend a day.

    Have a good one, everybody.

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  23. Although it took a few perps to jog my mind, this was a walk in the park for me. I don't remember ANNIE PROULIX or AMANDA BROCKMAN, but perps were kind.
    Manningcast had me puzzling and then I saw ELI MANNING.
    Stubbing my toe seemed obvious Ouch!
    We played UNO this week with a recently bought deck. The rules have changed.
    I thought a mole is a kind of spy, so I LIU. Yes, it's true.
    "In espionage jargon, a mole (also called a "penetration agent", "deep cover agent", "illegal" or "sleeper agent") is a long-term spy (espionage agent) who is recruited before having access to secret intelligence, subsequently managing to get into the target organization."
    My new bathing suit has bra pads because it has no built in bra. The pads are thin and just give structure to the suit. These are not falsies. In many garments they just ad shape and support.

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  24. A fine Hahtoolah presentation of a Levy PZL…

    The NE corner did me it. I had OLD in place of BAD.
    It makes more sense, as we know that most outdated products, while OLD, are rarely truly BAD. That weasely “perhaps” saves Mr. Levy’s butt.
    ~ OMK
    ____________
    DR:
    One diag, far side.
    Its anagram (12 of 15) suggests a somewhat imposing test of intimacy, “when all else fails.”

    ”TRY DENUDATER”!

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  25. Musings
    -A lot of skating around for this fine puzzle. DOULA??
    -The USS Monaghan dropped two DEPTH CHARGES on a Japanese mini sub on Dec. 7, 1941 at the mouth of Pearl Harbor and sunk it an hour and a half before the airplanes came.
    -This RAMP got our kids between buildings up and over US Hwy 77
    -FWIW, my classroom was in the building in the lower foreground
    -CONE HEADS: Our daughters referred to us as “parental units”
    -Robert Crawley was the 7th EARL of Grantham in Downton Abbey
    -I much prefer ECARDS over the ones that need an envelope, stamp and penmanship

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  26. Husker- that was a half-hour after USS Ward sunk the first midget sub with her amidships 4" gun, which is still on display on the grounds of the Minnesota state capitol in St. Paul.

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  27. Thanks Charlie! Pearl remained pretty sleepy on that Sunday morning and did go on heightened alert despite all the omens.

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  28. Hi All!

    I'm back from Blackhat / Defcon. What a whirl-wind!

    Thanks for the puzzle, Zachary - nice theme that I didn't catch until the reveal. Thanks for swinging by The Corner.

    Thanks for the fun expo, Hahtoolah. The final cat-comic was LOL!

    WOs: GOyA, ABLe->Y
    ESPs: ANNIE, OSIRIS | ANI, BANC is new to me.
    Fav: CONEHEAD

    I like very little EMO and even few RAP songs... so I doubt EMO RAP would be to my liking.

    Oh boy, DO - the begat-system begins. Foundation->breaker->???

    IM - wait, what happened to The Corner's Baseball Encyclopedia WC? Also, I'll echo SubG @10:55a.

    Lucina - not necessarily shallow just board with what he was saying. I have a few dozen books that I've only 1/2 read because the author seemed to be repeating themselves and a dozen or so that just bored me to sleep (and then I got another ;-))

    EGYPT [warning: story time]: At a Blackhat shindig, I met a woman from Cairo and she nearly fell out her chair when I told her that a buddy took me through the Coptic churches. She was married last year at the same one I described. While we were talking, I said "insha Allah" [God Willing] and she LOL'd telling me stories of her parents saying that any time she asked for anything [$10 for the movies?, "insha Allah"]. Her, her husband & I barely talked Cyber(?!?)

    Cheers, -T

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