Patti V., who doubles as Rich Norris' assistant at the LAT, has turned on the creative juices again in 2016 with 5 puzzles in the last 10 weeks. Today we have a variation of the definition puzzle, where words that are associated with each other - here items in a kitchen - are used as clues for completely different things. My only nit was including both DISH and PLATE and leaving out KNIFE, but then I realized there really are no other meanings for knife that do not relate to cutting. This is a very friendly puzzle with some new material as well as bringing back some memories from the 50s and 60s. We have as additional long fill ARTESIAN, READ UP ON, PLEASE HOLD and DEAN MARTIN. Cool, let's do it!
17A. Spoon : HUG TENDERLY (11). Do you want to be an EXPERT?
24A. Dish : SPREAD GOSSIP (12). Garbage Of Stupid Silly Ignorant People. I think it implies dishing dirt.
38A. Fork : BRANCH IN THE ROAD (15). Who can forget Yogi Berra's saying "When you come to a fork in the road, take it"
49A. Plate : COAT WITH GOLD (12). I have nothing here except the old joke about the man (in the old un-pc days it was a Polish man) who won an Olympic gold medal and was so proud he had it bronzed.
60A. Bowl : PLAY TEN PINS (11). Boomer, is this acceptable or only used with duck pins?
In Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, the game is commonly referred to as just "Bowling". In New England, "bowling" is usually referred to as "ten-pin bowling" or "big-ball bowling", because of the smaller diameter, lighter weight ball used in the Worcester, Massachusetts-conceived sport of candlepin bowling from 1880, and the similarly "small-ball" sport of duckpin bowling (conceived in 1895), popular in the Northeast United States
Across:
1. Assuming it's true : AS FACT.
7. "Bloom County" penguin : OPUS. I gratuitously linked him recently.
11. Jams : PJS. Jammies-yes. Jams?
14. After-dinner gathering : SOIREE. The forties and fifties were filled with soirees.
15. Go in different directions : PART. Part company.
16. Service to redo : LET. Tennis. 46D. Org. for netmen : ATP. The Association of Tennis Professionals HISTORY.
19. Flight status info : ETA.
20. In addition : ELSE. Put it in, took it out, put it back.
21. "The Fault in __ Stars": John Green novel : OUR. if you like crying...
22. Leader's domain : REALM.
28. Chatter boxes? : RADIOS. I like the clue and remember the nights before we had TV and listening to all those great voices.
31. Light weight : OUNCE.
32. It may precede bad news : I FEAR. I fear we have run out of caviar, deah.
33. Beavers, e.g. : HATS. I bet you did not know all of THIS.
35. "Girls" channel : HBO.
42. Icarus, to Daedalus : SON.
43. Bar employee: Abbr. : ATTY. Please let us never have att as fill for lawyers.
44. String quartet member : CELLO. A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – two violin players, a viola player and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group. ... The string quartet was developed into its current form by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, with his works in the 1750s establishing the genre. Wiki.
45. Prefix with arch : MATRI. Patri anyone?
48. Bulldozer companion : LOADER. LINK. Can you name them all?
53. Marx with a horn : HARPO. Or many horns.
55. The munchies, e.g. : URGE.
59. Hairy TV cousin : ITT. Great theme song to the Addams Family.
LINK.
64. Flowery welcome : LEI.65. It's retold often : LORE.
66. Greet on the street : TOOT AT. A rhymsical clue.
67. Roadside shelter : INN.
68. "Oh, ew" : YUCK.
69. Fancy, and then some : ORNATE.
Down:
1. New York stadium named for a sports great : ASHE.
2. __-searching : SOUL.
3. Tree fruit : FIGS.
4. Like some wells : ARTESIAN. This CONCEPT fascinated me as a chikd.
5. One of a Chicago duo : CEE.
6. Group of like voices : TENORS. We all the most famous group of three tenors but how about this GROUP which sings...
7. Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas," e.g. : OPERA.
8. Four score, often? : PAR. Really fun deception as more than half of all gold holes are played a par of 4.
9. Address bar address : URL.
10. "Lie Down in Darkness" author : STYRON. A truly influential writer who along with others started the Paris Review as well as authoring The Confessions of Nat Turner and Sophie's Choice.
11. Request before the music starts : PLEASE HOLD. 33D. Order before the music starts : HIT IT.
12. Beijing-born action hero : JET LI. Was he a STAR in your world C.C.?
13. Passport mark : STAMP.
18. Payable : DUE.
23. "I didn't mean that" key : ESC.
25. Bordeaux butcher's offering : PORC. French word for pork.
26. Eccentric : DOTTY. I think of Aunt Clara from Bewitched.
27. Write effusively : GUSH.
28. Smokehouse order : RIBS.
29. Coiffure style : AFRO.
30. '60s-'70s variety show host : DEAN MARTIN. After leaving Jerry Lewis, Dean has his own show.
36. Agricultural bundle : BALE.
37. Reminder to take out the trash? : ODOR.
39. Big name in WWI espionage : HARI. She is back. The 100 year anniversary of her execution will be in October 2017.
40. Green sci. : ECOLogy.
41. Research : READ UP ON.
47. Like some paper towels : TWO PLY.
48. Underscore? : LOSE TO. Very tricky; we use the other meaning of underscore often in legal writing.
49. Some like it hot : CHILI.
50. Like Cheerios : OATEN. To me they are more often eaten.
51. "Frida" star Salma : HAYEK. Seeing her with Antonio Banderas in Desperado was eye opening!
52. Prepare to remodel, maybe : GUT. Of the 16 definitions for this word, 4 are verbs.
13. (Cookery) to remove the entrails from (fish, etc)
14. (esp of fire) to destroy the inside of (a building)
15. to plunder; despoil: the raiders gutted the city.
16. to take out the central points of (an article), esp in summary form
56. Poet Dove : RITA. I like poetry but I am not up on my POETS.
57. Pest in a swarm : GNAT. Not a midge.
58. Where el sol rises : ESTE. Sun rises in the east even in Spanish speaking places.
61. Murderers' Row teammate of Babe : LOU. Ruth and Gehrig.
62. Part of a hinged-door floor plan symbol : ARC.
63. Fish-fowl link : NOR.
Wow, we are done already. Well I hope you enjoyed our kitchen duty and don't forget to turn out the lights when you are done. Thanks PV, it was fun. And thank you my bride Oo who will have a birthday tomorrow. Lemonade out.
Celebrate all veterans now and before!!!
