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

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Oct 21, 2012

Sunday October 21, 2012 Alan Arbesfeld

Theme: Alphabetical Pairings - AB, CD, EF, GH, IJ, KL, MN, OP, QR, ST, UV, WX & YZ are the initials of each theme entry.

 23A. Catherine of Aragon's successor, marriagewise : ANNE BOLEYN

 24A. High-volume pesticide deliverer : CROP DUSTER. Do you use this in your farm, Windhover?


 34A. "Cimarron" novelist : EDNA FERBER

41A. Best Picture of 1932 : GRAND HOTEL

 55A. Lively folk dances : IRISH JIGS. Is Jig part of your family reunion activities, Irish Miss? We had Polka dance last time. Boomer's mother was of Polish/German roots, mostly Norwegian on his father's side.

58A. Citrusy pie flavor : KEY LIME. Have some!


67A. Attempts to smooth ruffled feathers : MAKES NICE. I wonder if TTP likes Adele's "Skyfall". Amazing voice.

74A. Crankcase components : OIL PANS

77A. Page-turner : QUICK READ. I'm not sure if "Red Sorghum" by Mo Yan (the new Nobelist) is available in English. But it's a beautiful book. Definitely not a quick read.

86A. Cardiologist's exam : STRESS TEST

92A. Burkina Faso, once : UPPER VOLTA. Not familiar with Burkina Faso.

113A. Procedures for detecting carpal fractures : WRIST X-RAYS

115A. Restricted parking area, in some cases : YELLOW ZONE

Some key points in this theme:

1) Orderly letter progression;

2) Each symmetrically placed pair must have the same number of letters (AB= YZ letter count wise)

3) All the theme entries should be placed Across for visual effect

4) Most of the theme entries will be on the short side, as there are 12 theme entries (13, Dummy! Thanks, John Lampkin) and it's challenging to put them all Across. More often we see 7 to 9 on Sundays.

When I first started, I thought CREDIT LINE and LOSING TIME are parts of the theme due to their grid placements. But the gimmick quickly revealed itself. 

Across:

1. Dominant theme : MOTIF

6. "... __ a puddy tat!" : I TAW

10. Collectible game system : ATARI. I bet its collectible value is not as high as those old baseball cards in Dennis' boxes. He's currently unpacking and just discovered that he had a few 1908 tobacco cards.

15. Confident words : I CAN

19. MasterCard offering : CREDIT LINE

21. Beset by delays : LOSING TIME

25. They could go either way : TOSS-UPS.  And 32. Ratio for 25-Across : EVEN ODDS

26. When many lunch : AT NOON. Mine is 11:00am. Yours?

28. Plan : INTEND

29. "Stay" singer Lisa : LOEB. Haven't seen her for some time.

31. PBS benefactor : NEA (National Endowment for the Arts)
  
38. Physician's gp. : AMA. Boomer's VA doctor said that he could take a handful of Aleve next time his arthritis flared up. The bottle said you should not take no more than 3 per day. Whom to trust?

39. Brush fire op : EVAC (Evacuation)

40. Latin king : REX

48. Fronton balls : PELOTAS. Jai alai balls. Costs over $100/each? Wow! Fronton is Jai alai court. Cesta is the basket. I learned from doing Xword. 


52. Lenin's successor : STALIN. This picture (Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin & Mao) was in all our classroom walls.



54. Entertain with extravagance : REGALE

57. Classical lead-in : NEO. Neo-classical.

59. Rival of Cassio : IAGO. "Othello".

60. Oil used in paint : LINSEED

62. "Lordy!" : EGAD

63. Units in nutrition : GRAMS
 
69. __ fatty acid : TRANS
 
70. Russian wheels : LADA. Stumped me last time. Again today.

71. Emit : RADIATE

72. Tach measures: Abbr. : RPMs 

76. "Dude!" : BRO

82. Belgian lager, familiarly : STELLA. Stella Artois.

83. Browning's "How Do I Love Thee?" e.g. : SONNET. Have you dated anyone who never said "I love you" to you?

85. In a stuffed-up way : NASALLY
  
88. It fell after about 15 years : MIR. Hard clue. 1986 to 2001.

90. Pet food brand : IAMS. I also think Marti should keep the new cat. It looks so pert.

91. Landlocked Afr. land : ETH (Ethiopia)
 
96. Adds moisture to : HYDRATES. I'm a firm believer in moisturizers.

102. Batman after Michael : VAL (Kilmer). Michael Keaton.

103. Sweetheart : BEAU

104. Gold compound : AURATE. Makes sense, AU.

105. Civil War battle site : SHILOH

108. Took in, say : ALTERED

117. Avoids a confrontation : STEPS ASIDE

118. Go through : EXPERIENCE

119. Swedish actress Persson : ESSY. I belong to those 47% who don't know this lady.

120. Marketing data : SALES
 
121. Brown and Patrick : DANs.

122. Took a shot : TRIED

Down:

1. Hurdle for a would-be doc : MCAT

2. "Just answer yes __!" : OR NO

3. Place in math class? : TENS. Clever clue.

4. "Et tu, Brute?" day : IDES

5. Bone below the femur : FIBULA

6. "Let me get back to you" : I'LL SEE

7. Reason for sudden death : TIE. I hope you thought of sports immediately, otherwise, the clue is pretty heavy.

8. "Dragonwyck" author Seton : ANYA

9. Followed : WENT NEXT 

10. Metal giant : ALCOA. Always the first to report quarterly earnings, among the Dow components.

11. Picador's target : TORO

12. Without dissent : AS ONE MAN
 
13. Mending target : RIP

14. Non-studio pic : INDIE

 15. "__ die for!" : IT'S TO.  Must be Lucina's homemade tamales! I bought a block of taro cake yesterday and fried some for lunch. Too much rice flour and not enough taro flour, Jayce.

 

16. Credited in a note : CITED

17. Improve : AMEND

18. Unhip types : NERDS

20. Riding, with "on" : TOP OF

22. "Project Runway" mentor Tim : GUNN. "Make it work!". Like Emeril's "Bam!"

27. __ Tamid: synagogue lamp : NER. Gimme for Lemonade/Hahtool. Completely unknown to me.

30. "Crank up the heat!" : BRR

33. Carpooling convenience : VAN

34. At all : EVER
 
35. Catalan surrealist : DALI

36. Sgts., e.g. : NCOs

37. First lady before Mamie : BESS

38. Melodic segments : ARIOSI. Plural of Arioso.

39. Dermal opening : EPI. Epidermal. 

41. Headly of "Dick Tracy" : GLENNE. No idea.


42. Stowe novel : DRED

43. "Ahem" relative : HEY

44. Lustful looker : OGLER. Here is the most famous Chinese actress: Gong Li. I think she's more beautiful than Bill G's girlfriend Sofia Vergara. Gong Li's debut film is Mo Yan's "Red Sorghum".

45. Subarctic forest : TAIGA

46. Jazz trumpeter Ziggy : ELMAN. Gimme for Pas de chat, or her husband.

47. British city whose natives are called Loiners : LEEDS. Loiners? What does it mean?


49. "I'm holding it!" : THIS

50. Multi-platinum Steely Dan album : AJA

51. Odysseus trio, to Homer : SIGMAS. The three S in Odysseus, I suppose.

53. "The Good Girl" star : ANISTON (Jennifer). I've watched almost all of Aniston's movies. "The Good Girl" is so so. Did you see "Derailed"? It's terrifying.

56. Use spurs on : GOAD

58. Not cut : KEEP IN

60. Picked up : LEARNT

61. Beige shade : ECRU

63. Lip protection : GLOSS

64. "Nick of Time" singer : RAITT (Bonnie)

65. Freud contemporary : ADLER

66. Colorful autumn tree : MAPLE

68. Put the __ on: squelch : KIBOSH. Spitzboov used this phrase at times.

69. Impatient sounds : TSKS

71. Genetic chains : RNAS

73. '70s Lynyrd Skynyrd label : MCA

75. Racing's Unsers : ALs

77. Canal-cleaning device : Q-TIP

78. Way to travel : RAIL
 
79. Israeli port city : ELAT. It appeared often in the old Wayne R. Willams' puzzles.

80. __ mater : ALMA

81. Peptic opening? : DYS. Dyspeptic. 

83. Leaves the harbor : SETS SAIL

84. Working : EMPLOYED

87. Shirt prohibited at most golf courses, ironically : TEE.

89. Yank's foe : REB

92. Initials at O'Hare : UAL

93. Old Spanish coins : REALES. I belong to those 47% who don't know these coins.
 

94. Knight's quality : VALOR

95. Stay one step ahead of : OUTWIT

96. Anchor cable opening : HAWSE. Forgot. We had this before. CCnesia.

97. Mongolian tents : YURTS

98. Hangs on a line : DRIES

99. Rough, in a way : RASPY

100. Court figs. : ATTs

101. State with a panhandle : TEXAS

102. Shop class holders : VISES

106. __ Park: FDR home site : HYDE

107. Twice tri- : HEXA. "Six" prefix.

109. Israeli statesman Weizman : EZER

110. Package word with a cable car in its "o" : RONI

111. Suffix with defer : ENCE

112. Monopoly card : DEED

114. Pretoria's land: Abbr. : RSA (Republic of South Africa)

116. Hosp. staffer : LPN. Hi there, Blue Iris.

C.C.