google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday November 19, 2023 Susan Gelfand & Katie Hale

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Nov 19, 2023

Sunday November 19, 2023 Susan Gelfand & Katie Hale

Theme: "Change the Subject" - Each common phrase is rephrased as if it's a tip from a school teacher.

23. Tip from a history teacher about how to study WWII?: CHOOSE ONE'S BATTLES.

38. Tip from an English teacher about the editing process?: MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT.

60. Tip from a gym teacher about how to win at tug-of-war?: PULL IT TOGETHER.

81. Tip from an astronomy teacher about how to set up telescopes?: AIM FOR THE STARS.

102. Tip from an accounting teacher about calculating profits and losses?: FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE.

121. Tip from a math teacher about working with squares and cubes?: REMEMBER YOUR ROOTS

I feel CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES work better for 23A, but then it would result two YOUR in the theme set. Only 6 entries, but they're all very long. A perfect 100 theme squares with an extra "Tip from .... teacher" clue layer.
 
I just realized that this is Susan's first Sunday LAT. Surprising. She's a veteran constructor who's been published in many places. Congrats, Susan!

Across:

1. Word with corn or matzo: MEAL.

5. Fill-in at an office: TEMP.

9. Truly hopeless: ABJECT.

15. Org. with badges: BSA.

18. Director Preminger: OTTO. Our Otto. This is from his retirement luncheon in 2010.

19. Thrown in: EXTRA.

21. "Clever you": TOUCHE.

22. Each and every: ALL.

26. __ card: smartphone need: SIM.

27. Intimate: HINT AT.

28. Went fast: SPED.

29. Radio City Music Hall style: ART DECO. We often just have DECO.

31. Unreturned tennis serve: ACE.

32. Grover's predecessor: CHESTER. Arthur.

35. __ the pot: STIR.

37. "On a ... " poems: ODES.

42. "__ there, done that": BEEN.

44. Rapper Dr. __: DRE.

45. Dines: SUPS.

46. 3-Down novelist McEwan: IAN. 3. Booker Prize-shortlisted novel made into a film starring Keira Knightley: ATONEMENT.


47. Desilu co-founder: ARNAZ.

49. Actress Ward: SELA.

52. Observed Ramadan, say: FASTED.

55. Question of identity: WHO.

58. Make a difference: MATTER.

63. Get more out of: RECYCLE.

65. Nonprofit URL ender: ORG.

66. Make money: EARN.

67. Tiny organism: MICROBE.

71. Atlanta pitcher Kirby: YATES. Free agent now. Also 94. Baseball deal: TRADE.



74. Sandal feature: OPEN TOE.

76. Botanical balm: ALOE.

77. Hosp. areas: ORS.

79. Charlie Parker's instrument: ALTO SAX.

85. Some flower girl candidates: NIECES.

90. "Stay With Me" singer Smith: SAM.

91. Invisible: UNSEEN.

92. Great flood protagonist: NOAH.

95. Western treaty gp.: OAS. Organization of American States.

97. Stuck in __: A RUT.

99. MMA calls: KOS.

101. Big-screen format: IMAX.

109. Pie crust ingredient: LARD. Boomer loved pumpkin pies. I don't think we ever had apple pies for Thanksgiving. We also always had boiled rutabaga.


110. "Anything __?": ELSE.

111. Prepare for a comeback tour: RE-UNITE.

112. Reproductive cells: OVA.

115. Google oneself, perhaps: EGO-SURF.

117. Downright nasty: MEAN.

118. Caged copycat: PARROT.

120. Successful show letters: SRO.

126. Shorten, as a skirt: HEM.

127. Venezia's land: ITALIA.

128. Skin soother: SALVE. I love this brand.



129. Sheltered from the wind: ALEE.

130. Thumbs-up: YES.

131. Former Seattle team, familiarly: SONICS.

132. Tide type: NEAP.

133. Colorado's __ Verde National Park: MESA.

Down:

1. Chocolaty coffee: MOCHA.

2. Moral code: ETHIC.

4. Booty: LOOT.

5. Grew molars, say: TEETHED.

6. Prefix with thermic: EXO.

7. Any of the Rockies: Abbr.: MTN.

8. Magic word: PRESTO.

9. Little bit: A TAD.

10. Droid: BOT.

11. Stick (out): JUT.

12. Log-shaped pastry: ECLAIR.

13. Shirley Temple garnish: CHERRY.


14. Acid __: TEST.

15. Question of evidence: BASED ON WHAT.  Debut fill. Two more long multi-word entries: 69. Dorm areas for hanging out: COMMON ROOMS.  87. Small part for a big name, often: CAMEO ROLE.

16. Deli device: SLICER.

17. Just about: ALMOST.

20. Colorado ski spot: ASPEN.

24. Burlap bag: SACK.

25. Arctic hazards: BERGS.

30. Qatar's capital: DOHA.

33. Hearing things: EARS.

34. Struggling to stay awake: SLEEPY.

35. Apostle of Ireland, for short: ST PAT.

36. Throw at: TOSS TO.

39. Med school subj.: ANAT.

40. Islamic mystic: SUFI. Rumi was one.

41. Fries or slaw: SIDE.

42. "Kapow!": BAM.

43. Notable period: ERA.

48. Zip: ZERO.

50. Girl who cannot be trusted to hold the football for Charlie Brown: LUCY.

51. Pasta __ Norma: ALLA. Never heard of it. Pasta with eggplant.


53. Pamplona bulls: TOROS.

54. Omelet skillet: EGG PAN.

56. Supersized sandwich: HERO.

57. Normandy river: ORNE.

59. Energized anew: REBORN.

61. Unleash upon: LET AT.

62. Number of Grammy Awards won by Dolly Parton: TEN. She has won almost every award. 

64. Classic mint brand: CERTS.

67. Bleating sounds: MAAS.

68. Pelvic bones: ILIA.

70. NBA official: REF.

72. Dynamism: ELAN.

73. H-Town pro: STRO.

75. Parkway sign: EXIT.

78. Wool clippers: SHEARS. And 106. Doesn't use scissors: TEARS.

80. Resident of Japan's third largest city: OSAKAN.

82. Unseat: OUST.

83. Spooky: EERIE.

84. Comfy and cozy: SNUG.

86. Prince in "The Little Mermaid": ERIC.

88. Writer LeShan: EDA.

89. Census datum: SEX.

93. Hindu spring festival: HOLI.

96. Goes on to say: ADDS.

98. Number of Powerpuff Girls: THREE. Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup.



100. Course for college-bound HS students: SAT PREP.

102. Plump: FLESHY.

103. "Amen to that!": I AGREE.

104. Contract adverb: HERETO.

105. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" composer Danny: ELFMAN.

107. Legendary Paul: BUNYAN.

108. Close by: NEAR.

113. Casts a ballot: VOTES.

114. On a cruise: AT SEA.

116. "Exodus" novelist Leon: URIS.

117. Many execs: MBAS.

119. Travel without a destination: ROAM.

122. Pharmaceutical giant __ Lilly: ELI.

123. MC's need: MIC.

124. World Cup cheer: OLE.

125. Cavaliers sch.: UVA.

C.C.



 

30 comments:

Subgenius said...

I replaced “Baas” with “Maas,” “herein” with “hereto” and “please” with “presto.” Those were about my only white-outs. I enjoyed the cleverness of this eminently solvable puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

The theme was obvious; even d-o couldn't miss it. Everything came together in short order -- much better than normal Sunday solving time. Congrats on your Sunday debut, Susan. Thanx, too, to Katie and C.C.

TTP said...

Good morning. Thank you, Susan, Katie, and C.C.

WDOS. I'd add, read and fill. ALMOST.

34D - Struggling to stay awake? Me last night at 7:30. Made to a bit after 8. Trying to get back to a normal sleep schedule.

D-O, from yesterday, here's that ATK episode:How to Make a Perfect Peach Pie and Homemade Pie Dough The YouTube version skips a few parts that were shown on TV. For instance, the part about dividing the processed dough into two rounds, wrapping in cellophane, and chilling them in the fridge for a couple of hours - or up to 3 days.

I really messed up the spelling of her name. It's Bridget as you wrote. I think I was combining it with DW's cousin's name, Brigitte.

Oh, and at 17:58 after Bridget adds the peaches into the pie pan, she says, "Let me ZHUZH it."

KS said...

FIR. Found this Sunday offering quite easy. I too had baas before maas, and also guru before sufi.
The theme was clever, and today's endeavor was very enjoyable.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but also erased baas for MAAs and please for PRESTO, along with ball for MEAL, tsa for BSA, eats for SUPS, zest for ZERO, and orno for ORNE.

Today is:
NATIONAL PLAY MONOPOLY DAY (does anyone have time for this game these days?)
NATIONAL CARBONATED BEVERAGE WITH CAFFEINE (what’s next? National Tobacco Day?)
WORLD TOILET DAY (I remember my favorite toilet more fondly than one persistent ex-girlfriend. At least the toilet didn’t follow me around once I was through using it.)

CSO to Bayou Tony and his STROs. Not to be confused with Stroh's beer, which I used to consume in mass quantity.

Do they still sell SRO tickets to shows? Outdoor venues sometimes offer festival seating, which ironically doesn't include a seat.

Were I to make a comeback, I would REUNTIE.

Getaway eve for us. We're going to our RV this morning to charge the batteries, start the refrigerator, tweak the tire pressures, and stow away a bunch of things so we won't have to do it tomorrow.

Thanks to Susan and Kate for the fun, and to CC for the interesting review.

Anonymous said...

Took 11:07 today for me to get all my tips counted.

I agree, as I often do, with our good friend SubG's assessment.

I didn't know the novel, the composer, "fleshy" for "plump", and a few others.

It was an enjoyable Sunday puzzle.

Lucina said...

Hola!

Way faster than usual for a Sunday! Thank you, Susan and Katie!
"Living in ABJECT poverty" is a trope I've encountered when reading.
I still remember the feeling of pride in my ten-year old self when I saw the gold STARS beside my name on the bulletin board. It was always for spelling.
Sigh. It's getting harder to RECYCLE newspapers here. Our complex doesn't have it and now where I used to take them, that bin has been removed.
It's finally a little cool here so I shall have to stow my OPEN-TOE sandals. 56 degrees at the moment.
Only three erasures in this long puzzle, ACID before TEST, OKS before YES, and MTS before MTN.
d-otto, I like that photo of you. You look pensive.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Lucina said...

Jinx
REUNTIE?

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-A pleasure to work this Wednesday level puzzle
-I resisted BALL for Corn__ and Matzo __
-I saw a lady with a TSA badge yesterday
-ARNAZ did indeed love Lucy but many others as well
-My MIL used LARD to make the most wonderful pie crust imaginable
-In 1973 Phil Everly smashed his guitar and walked off the stage where he and his brother were performing. They did not REUNITE for ten years.
-I’m back after listening to the Everly Brothers’ reunion concert
-Dolly is my age (77) and this is what she looked like before yesterday’s Tennessee football game
-The Husker’s valiant defense was let down again by the punchless offense last night

desper-otto said...

Husker, Dolly always boasted, "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap."

Lee said...

Love the puzzle!! Most of the theme fills were obvious after a few perps.

FIR My only change was SkieS to STARS. Struggled a bit in the SW, but it came together after I saw FLESHY.

Together we rule, apart we fall.

Understand.

Big Easy said...

Super fast fill fora Sunday puzzle with just a few unknowns completed by perps. YATES (my mother's maiden name), ELFMAN, ERIC, ATONEMENT, HOLI and a guess of THREE for the number of Power Puff Girls.
Theme clues were very easy to guess after just a few perps. Only had to make one change today- COMMON AREAS to ROOMS.

SUPS- only a word in crossword land
Pasta ALLA Norma- never heard of it either but Friday night we went to an Italian restaurant named VENEZIA's and had----Egglant Parmigiana. Different sauce & cheese? Don't know.

MEAL- not familiar with 'matzo-meal' but when we would visit my grandmother YATES in the 50's we would take bushels of corn to the miller and get fresh corn-MEAL.
OPEN TOE- never. 1. don't want to stub my toes. 2. see #1

"Intimate"- according to how its pronounced. Either 'very familiar' or HINT AT. I have INtimate knowledge of ABJECT poverty when my total net worth was the coins in my pocket.

Picard said...

Hand up BAAS/MAAS and PLEASE/PRESTO. Fun theme well constructed. I have memorized the names of the presidents in order to help with my solves. Proud to use that to get CHESTER.

Here my high school ASTRONOMY TEACHER showed us to AIM FOR THE STARS.

ASTRONOMY and Physics TEACHER Bill Saunders gave us a lifetime of TIPs. He was a dear friend for decades until he died fairly young of cancer. I am still Facebook Friends with Julie in that photo set from our high school yearbook.

Picard said...

PS: I should add that our Kennedy High School team was the CAVALIERS. Don't know about that other team.

inanehiker said...

This is the puzzle that my paper mistakenly printed a week or two ago!
So no puzzle for me - we are headed out to Colorado to visit son and family, but we'll stop in KC to see my mom!

Charlie Echo said...

Pretty much what SubG and D-O said this morning. A nice way to spend a bit of Sunday. Clue for OTTO could been for Premingers second cousin, "Correct".

Acesaroundagain said...

Filled with no hesitations. Theme fills were straight forward. No complaints. I enjoyed this puzzle. I feel lucky I do not have to travel on Holidays. Its chaos out there. GC

Wendybird said...

Lovely Sunday puzzle. It came together nicely, though I made some of the same corrections as others - zest/ZERO, please/PRESTO, ssn/SEX.
I didn’t know all the names, but the perps helped every time.
Thanks, Susan and Katie for an eminently fair challenge. Thanks C.C. for the nice tour.

waseeley said...

Thank you Susan and C.C. I got a FIR, but as my superpower is making the easy appear difficult, I don't get the theme -- it was just too simple. I still don't suss the "Change the Subject" title. Perhaps one of our cornier Cornerites (you know who you are!) can re-explain it.

Some favs:

47A ARNAZ and 50D LUCY.

79A ALTO SAX. Short but sweet.

90A SAM. Stay With Me.

115A EGO SURF. I never get any hits. But my other SURFS seem to dredge up lots of stuff for me to buy.

127 ITALIA. I love it. We've been there three times. And they have OPERAS! 😀

3D ATONEMENT. One of our favorite flicks. It stars not only Knightly, but James McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Vanessa Redgrave. The great Brenda Blethyn ("Vera") is in the clip title, but I don't know what she had to do with the movie.

Cheers,
Bill

waseeley said...

Lucina @9:48 AM Jinx's variation on SPELERS UNTIE -- his self-deprecating comment on is lisdexia.

sumdaze said...

Thank you, Susan and Katie and C.C. for the Sunday diversion. I enjoyed finding half of each long themer then reasoning out the other half, making for a lot of perps to help with the fills. Also, congrats to Susan for her Sunday debut! FAVs: Hearing things and Question of identity.

I've never been a fan of people who HINT AT things.

Safe travels to Jinx, inanehiker, and anyone else traveling this week!

Picard @ 11:46. Fun yearbook pic. What gives with the solid-colored shirt??? Before reading the caption, I assumed you were the guy on the right. (Just teasing -- you know I like you!)

TTP said...

Has anyone else been solving The Missing Letter ?

waseeley said...

Husker @10:07 AM Hey, thanks for the Everly Brothers reunion concert. I'm listening to it right now.

Jayce said...

I loved this puzzle. Insofar as we all are describing our "overwrites," so this puzzle is a true cross WORD puzzle. For example, as Gary resisted BALL for Corn__ and Matzo __, I went ahead and did not resist, of course having to eventually change it to MEAL. So, too, TOTE ended up becoming SACK and EVIL became MEAN. This is true WORD play, where the answer is one of several possible alternatives. This is totally unlike a NAME puzzle, in which there is no possibility of mulling over possible alternatives, of having thoughts like "It could be this or this or maybe this." Susan Gelfand and Katie Hale are masterful constructors.

I enjoyed reading all your comments.

Jayce said...

I listened/watched the Everly Brothers video also and enjoyed it.

CanadianEh! said...

Super Sunday. Thanks for the fun, Susan and Katie, and C.C,
I solved online in good time and saw the Subject theme.

Hand up for Baas before MAAS, Ball before MEAL, Please before PRESTO, MTS before MTN.
I thought of Mufti before SUFI. (Legal advisor not a mystic)

Charlie Echo- groan re OTTO Correct.
waseeley- I don’t quite get the title either. We do have a change of subjects from history, math etc., and the phrases do refer to the subjects.

FLN- I was too busy yesterday and just lurked. I see that I missed a Canadian answer! Thanks C.C. for remembering us.
TTP- Torontonian is the word used. I pronounce it so that it sounds like Tron-tonian. But unlike in Toronto (pronounced Tron-no by locals), the second T is pronounced.
Ray-o- You get a star. The Senators are appointed by the Governor-General (on the advice of the Prime Minister) and not elected. They retire at age 75.
AnonT- I meant to tell you about the Geddy book release, but I see you are ahead of me.

Sumdaze, d’otto, Michael etc re the peach pie discussion - I don’t have a peach tree in my back yard, but a 5 minute drive can bring me to a whole orchard of Niagara peaches (equal or better than your famed Georgia peaches - which leads me to an aside in which I rant about Ontario born and raised Justin Bieber singing about Georgia peaches!). We had beautiful weather this summer with good rains, and the peaches were large, juicy and tasty. I will not eat another peach until next summer’s crop ripens, except for the local peaches in my fruit cellar that I canned.

Wishing you all a good evening.

Vidwan827 said...


Thank YOu Susan Gelfand and Katie Hale for a very nice and enjoyable Sunday puzzle. I solved it at 0045 hours, when the puzzle became available online ... completed the puzzle about an hour later, and then went to sleep again. The long answers reminded me of my high school teachers, most of whom I was very fond of ... I was a geek, or whatever. Except that we did not have a telescope or astronomy.

Talking about Astronomy ... Loved your year book picture Picard ... !! BTW, (lol) looking at the second picture, all three of you are looking down .. to look at the stars ?? ... maybe you were looking in the wrong direction ? lol ...

Thank You CC for a detailed blog and commentary on the whole puzzle.
On DOHA:: My eldest daughter was in Doha Airport yesterday, as she, and her family, flew back from a quick trip to India. Qatar Airlines, despite its relatively lesser known status ... is reputed to be one of the best airline companies, in the world, in the industry .. who knew !!?

On SUFI:: This sect of Islam started in Iran, and was fairly easy going,... on consumption of alcohol, and certain other mind altering drugs. It certainly did not have the conservative status that is exhibited today.

(Note:: KS comment ...at 8.22 am ... , close ---but the wrong religion, bro ...)

Unlike the mainstream part of the religion, Sufis not only did Not prohibit music and dance ... it actually encouraged the arts...

A sufi song and dance number from a recent Bollywood movie ... Jodhaa Akhbar (2008)

Khwaja, Mere Khwaja ..... I may have linked this before, ... its worth watching, if youve never seen it before ...

The verses go follows :: Khwaja, Mere khwaja ... Dil mayy samaja ....
Lord, My Lord ...( please ) come and reside in my heart ...

Please note:: This is a fiction Bollywood movie (2008), and the acclaimed music director A.R. Rehman, has won an Oscar for his music for 'Slumdog Millionaire' ... He is not necessarily a Sufi, himself.. just a working stiff.

Have a great rest of the coming week, all you folks.

Vidwan827 said...


Lets try to get the YOutube video again ....

Khwaja, Mere Khwaja

Lucina said...

It was a wonderful lunch with my peeps. Though we are all getting on in age, we have so much fun and laughter.

Anonymous said...

This one was really fun, even if a bit easy. Like Mr. Jinx, I first had “ball” at 1A, “please” in 8D and “zest” parked in 48D, but perps quickly showed me the error of my ways. Only questionable one for me was MAAS — really?? Oh well, being an L.A. boy, I have not spent a lot of time on farms.

To MAKEALONGSTORYSHORT, this puzzle was a kick with a very clever theme to it; thanks Susan!

====> Darren / L.A.