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

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May 15, 2011

Sunday, May 15th, 2011 Don Gagliardo & C.C. Burnikel

Theme: SALE ! Today's theme relates to the "two month" period preceding the end of business for a company filing Chapter 11 -

23A. Week 1 : BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

39A. Week 2 : INVENTORY REDUCTION

57A. Week 3 : DEEP DISCOUNTS

67A. Week 4 : HUGE SAVINGS

82A. Week 5 : BLOW-OUT PRICES

97A. Week 6 : STORE-WIDE CLEARANCE

115A. Week 7 : EVERYTHING MUST GO

129A. Week 8 : CLOSED

I was there for the final days of a local hardware/paint store Pergament in 2001.

Splynter, filling in for today's blogger, who is actually today's co-constructor - C.C.~!

See both C.C. and Don's note at the end of the comments.

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Lifetime job : CAREER

7. "Let __ eat cake!" : THEM

11. "__ meant was ..." : ALL I

15. "Loser" rocker : BECK - music; for me, his first 'hit', and "I" get mentioned at 2:00

19. Commonly thorny tree : ACACIA

20. Whit : IOTA

21. Like people in pews : LAIC - not 'of the cloth'

22. Wheel shaft : AXLE

26. No View, No Touch Trap maker : D-CON rat traps

27. Sis's sib : BRO

28. Like an ant. : OPPosite - antonym

29. Org. that can help you get started : AAA quite some clechos today;  4D. Car starter? : ECO. Ecocar.

30. Fastens, as a ship's rope : BELAYS  "Belay that belaying~!" I think of Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation

32. One-named New Ager : YANNI - lots of music today, but this one y'all can link for yourselves....

35. Some strings : VIOLAS

38. Common Latino newspaper name : EL SOL

45. Catch word? : HOWEVER - don't "get" it

48. Beans spiller : STOOLIE

49. Many NASA astronauts were in it : BSA - Boy Scouts of America - tricky; I was looking for something much more "rocket science" - then again, isn't that a badge?  I was never in.

50. "__ seen the light!" : I'VE

51. 1997-2006 U.N. leader : ANNAN

54. Foot or fathom : UNIT - of measure, in this case length; a fathom is 6 feet

55. Team : SQUAD

61. "Understood" : I HEAR YA

63. Els with clubs : ERNIE

64. 1968 U.S. Open champ : ASHE -, Arthur - the Queens, NY US Open tennis stadium is named for him

65. Put into law : ENACT

66. Group with the 1979 #1 hit "Babe" : STYX - sorry, but "lame", no link

71. __ world : ARAB

75. Silly : INANE - crossword standard

77. Lincoln in-law : TODD

78. Refrain syllables : TRA LA

79. Yacht feature? : SILENT C - love this, had the 'silent' part, and wondered if it was the "A" or "H", too - technically, it's "YOT"

86. Degrade : ABASE

87. Zeus' jealous wife : HERA

89. Chicago Eight defendant : SEALE - Bobby, the Black Panther co-founder, was the eighth member, and had his trial severed from the other seven

90. Mess up : ERR

91. Club __ : MED - I remember the commercial, the "antidote to civilization"

92. "Li'l Abner" and "Doonesbury," e.g. : SATIRES

95. Inner-city genre : GANGSTA - as in gangsta rap

102. Exeter's county : DEVON - map

103. As much as one cares to see : EYEFUL - went to Hooters for the hockey game, got my EYE FULL...

104. They may be childproofed : HOMES - I never had a baby, but I have been in these types of homes, where everything has a secondary catch on it

108. Place saver : DOG-EAR - as a book page

110. Got the gold : WON

112. __ Grande : RIO

113. Word to a masseuse : AAH

114. The mi. in Mile-High City : ELEVation

122. Ax : FIRE - Canned, 86'ed

123. Floor piece : TILE

124. Yahtzee quintet : DICE

125. Hall of Fame subject of "The Last Boy" : MANTLE - baseball, I am sure a C.C. contribution, Mickey Mantle

126. Lob : TOSS

127. Stops hedging : OPTS

128. Ton : SCAD

DOWN:

1. Hack : CABBY - hesitated, wanted CABBIE at first

2. Legend creator : ACURA -this car

3. Silky synthetic : RAYON

5. German article : EIN and, 33A. Freudian "never" : NIE

6. Arctic explorer John : RAE

7. Men's wear accessory : TIE PIN

8. East Asian stew : HOT POT - Wiki

9. Ike's command: Abbr. : ETO - Another crossword standard, the European Theater of Operations

10. "Oh, brother!" : MAN

11. Communications opener : ALFA - as in the pilot's alphabet, BRAVO CHARLIE, etc.

12. Zhivago's love : LARA

13. It's not good to get caught in one : LIE

14. Cool color for contacts : ICE BLUE - gotten cliche as 'vampire'

15. Rotten apples, so to speak : BAD LOT

16. Legendary sword : EXCALIBUR  - have to link this

17. Sate : CLOY - I thought this meant annoy, as in "I forget his name, and it cloys at me"

18. 50-year-old dolls : KENS - D'oh~!, I was thinking Barbie

24. Rules : GOVERNS

25. Routine grounder, say : EASY OUT - baseball again

31. F1 neighbor : ESC - keyboard, top row

34. Intrude upon, as one's space : INVADE

36. Part of 81-Down : LOS Angeles

37. Gallery fare : ART

38. Cutting, maybe : EDITING

40. One of a Latin trio : VENI - Veni, vidi, vici - I didn't know this, but "I came, I smoked, I quit" - the quitting part 4 years ago.

41. Silver and Glass : RONs

42. Yale Bowl rooter : ELI and 93D. Tarzan portrayer Ron : ELY

43. Anthem start : O SAY can you see...

44. Zippo : NADA - anyone else think lighter first?

45. Keeps secret : HIDES immediate clecho;

46. Hardly secret : OVERT

47. Squirt : WEENY

52. Confined, after "in" : A CAGE - this rocks

53. Inhaler? : NOSE - clecho, two "in" clues in a row

55. Dry, as wine : SEC

56. Doha native : QATARI - map #2

58. Playful sprites : PIXIES - had NAIADS at first

59. Hesitating sounds : UHS - had UMS first, made my Arthur "ASME" (64A)

60. "Peachy!" : NEAT-O

62. Owns : HAS

65. Assume, as a role : ENDUE

67. Bowler, for one : HAT

68. Let loose : UNCHAIN - gotta link it

69. Altar assurance : VOW immediate clecho;

70. Altar assurances : I DOs - and I had them reversed; I DO, then VOWS

72. Darts : RACES

73. It may be red : ALERT - Star Trek again

74. Iraqi seaport : BASRA

76. Manila-to-Seoul dir. : NNE

78. Dug-out area : TRENCH - ah, semi-baseball

79. __ Club: Costco rival : SAM'S

80. "Yeah, right!" : I BET

81. Six-time World Series-winning MLB franchise : L.A. DODGERS

82. Party wheel : BRIE - cheese wheel

83. It may be grand : LARCENY - as OPPosed to Petit

84. Manila tongue : TAGALOG - I have heard the word

85. Blueprint : PLAN

88. Airport stat. : ETD - Estimated Time of Departure

92. Affirmed in court : SWORE TO

94. "Get it?" : SEE?

96. Old Prizm maker : GEO - interesting history

98. "Speed" actor : REEVES

99. Uncle Tom rescues her from drowning : EVA - from the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe - and an awesome song from Warrant

100. Aardvarks' land : AFRICA - Argyle had this Monday; linked one of my favorite all-time songs

101. Undone : RUINED

105. Dillon and Damon : MATTs

106. Hole in one, e.g. : EAGLE - the rarest of eagles, or "two under par" on a par three

107. Did a smithy's job : SHOED

108. Nimble : DEFT - I think the word sounds DEFT; crafty and skilled

109. Mixed bag : OLIO

110. Whip mark : WELT

111. Mined metals : ORES

116. Big shot : VIP

117. Favre's 508, briefly : TDs - Brett Favre, Quarterback, and his 1A touchdown passes

118. Fruit drink named for a vitamin : Hi-C

119. III x DCC : MMC - Roman math, 3 X (500+100+100) = 2100(1000+1000+100)

120. "Friendly skies" co. : UAL - United Airlines

121. __-Cat : SNO - image

Splynter

Notes from C.C. & Don:

This "Sale" idea first came to us last August. We had to change a few theme entries that are either too plain or did not resonate with Rich. We originally had different clues for the theme entries. Rich went a step forward and came up with the "Week 1, 2..." idea. Putting the final punch line CLOSED in the lower right corner created the greatest challenge to completing the fill smoothly. It took 8 months of back and forth with Rich before the puzzle was finally accepted.