Well after you zipped through yesterday's puzzle and marti's fun write up, we have a more normal Friday with smaller word count, but with a visual theme. The reveal is in the middle of the grid, across, and the three theme answers in the Down clues, This requires the solver to read the hidden word from bottom to top, as TIDE is hidden in each of the three theme answers, and the letters are 'rising.' We have had bottom to top theme answers before, so I do not expect this to be as polarizing a puzzle as last week, especially as the puzzle has so many 7,8 and 9 letter fill. ANILINE, ARIANNA, ARMADAS, DIETARY, VIRGINS, YES MA'AM, AVOIDING, INNATELY, PILSNERS, REMNANTS, ANNAPOLIS and DANDELION, three of which are new to the LA Times. Comparatively light on proper names, you all should have some fun here. This is Maryland's Frank VIRZI's third LAT, I blogged his first back in 2010, but he is obviously very prolific.
35A. Boat lifters found in this puzzle's three longest answers : RISING TIDES.(11).I like the definition of 'boat lifter' to be the rising tide; Alabama under Nick Satan was a rising tide, now we will see if they will ebb.
4D. Bank offerings : CREDIT LINES.(11). Many years ago these loans were unsecured, not any more. Picture reading from right to left and the TIDE emerges.
7D. Journalism bigwigs : MANAGING EDITORS. (15). I know our learned audience will help me understand the dynamic of the Managing Editor and the Publisher in a working newspaper.
26D. Journeys of discovery : EXPEDITIONS. (11). Another nice definition which required perp help, but as it was down, it was there.
Across:
1. Gush forth, as chimney smoke : BELCH. Really, how PC. As a child we had 24 hour smoke billowing from the textile mill furnaces, I have read about smoke being belched out, but never seen it. We lost our factories, the air was better but there were no jobs.
6. Coldplay gear : AMPS. bye bye, Gwyneth. LISTEN.
10. Fix, in a way : SPAY. Never understood this euphemism; I certainly would not feel fixed, and would...
14. Foil : AVERT. any such plan, as it would ruin my...
15. Pace : GAIT. No desire to be an Unsullied, no thank you.
16. Old Milano moola : LIRE. Personally, being paid in Milano cookies sounds appealing.
17. Shakes, as a tail : LOSES. These days, with drones and tracking devices and gps in your phone, a detective's life sounds easier. It reminds me how with the advent of caller ID, television mysteries had to resort to the 'burner' phones to explain why they did not catch the bad guy when he called.
18. Capital on Chesapeake Bay : ANNAPOLIS, One of the new fill, and odd that no mention of the capital of Maryland, or the home of the Naval Academy ever appeared in a LA Times puzzle. How many love the Maryland crabs from the bay?
20. Lost traction : SLID.
21. Drug initially studied for use in treating angina : VIAGRA. After hanging their clip boards of data gingerly for a while, it occurred to the Pharma that the other use might be profitable. Is it me, or was pairing with 21D. Vestal __: Roman flame tenders : VIRGINS a Freudian gesture from Mr. Virzi? More virgins? 33A. Carmelite, e.g. : NUN. The mountain from which they were founded. LINK.
23. Shying away from : AVOIDING.
25. Natural dye : HENNA. I was thinking about getting a Henna tattoo to freak my kids out, what with father's day coming up and all.
27. Advise : MENTOR. A favorite word and a lost art.
28. Nest egg item, for short : IRA. Individual Retirement Account.
31. Spinoff of TV's "Hercules" : XENA. Lucy Lawless, what a great name!
32. Place for a cast : LEG. Not at the end of the movie.
34. Buckingham buggy : PRAM. The benefit of all the British mystery fiction is knowing what Steve grew up learning in person. A new Martha Grimes hit the stands yesterday. Welcome back Richard Jury.
38. Port near the Red Sea : ADEN.
40. Alumni directory word : NEE. Is this fair, or should it have said ALUMNAE directory word?
41. Chap : LAD.
42. Winter coat : RIME. Not related to:
43. Nursery supply : SOD. Not Desitin, or talcum powder.
44. Reply to "No, you couldn't have!" : I DID SO.
48. It was founded in Oxford in 1946 : MENSA. I did not know this, do I have to give up my membership?
50. From the start : INNATELY.
52. One-time connection : AT A. Not a connection that has been lost, but one that connects one and time.
53. White terrier, for short : WESTIE. They look odd. LINK.(2:48).
56. California's Mission Santa __ : INES. Not up on my California Missions but have been to many really old ones in Florida.
57. Aster relative : DANDELION. I did not know this. Wild Flower or WEED?
59. Schubert's "Eine kleine Trauermusik," e.g. : NONET. From the Latin meaning 9, as they require 9 instruments. Otherwise, JzB, please HELP!
60. Martial __ : ARTS.
61. French 101 infinitive : ETRE. être ou ne pas être.
62. Make nasty comments : SNIPE. The kind that hurt people. Clecho: 64A. Make nasty comments : CUSS. The kind where the words are unacceptable, but not necessarily mean.
63. GPS part: Abbr. : SYSTem. Global Positioning System.
65. From Nineveh: Abbr. : ASSYR. Eeeeek. Is this an abbreviation of Assyrian? Am I an Americ? Assyria is now known as Iraq.
Down:
1. Fragrant fir : BALSAM. A common choice for Christmas TREE.
2. Develop gradually : EVOLVE.Like the various Corner blogging styles.
3. Sore spot : LESION. I like this clue/fill a lot and I am not sure why
5. Abbr. after Cleveland or Brooklyn : HTS. In my schools they came from Shaker Heights.
6. "Come __?" : AGAIN? I did not hear you.
8. Sign of engine trouble, perhaps : PING.
9. One billed higher than the rest : STAR. In my world they are called senior partners.
10. Traffic warning : SLO. Is it really worth removing the 'W?" Two days in a roW?
11. Pale lagers : PILSNERS. My beer brewing sons would be very unhappy with this clue/fill. All Beer is either Lager (cold bottom fermentation) or Ale (warm top fermentation). Pilsners (named after the city in Czechoslovakia where the style was created) are a form of lager, though most are golden in color. They are pale compared to the more robust lagers. Your basic Beck's, Heineken and the like are pilsners.
12. Author Huffington : ARIANNA. Her Huffington Post was bought by AOL for $315 Million; if interested you go to this LINK.
13. Polite assent : YES MA'AM. Many women under 35 find this greeting very offensive.
19. Tuba note : PAH. And its friend OOM.
24. Executes : DOES.
29. Track : RUT.
30. Dye-making compound : ANILINE.
35. Leftovers : REMNANTS. Hi honey, let's have some remnants for supper.
36D. Natal opening : NEOnatal.
37. Word from a crib : DADA. Or the now familiar TV staple, "get off my turf, mofo."
38. Seagoing forces : ARMADAS. The tale of the defeat of the SPANISH ARMADA in 1588 was a riveting one when I was in grammar school.
39. Like many supplements : DIETARY.
45. Hall of Fame pitcher Eckersley : DENNIS. Eck who went from being a successful starter to being a great reliever when he was traded to Oakland and manager Tony LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan. STATS. He started with Cleveland but was traded when his wife had an affair with another Cleveland player. He also was traded from the RedSox to the Cubs in the deal that brought Bill Buckner to Boston.
46. Nodding : SLEEPY. Which makes me want to go to bed, but then...
47. Bed denizen : OYSTER. if ever I wake up and find an oyster in my bed I am going to be livid.
49. Leave dumbstruck : AWE.
51. Dressing extreme? : NINES. Origin per askville: "Dressed to the nines, or dressed up to the nines are merely a version of the phrase that is applied to clothing. That is first cited in John C. Hotten's A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words, 1859 as: 'DRESSED UP TO THE NINES', in a showy 'recherché' manner."
54. Monthly pmt. : ELECtricity. This is an extruded clue/fill as you do not pay your Elec, you pay the bill.
55. As found, with "in" : SITU. Latin, and familiar to all from the TV CSI type shows.
58. Source of addl. evening light : DST. Daylight Savings Time.
59. Surveillance org. : NSA. National Security Agency A timely fill that keeps coming up in the puzzles and the news.
June is here, soon it will be summer and the days will start getting shorter again; in the meantime I hope you enjoyed this puzzle and have a pleasant week end. Father's Day is coming
Lemonade out.
Notes from C.C.:
1) The third Minnesota Crossword Tournament will be held on June 22, 2014 at The Landmark Center in Saint Paul. Please click here
for more information. Now they have a short bio of each constructor.
2) JD emailed me these two wonderful pictures. She said:
"Yesterday (June 4 Wednesday) the coven had our yearly trek over to Dodo's, and had a lovely time. Dodo was in good spirits and seeing Lucina makes this trip extra special. We could have spent the whole afternoon, after a delicious lunch, chatting, but unfortunately the drive takes us 2 1/2 hours if we get on the road before the commuters.
BTW, Garlic Gal did a spectacular job of weaving thru the truck traffic and the back seat in her car was most comfortable. Couldn't even tell it was 92 outside with the AC."
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| L to R: Chickie, Lucina, Garlic Gal, JD, and Dodo. |
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| Dodo, who will be 89 years old this coming Oct |
