google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Jared Banta

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Showing posts with label Jared Banta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jared Banta. Show all posts

May 2, 2010

Sunday May 2, 2010 Jared Banta

Theme: Schwalterations - Common phrases with a schwa sound are altered into OF connecting phrases, which are humorously interpreted and clued. The schwa sound remains.

23A. Passion for Ferris wheels and funnel cakes?: TORRID LOVE OF FAIRS. Torrid Love Affairs. The A in "Affairs" is a schwa sound, so is the O in OF. Have never had funnel cakes. Not aware of its fair connection.

40A. Bozeman native named after a "Star Wars" character?: HAN OF MONTANA. Hannah Montana. The Miley Cyrus character. Ah is a schwa sound. Han Solo.

66A. Mom's bearing?: AIR OF PARENT. Heir Apparent. Letter A.

74A. Mary Poppins outburst?: HOOT OF NANNY. Hootenanny. Thingamajig. New slang to me. Letter e is schwa.

98A. Math class curse?: HEX OF DECIMAL. Hexadecimal. A numeral system with a base of 16. New to me. Letter a again.

117A. Occasion to hang up the fangs?: RETIREMENT OF COUNT. Retirement Account. Letter A also. Count here refers to Count Dracula, right?

3D. Country's military organization?: CORPS OF NATIONS. Coronation. Letter O. Thought of corporation first.

61D. Describe a trip to work?: TELL OF COMMUTE. Telecommute. The E in my dictionary is not shown as schwa. It has a short i sound.

Schwa is the most common vowel sound in English. Besides the A, O, E in the above theme answers, u in "circus", i in "pencil", y in "syringe" all have schwa sounds.

I got all the theme answers without much struggle. But as a non-native English speaker who is constantly struggling with English pronunciation, the base phrases took me some time to nail down. I hope my understanding of the theme is correct.

Liked the three "Ignited" echo clues:

36A. Ignited: SPARKED

116A. Ignited: LIT

60D. Ignited: AFLAME

Across:

1. Start of a kids' learning song: ABCDE

6. It may be spiked: PUNCH. The spiced beverage.

11. Prof's pointer: LASER

16. Disposed: APT

19. Mid-ninth century pope: LEO IV. Who knows?

20. Italian town NW of Venice: ASOLO. No idea. I bet the constructor was pleased to find this is an actual place when he needed this fill.

21. Get used (to): INURE

22. Former CNN anchor Dobbs: LOU. He was great when he focused his attention on the Enron guys.

26. Is for all of us?: ARE. Plural of "Is".

27. iPhone add-on: APP

29. Least scarce: AMPLEST

30. Runs: COSTS

32. Strikes a chord: RESONATES

35. One may be yellow or chocolate: LAB. Labrador.

38. Affected type: SNOB

39. Spot playmate: REX

42. Mattress spec: FIRM

44. Schrödinger equation symbols: PSIS. The pitchfork-shaped letters. I did not know what Schrödinger equation is. Still don't. All Greek to me.

46. Ray, Jay or A: ALER (American Leaguer). Rhyme.

47. Super Bowl XLIV runner-up, briefly: INDY. Indianapolis Colts.

48. Grass bristle: AWN. Like this.

50. Built from: MADE OF

52. Amt.: QTY

53. AM frequency meas.: KHZ (Kilohertz)

59. Diggs of "Rent": TAYE. Great body.

64. Grub: EATS

65. One-named Nigerian singer: SADE. I am in the mood for her "Someone Already Broke My Heart".

69. Isolde's lover: TRISTAN

71. Carmen, e.g.: MEZZO. Wanted OPERA.

73. Silent film star who played Carmen in "Blood and Sand" (1922): LILA LEE. No. Nope. She looks glamorous. Nice consecutive "Carmen".

76. Start of a run: SNAG. Stockings.

78. Like molasses in January: SLOW

79. "King Kong" heroine: ANN. Easy guess.

80. "Wow!": GEEZ

81. Affirmative reply: YES I AM

83. Was brilliant: SHONE

84. Coldcocks, briefly: KOS (Knockouts). Coldcock is a new word to me. It means "to knock (someone) unconscious, as with the fist". I was picturing a frozen banana.

85. __ Maria: liqueur: TIA

87. Resulting from this: HEREBY

89. G-man: FED

90. It stops at la estación: TREN. Spanish for train. La estación is the station I suppose.

93. "__ Three Lives": '50s TV drama: I LED. Another guess.

96. "South Park" kid: ERIC. No idea.

101. Book end?: ISH. Bookish. Great clue.

103. Tip respectfully: DOFF

106. Red Sea nation: ERITREA. One less letter than Ethiopia.

107. "Whether __ nobler ...": Hamlet: 'TIS. "To be, or not to be..."

108. Cookie nut: MACADAMIA. The only nut I don't like.

110. Social order: CASTE

111. Sugar pill, say: PLACEBO

114. Land in l'océan: ILE. Island in French.

115. Half a cocktail: MAI. Mai tai.

122. Muse of poetry: ERATO

123. Be hospitable to: ASK IN

124. Haitian capital?: AITCH. Spelled out H. The capitalized letter in Haitian.

125. Place to turn in: BED

126. Full at the table: SATED

127. Wine characteristics: NOSES

128. Turns tail: FLEES

Down:

1. Wedding settings: ALTARS

2. Show willingness to listen: BE OPEN

4. Compass pt.: DIR

5. Dasani competitor: EVIAN. Ours is Aquafina.

6. Taste: PALATE

7. GI support gp.: USO

8. Celestial phenomena: NOVAS. It's often NOVAE.

9. Pitcher Labine of the '50s Dodgers: CLEM. Not familiar with this guy.

10. To-dos: HOOPLAS

11. One of 20 on the Titanic: LIFEBOAT. Ha ha, I knew the trivia.

12. Literary collections: ANAS

13. "I'm down with that": SUITS ME

14. Get knocked out of the spelling bee: ERR

15. Checkout correction, perhaps: RESCAN

16. Sarah Palin, e.g.: ALASKAN. And IDITAROD (86. Mushers' race). Great fill, the latter.

17. Forebode: PORTEND

18. Third in a sequence: TUESDAY. Didn't come to me immediately.

24. Greg's TV partner: DHARMA. I peeked at the cheat sheet.

25. Spanish dessert: FLAN

31. David __, baseball's "Big Papi": ORTIZ. Was with the Twins for several years. Hurt all the time.

33. Geisha's band: OBI

34. Consume: EXPEND. And USE (121. Consume).

37. Last speaker in many an old cartoon: PORKY PIG. "That's all, folks!".

40. LP player: HI-FI

41. Reach via jet: FLY TO

45. Grave: SOLEMN

48. Big name in soul: ARETHA

49. Become annoying to: WEAR ON

51. Senator Feinstein: DIANNE

52. Surprise in class: QUIZ. Pop Quiz.

54. Make good as new: HEAL

56. Sibilant "Ahem!": PSST

58. Rapper who feuded with Dr. Dre: EAZY-E. Another stranger to me.

62. Common soccer score: ONE-ONE. And TIE (119. 62-Down game, e.g.).

63. Worried: STEWED

65. Good place to err: SAFE SIDE. Err is an answer to 14D. Duplication.

67. More promising: ROSIER

68. Foolhardy: RASH

70. Like some orders: TO GO

72. New Age superstar: ENYA

75. San Diego State athlete: AZTEC. I forgot.

77. Aslan's land: NARNIA. We often see ASLAN clued as "Chronicles of Narnia" lion.

83. Six-Day War country: Abbr.: SYR (Syria)

84. California berry farm founder: KNOTT (Walter). Another alien name to me. Is he very famous?

88. Interest: BEHALF

90. Auto security device hawked in infomercials: THE CLUB

91. Poker ploy: RE-RAISE

92. Was once there: EXISTED

94. Grabbed, as an opportunity: LEAPT AT

95. One playing near a bag?: BASEMAN. One more baseball reference.

97. Mrs. McKinley: IDA

99. Bordeaux brothers: FRERE. French for "brothers". Alliteration.

100. They rest on pads: MICE. Oh, now I get it. Computer mouse. The plural is mice too? How strange!

102. Progeny: SCIONS

104. Groom-to-be: FIANCE

105. Belief systems: FAITHS

108. Frock wearers: MONKS

109. Regular alternative: DECAF

112. Dieter's word: LITE. Boring! Drink real drink. Eat real food.

118. Important period: ERA

120. Manet, maybe: OIL. Here is his Olympia again.

Answer grid.

C.C.