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Jan 19, 2023

Thursday, January 19, 2023, Jerry Edelstein

You have to dial your Wayback Machine to  September 16, 2013 to find veteran Jerry Edelstein's first LA Times puzzle, blogged by the inimitable Argyle.  This marks Jerry's 39th appearance here, and today he schools us in a little business management with a lesson about

The C Team

As there are no circles, no stars, and no question marks you have to put your ear to the ground and listen very closely to hear the 4 homophonic themers:

20A. C's: MEDIOCRE GRADES.  Hand up if you never got one of these in college (I got some even worse).  Don't be shy ...

33A. Seas: GLOBAL SEPTET.   Our GLOBE is girt with Seven Oceans, traditionally called "The Seven Seas", but some sources cite others:

The Seven Seas
43A. Sees: GETS THE POINT.

58A. Seize: CAPTURE BY FORCE.  "Well it seemed like a good idea at the time." - V. Putin

And Jerry even threw in a pseudo-reveal, kinda sorta ...

28A. VIP with a corner office, perhaps: CEO.  "Leader of Executive Officers? abbr."

Here's the grid:
 


Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Sven's transport in "Frozen": SLED.  I've never seen Frozen, but my research indicates that it was Kristoff, an ice hauler who was being transported in a SLED pulled by the reindeer Sven:

Kristoff's Sled

5. 35-Down company founded in Milwaukee in 1844: PABST.  The Pabst Brewing Company is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and was, by 1889, named after Frederick Pabst. It is currently a holding company which contracts the brewing of over two dozen brands of beer and malt liquor:

10. Ziploc feature: SEAL.

14. Exercise target: CORE.   Why you should strengthen your core muscles.  And here are some exercises to do it.

15. "Love Me Like You Do" Grammy nominee Goulding: ELLIE.   Elena Jane "Ellie" Goulding, born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter.  "Love Me Like You Do" was included in the soundtrack to the 2015 film Fifty Shades of Grey.

16. Cut: PARE.

17. Missing: AWOL.

18. Spa amenity: SAUNA.  The word sauna is an ancient Finnish word referring to both the traditional Finnish bath and to the bathhouse itself.
Modern Finnish Sauna
19. Doesn't just assume: ASKS.

[Theme clue]

23. Start to mature?: PREPREMATURE, as in too soon.

24. Eyeglass frames: RIMS.  I'm running out of doctors to see.  I think my next one will be an optometrist.

25. Gift with an aloha: LEI.  The traditional greeting and gift to arrivals in HAWAII.
 
Hawaii Lei
26. Matter of debate: ISSUE.

[Theme clue] Kinda. Sorta.

30. Dec. 31: NYENew Years Eve.

[Theme clue]

38. Antlered deer: STAG.

41. Retro photo hue: SEPIA.  A word derived from the brown melanin-containing pigment from the ink of cuttlefishes.  It was used in old photographic prints and is a setting on most smart phone cameras.  Leonardo da Vinci also used the pigment to make ink:
Water Wheels
pen & ink by Leonardo da Vinci

42. Burial isle of many Scottish kings: IONA.  Also the name of the ABBEY on the island where early Scottish kings, as well as kings of Ireland, Norway, and France are buried.
Iona Scotland

[Theme clue]

46. Skin art, for short: TAT.

47. Unit of corn: EAR.

48. Titan with a heavy load: ATLASAtlas was one of the most famous Titans, the son of Iapetus and the Oceanid Asia (or, possibly, Clymene). He was the leader of the Titan rebellion against Zeus, and he got a fitting punishment after the end of the Titanomachy: he was condemned to eternally hold up the sky.  It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it ...

Atlas
52. "Hellboy" actor Perlman: RONHellboy is a 2004 American superhero film written and directed by Guillermo del Toro from a story by the latter and by Peter Briggs.  I think he's a good guy.


54. Comfort Revolution bra-maker: BALI.  None of the pics passed the breakfast test.

57. Tolkien terror: ORC.  Definitely bad guys.

[Theme clue]

62. Clicking devices: MICE.

63. Poet Dove and actress Moreno: RITAS.  We've seen Ms Dove before as a clue for her home state of OHIO.
Rita Dove
Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano December 11, 1931) is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer, and singer. Noted for her work across different areas of the entertainment industry, she has appeared in numerous film, television, and theater projects throughout her extensive career spanning over seven decades.  She is one of just 17 EGOT winners.
Rita Moreno

64. "Less" Pulitzer winner Andrew __ Greer: SEAN.  "A generous book, musical in its prose and expansive in its structure and range, about growing older and the essential nature of love".  Here's Greer on "Less" and so much more.
Andrew Sean Greer

65. "It's for you," on an env.: ATTN.

66. "Wrong!": NOT SO.

67. "Smooth Operator" singer: SADEHelen Folasade Adu CBE (Yoruba: Fọláṣadé Adú born 16 January 1959), known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade (shah-DAY), is a Nigerian-born British singer, known as the lead singer of her eponymous band.

68. Crime novelist Gerritsen: TESSTess Gerritsen (born Terry Tom; June 12, 1953) is the pseudonym of Terry Gerritsen, an American novelist and retired general physician. - "She has an imagination that allows her to conjure up depths of human behavior so dark and frightening that she makes Edgar Allan Poe and HP Lovecraft seem like goody-two-shoes..." - Chicago Trib.
Tess Gerritsen
69. Alloy containing carbon: STEEL. All you need to know about steel alloys.

70. Brewpub brews: ALES.

Down:

1. Shrimp dish: SCAMPIHere's a recipe.
Shrimp Scampi
2. Reduces: LOWERS.

3. Reduces slowly: ERODES.

4. Supermarket section: DELI.

5. "GoodFellas" Oscar winner: PESCIGoodFellas is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese.  It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi. Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco and Paul Sorvino, the film narrates the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill and his friends and family from 1955 to 1980. 

6. Heist obstacle: ALARM.

7. St. Louis team: BLUES.  The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, MO. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference.   Here's the latest Blues news.
8. Compete on "The Voice": SING.  Here's Bryce Leatherwood, winner of the 2022 competition, singing Justin Moore's "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away":
9. Rip: TEAR.

10. Digging tool: SPADE.

11. Gradually become familiar with: EASE INTO.

12. Slow-moving boats: ARKS.

13. Paul in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: LESLester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called the Log, served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul.  While Paul  is mainly known for jazz and popular music, he had an early career in country music. In the 1950s, he and his wife, singer and guitarist Mary Ford, recorded numerous records, selling millions of copies.  Among his many honors, Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent exhibit in the R&R HOF.  He is prominently named by the music museum on its website as an "architect" and a "key inductee".  He is the only inductee in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame AND the National Inventors Hall of Fame.  My Dad played the guitar and my Mom Mary sang and we watched every one of their shows on TV, so it was hard to stop with just one selection:

Here are Les and Mary performing How High the Moon:

And here's their The World is Waiting for Sunrise

And Teri found this tribute to Lucina: 

21. Former pitcher Hershiser: OREL. Orel Leonard Hershiser IV (born September 16, 1958) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983 to 2000. He later became a pitching coach for the Texas Rangers from 2002 to 2005 and a broadcast color analyst for the Dodgers. He is also a professional poker player.  Here are his stats.  
Orel Hershiser
22. Body wash ingredient: ALOE.

27. Some slouchy boots: UGGSUGH, not again!

28. Ad writer's award: CLIO.  The Clio Awards is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals.  For some reason they're named for the Greek Muse of History.  Nobody asked me but I think they should put some of their creative excellence into a better logo:

29. Actor Morales: ESAIEsai Manuel Morales Jr. (born October 1, 1962) is an American actor. He has had notable roles in the films Bad Boys with Sean Penn and La Bamba with Lou Diamond Phillips (1987).
Esai Morales
31. Desire: YEN.

32. Schedule abbr.: ETA.  Or the 7th letter of the Greek Alphabet ...
34. Hazmat monitor: OSHA.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. OSHA's mission is to "assure safe and healthy working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance" The agency is also charged with enforcing a variety of whistleblower statutes and regulations. 
35. Heady stuff?: BEER.  For example:

36. Smartphone download: APP.

37. The Panthers of the ACC: PITT.   The Pittsburgh Panthers football program is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh. Pitt competes as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

38. Lt.'s underling: SGTLieutenants outrank Sergeants.

39. Bagged leaves?: TEA.

40. Has some pull?: ATTRACTS.   GravityMagnetism?  Political connections?  Let's leave the latter unconnected.

44. Collapsible shelter: TENT.

45. Gullible sort: NAIFForrest Gump has been rated by at least one source as the #1 NAIF character in film history.   Here's a short clip of one of 25 great quotes from the film that proves that sometimes gullibility pays off.  Forrest has made a bit of money in the shrimping business and on the advice of his boat's first mate he has invested it in a fruit company (it's only a few seconds long so you may have to replay it to get the gag):

49. World's largest cosmetics company: LOREAL.  Here's one of their lip smacking ads.

50. Game keeper?: ARCADE.  The ? gave Jerry's game away and we knew right away he wasn't talking about lions and tigers, and bears.   Here's a short history of ARCADE gaming.

51. Movie parts: SCENES.  See trailer for 54D.

53. Makes the first bet: OPENS.

54. Actress Davis played by Susan Sarandon in TV's "Feud": BETTEFeud is an American television series that premiered on March 5, 2017. The eight episodes document the well-known  rivalry between Hollywood actresses Joan Crawford and Bette Davis during and after the production of their 1962 psychological horror thriller film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon star as respectively Crawford and Davis, supported by an all-star cast. This movie was so over the top that the trailer itself has 4 episodes:

55. Humiliate: ABASE.  The opposite of ANACID.  Either one will burn you.

56. Disinfectant brand: LYSOL.  The first Lysol Brand Antiseptic Disinfectant was introduced in 1889 by Gustav Raupenstrauch to help end a cholera epidemic happening in Germany.  In 1918, during the Spanish flu pandemic, Lysol advertised it as an effective countermeasure to the virus.  And it has helped a lot of us to get through the COVID pandemic.  OTOH in 1911, poisoning by drinking Lysol was the most common means of suicide in Australia and New York.
58. Quote: CITE.

59. Large garden planters: URNS.  Very versatile containers.  They can be used to serve coffee, ashes, and plants.

60. Barrel of laughs: RIOT.  A CSO to Ray - O

61. Mount of Greek legend: OSSA.  The legend sounds like it was a bit of a stretch.
Mount Ossa
Mount OSSA is in the region of Thessaly in West central Greece. 
62. Little rug: MAT.

Cheers,
Bill

As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism. 

And I have to add one very important member to Jerry's C TEAM, our inspiring Corner Maestra C.C. Burnikel. Some months back in one of her reviews she included a picture of a dish she called "Pine nuts and corn stir fry", which inspired me to come up with this recipe:
 
waseeley