google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Richard F. Mausser

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Showing posts with label Richard F. Mausser. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Richard F. Mausser. Show all posts

Mar 30, 2017

Thursday, March 30th 2017 Richard F. Mausser

Theme: Quadratic Locations - Four quadrangles, four seats of learning as the grid-spanning hint tells us:

39A. What the groups of circled letters graphically represent : UNIVERSITY QUADS

The schools in question are Tulane, Rice, Temple and Yale. Here's Rice:


I enjoyed the symmetry in this construction - two six- and two four-circle themers located in opposite corner blocks, the "quad quads", two intersecting 15's, both college-themed, and the journey around each quadrangle starts at the north-west corner. There's a lot else to like with the lively longer entries - two each of ten, nine and eight letters and very few threes.

I was surprised to find that "TOTAL BASES", "FINAL FOUR" and "NY JETS" have only been seen once before in the LAT crossword since the Cruciverb database records began.

Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. "Yeah, sure!" : PSHAW!

6. Some CPAs and MBAs : CFOS. Top Bean Counter. Sorry, Chief Financial Officer.

10. __ bean : FAVA. LIMA or SOYA are also possibilities - you need more than the "A" before deciding.

14. What choir members have to carry : A TUNE, Not "A NOTE" then. Quick work with the "backspace" key fixed that one.

15. Lined up, with "in" : A ROW. So when you have your ducks in a row, what happens? I've always wondered.

16. 2001 Winslet/Dench title role : IRIS. Novelist Iris Murdoch and her lifelong relationship with her husband. I might need to go back and re-watch this one.


17. Hero makers : DELIS. Food! You need a big appetite for one of these. Classic ingredients are meat, cheese, tomato, green pepper, lettuce and Italian dressing on a baguette. Innumerable variations abound.

18. Window shopper's buy : PANE. Nice.

19. Bottle part : NECK. The only other bottle part I can think of is the "punt", the deep indentation at the bottom of a wine bottle.

20. Double-helix molecules : DNAS

21. Stat for which Babe Ruth's 457 is the single-season record : TOTAL BASES. The 1921 season. He also set the record for extra base hits that year.

23. Site of many Ansel Adams works : YOSEMITE. Iconic photography from this fella:


25. Online chortle : LOL. Laughing Out Loud.

26. Wide awake : ALERT

28. Joan __ : OF ARC

32. Aplenty : GALORE

36. Carmelite, perhaps : NUN

38. Muffin topper : OLEO. I wanted OREO first. I'm guessing this reference is to a dollop of margarine on an English muffin. The splendidly-named Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès invented oleomargarine in France back in 1869.

42. Labyrinth : MAZE

43. Plop down : SIT

44. Legal scholar : JURIST. Not a juror. An expert in or a writer on law.

45. "Obsessable series" movie channel : STARZ. Thanks, crosses.

47. What "two" meant to Paul Revere : BY SEA. One if by land, I believe. "The British are coming!" Three if by air, in my case.

49. Bow __ : TIE

51. Billboard charts : HIT LISTS. My friend Fred Bronson writes the weekly Chart Beat column in "Billboard" magazine.

56. Tart vodka cocktails : LEMON DROPS

60. Petunia part : STEM

61. Greenish blue : CYAN

62. Use the escalator, about half the time : GO UP. Go down, roughly the other half, unless you ride up and take the stairs down.

63. Plant swelling : EDEMA

64. What a stet cancels : DELE. Editing marks. Does anyone edit manuscripts this way any more? I know print newspapers moved to digital production a long time ago.

65. Alternatively : ELSE

66. Cheap mags : PULPS

67. Old jet-set jets : SSTS. Concordes. The USSR brought out a strangely-similar looking aircraft that the UK media nicknamed "Concordski". Sadly the second production aircraft crashed while performing at the Paris Air Show in 1973, killing the six-person crew and eight people on the ground.

68. Bob or dog attachment : SLED

69. Canines, e.g. : TEETH

Down:

1. Irrigated grain field : PADDY

2. Courtroom figure : STENO

3. Hippy dances? : HULAS

4. Italian cookie flavoring : ANISE

5. Filmmaker Craven : WES

6. Holly Golightly's creator : CAPOTE. Truman's short story Breakfast at Tiffany's adapted as a screenplay and starring one of my all-time favorite actresses, the lovely Audrey Hepburn. I love this scene.

7. Place for annual pledging : FRATERNITY HOUSE. I liked that the two 15-letter grid spanners crossing each other have a college theme.

8. Chaplin of "Game of Thrones" : OONA

9. Balloon : SWELL

10. Elite Eight survivors : FINAL FOUR. Topical NCAA Basketball reference. This year's Final Four face off this Saturday with South Carolina vs. Gonzaga followed by Oregon vs. North Carolina.

11. War god : ARES

12. Target of many a New Year's resolution : VICE

13. Poses : ASKS

21. Floor installers : TILERS

22. Savior of Scout and Jem, in "To Kill a Mockingbird" : BOO. A good excuse for some super-cheeerful Britpop from the early 90's courtesy of The Boo Radleys

24. Filly, eventually : MARE

27. Mild rebuke : TUT

29. End of a ball game? : ALAI. Tricky clue. The ball-wall game Jai Alai.The ball can travel up to 188mph. it's 3/4 the size of a baseball and harder than a golf ball. It was bad enough getting hit by a squash ball back in the day.

30. Great American Ball Park team : REDS. Cincinnati, Ohio.

31. COLA component : COST. Cost Of Living Adjustment. Nice clue.

32. 69-Across holders : GUMS

33. Vet school subj. : ANAT.

34. Joel's "Cabaret" co-star : LIZA. Ms. Minnelli was a gimme, but I had to go and look up Joel. Joel Grey, he played the Master of Ceremonies.

35. Hinted-at hidden meanings : OVERTONES

37. AFC East team : NY JETS

40. Sis or bro : SIB.

41. Grade of excellence: Abbr. : QUAL. Quality, a "degree or standard of excellence, esp. a high standard".

46. Cab alternative : ZIN

48. Opposite of guzzled : SIPPED

50. Cube's dozen : EDGES

52. Expectant mom's words : IS DUE. I went for "I'M DUE". Not sure about "is due".

53. Inscribed pillar : STELE

54. Lead on : TEMPT. 

55. Blockbuster : SMASH

56. Some TV screens : LCDS

57. They work better when they focus : EYES. Unless you're trying to "see" one of those Magic Eye posters that gave us all fits in the 1990's. Here's one that resolves pretty quickly:


58. Dairy Queen order : MALT

59. Lucky streak : ROLL

63. Skillful, facetiously : EPT. "Opposite" of "inept". I like these "false" opposites. Mt. Etna is definitely "ert", unlike Vesuvius, and I hope my blogging is "ane" rather than the alternative!

With that, here's the grid!

Steve



Aug 23, 2012

Thursday, August 23, 2012 Richard F. Mausser

Theme: Where in the world...?

17A. Cairo's location? : FIFTY ACROSS. Why, it's 50A. "Aida" setting : EGYPT!

61A. Havana's location? : SEVEN ACROSS. And that would be 7A. It's east of Yucatán : CUBA

11D. Jerusalem's location? : TWELVE DOWN. Of course, we find 12D. Mount Carmel locale : ISRAEL

28D. Lima's location? : THIRTY DOWN. And finally, we go to 30D. Cole Porter's Indiana hometown : PERU

Fun theme, with a word search to find the locales hinted at by the theme entries. I loved this unique theme, using crossword locations to find geographical locales!

Marti here. I got back from the races in Saratoga, unpacked, then re-packed to go down to the Cape for a few days. I got home late in the evening, just in time to sort out the rest...

Across:

1. Chandelier danglers : PRISMS. One prism on my antique Viennese chandelier cost me $25 to replace...At that rate, I could sell the chandelier and pay off the mortgage!

11. Nervous reaction : TIC

14. Prophet in Babylon : DANIEL

15. Short mystery writer? : ANON. HaHa!! loved this clue.

16. Evergreen State sch. : WSU. Washington State University. And 18D. 16-Across mascot : COUGAR

19. Miss a fly : ERR. I assume that would mean, missing a fly ball in baseball??

20. Get licked by : LOSE TO.

21. Place to fill a flask : CHEM LAB. Not my first thought on this one!

23. She played Honey in "Dr. No" : URSULA. Andress. This chick.

25. Flood zone structure : LEVEE

26. Letters followed by a colon : HTTP

29. [I'm in trouble!] : GULP

31. Neuter, as a stallion : GELD

32. Backrub response : AAH

33. Short race : DRAG. I never could understand this sport...seems like a waste of good rubber, to me!

35. "Holy Toledo!" : EGAD

37. More succulent : JUICIER

39. Breakfast in a bar : GRANOLA

42. Red herring : RUSE

43. Paint ineptly : DAUB. Like this one?



44. Walked away with : WON

45. Two-timers : RATS

47. Briquettes, e.g. : FUEL. Charcoal briquettes used to fuel the grill...

49. Exclusively : ONLY

52. Texas slugger Cruz : NELSON.

55. Where some manners are important : BEDSIDE

57. Sports negotiating group : OWNERS

60. "Need ___ on?" : I GO. Why...I must!

64. Blue ___ : LAW. Blue Laws mostly have to do with the prohibition of alcohol sales on Sundays...but in Illinois, it also relates to car sales! (Go figure!)

65. Sheet music symbol : CLEF

66. Bit of roller coaster drama : PLUNGE. Yikes!

67. Hosp. worker : LPN. Licensed Practical Nurse.

68. Help with an answer : HINT. I could have used a few when solving this one!

69. It has 100 seats : SENATE

Down:


1. Common email attachment format : PDF. Portable Document Format.

2. Support bar : RAIL

3. What FAQs offer : INFO

4. Shows interest : SITS UP

5. Filmmaker Russ : MEYER. He is best known for his low-budget sexploitation films that featured campy humor, sly satire and large-breasted women. Sounds like he would fit right in on this blog!

6. Mattress supports : SLATS

7. Caboose, for one : CAR

8. Petroleum giant that merged with Chevron in 2005 : UNOCAL. New to me.

9. Hogwash : BOSH

10. Adams who shot El Capitan : ANSEL. Stunning photographs!



13. Kept in check : CURBED

22. Fox of "Transformers" : MEGAN. You like her?

24. Big galoot : LUG

26. Uris novel, with "The" : HAJ. I haven't read it (yet). You?

27. Upsilon preceder : TAU

33. Bad-mouth : DIS

34. Diver's domain : REEF

36. Debatable "gift" : GAB

38. Crescent moon points : CUSPS

39. Tank unit : GALLON

40. "OMG, too funny!" : LOL. "Laugh Out Loud!"

41. "___ volunteers?" : ANY

43. What makes an amp damp? : DEE. Did the clue fool you?

45. Send a new invoice to : REBILL

46. Marital challenge, perhaps : AGE GAP. Oh, I don't know...some of my best husbands were older than me!

48. Rugged : UNEVEN

49. Like many an extra-inning game : ONE RUN

51. Former CBS head Laurence : TISCH. Needed all the perps for this one!

53. Trades : SWAPS

54. Réunion attendee : ONCLE. French for "uncle".

56. Lunch spot : DELI

58. Novelest Jaffe : RONA

59. USAF rank above senior airman : SSGT. Staff Sergeant.

62. Newt, once : EFT

63. Make sure : SEE

Answer grid.

Until next Thursday,

Hugs!
Marti

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Tinbeni! I'm raising my mug of soy milk, Cheers!