Today Rich's assistant Patti provides the entertainment with a very consistent homonym puzzle. 5 in the language phrases are repurposed using their sound-alike equivalent with humorous results. This is my seventh trip as the guide for a PV puzzle, one of more than 30 she has published in the LAT. All five themers are four-letter words ending "AIL" replacing the "ALE." WHALE is the outlier, as it is five letters. The puzzle does not feel like a Friday, with 78 words which average less than 5 letters each. It has some non-theme glitter like ATHEIST, EGOSURF, FLITTED, MULCHES, PADLOCK, SIDE BET, CAROL KANE, and KALE CHIPS. There are some challenging words, some unknown directors, and a few that were hidden to me as clued, but lo and behold it is done, so time to discuss.
17A. Totally rad electric guitar performance?: KILLER WAIL (10). After last Saturday's WHALE tribute by HG, we start with a nice guitar solo. BOBBY BARTH.
1. Information desk sign: ASK ME. I do not see that often, my favorite is below.
6. Sits in a cellar, say: AGES. Wine, it was Chairman Mao's birthday recently.
10. Chuckleheads: SAPS. I have not heard the phrase chucklehead in years.
14. Yuletide name: CLAUS.
15. Philanthropist Wallace: LILA. Co-founder of the READER'S DIGEST. Do you remember her?
16. Grammy-winning rapper: ICE-T. Tracy Lauren Marrow reappears. HG one.
19. Short copy?: DUPE. Cute.
20. Upper bod muscle: PEC. Bod tells you it is an abbreviation. It also is a word not popular any longer IMO.
21. Poor Richard, really: BEN. I did not know Mr. Franklin well enough to call him Ben, I do like to look at him in my wallet.
22. Brusque: TERSE.
27. Nonbeliever: ATHEIST.
29. Shoreline flood protection: DUNE. According to the Waikato Regional Council, sand dunes protect our shorelines from coastal erosion and provide shelter from the wind and sea spray.
30. Caper film event: HEIST. What is your favorite of all time?
31. Actor Danson: TED. Again a repeat from Husker's Saturday.
32. Dessert chain with Cotton Candy Freeze: TCBY. The Country's Best Yogurt.
36. Travel guide: MAP.
41. SE state: ALAbama.
42. "When all __ fails ... ": ELSE. People say THIS many ways.
44. "Let 'er __!": RIP. Speaking of ripped...
45. Zac of "Baywatch": EFRON.
47. Error: GOOF.
49. Master piece?: PADLOCK. Very cool clue. This fill has never appeared in the LA Times and referencing the lock company MASTER was brilliant.
55. Expunge: ERASE.
56. Mahershala of "True Detective": ALI. This is his BIOGRAPHY.
57. IMAX purchase: TKT.
59. X-ray, Yankee, __: ZULU. Your cheat sheet.
64. Phone button abbr.: OPER.
65. X-ray units: RADS. The rad is a unit of absorbed radiation dose , defined as 1 rad = 0.01 Gy = 0.01 J/kg.
66. Starbucks size: VENTI. We have had this discussion recently.
67. Double __ Oreos: STUF. We have had this discussion recently.
68. "If you don't mind?": MAY I.
69. In other words, in Caesar's words: ID EST. Not Sid, but one of the Emperors speaking Latin.
Down:
1. "Crikey!": ACK. I do not see these as synonymous. My SOURCE.
2. Berth place: SLIP. A nice sound alike pun/clue.
3. Healthy snack: KALE CHIPS. That claim is being DEBATED.
4. Puts a cover on, as a bed: MULCHES. A bed of flowers, again, cool misdirection. These are probably healthy as well, just as tasty, but too high in fiber.
5. Jargon suffix: ESE.
6. Astros' MLB division: AL WEST.
7. Really big: GIANT.
8. "The House With a Clock in Its Walls" director Roth: ELI. I have not seen this movie, but would never have known the DIRECTOR even if I had. His work seems promising.
9. "On the Road" narrator: SAL. Sal Paradise was the central character in Jack Kerouac's anthem to the post-World War II freedom of the open road.
10. Secondary wager: SIDE BET. There are various situations where this occurs. Side bets can involve any topic, such as a bet on a sports game occurring at the same time as the poker game or a bet on a piece of trivia that players are arguing over. However, usage is traditionally confined to bets that in some way involve occurrences in the poker game.
11. Integra maker: ACURA.
12. "For every generation" soft drink: PEPSI. Do you like the new Steve Carrell commercial?
13. 1943 penny metal: STEEL. Copper shortage due to WWII.
18. Hitting stat: RBIs. Runs Batted In.
22. Paramount Network, once: TNN. The NASHVILLE NETWORK became Spike TV before the recent switch to its current name.
24. "Norma Rae" director: RITT. Another DIRECTOR I do not know. Sally is back after also seeing her in this part in HG's Saturday.
25. Writer's block breakthrough: IDEA.
26. German wheels: AUDI.
27. Words of lament: AH ME. Ask me?
28. Marsh duck: TEAL.
31. Cough syrup meas.: TSP. Abbreviations.
33. Actress who plays Kimmy Schmidt's landlady: CAROL KANE. Her role in TAXI will always be what my memory of her is, I have never watched the new show.
34. Allied group: BLOC. Bloc is also back.
35. Jerk: YANK.ee? Next to...
38. "Sunday Night Baseball" analyst, familiarly: A-ROD.
39. One often taking a bow: GIFT. Ah, bow not bow!
40. Helen of Troy's mother: LEDA. The STORY is much more complicated than that clue/fill suggests.
43. Try to find oneself?: EGOSURF. I still do not know this term, but it is in the OED and was introduced to us by Brad Wilber on Saturday, Mar 27, 2010, here at the LAT. I also said then I did not know the concept while commenting on a rare JzB Saturday write-up.
46. Made moth moves: FLITTED. A very cute clue also.
48. Half and half: ONE. Another time a simple clue adds up as something other than for coffee.+
49. House speaker after Ryan: PELOSI. No apolitical way to comment on this.
50. Neat as __: A PIN.
51. Amazon founder: BEZOS. How will his FEUD with the National Enquirer turn out? For 500 million, I might have married him.
52. Blow one's stack: ERUPT.
53. Ivy in Conn.: YALE U. Glue.
54. Resistant to cold, as plants: HARDY. Such a versatile word.
58. Small songbirds: TITS. Snicker, snicker.
60. Parka sleeve: ARM.
61. "Listen, ewe!": BAA. Sheep humor.
62. Income tax Amendment: XVI. "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration." The origin of the income tax on individuals is generally cited as the passage of the 16th Amendment, passed by Congress on July 2, 1909, and ratified February 3, 1913; however, its history actually goes back even further. During the Civil War Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1861 which included a tax on personal incomes to help pay war expenses.
63. Hammered: LIT. There are endless synonyms for this (maybe I shouldn't mention that after the last week kerfuffle); here are SOME.
Patti is a pro, though puzzle still did not seem like a Friday even with the hard clues and other obstacles, but I had a great time. I hope you did, but either way, thank you for being here. Lemonade out.
Notes from C.C.:
Malcolm told me that Fermet Prime (Lorraine) stays at the Northridge Hospital, but is expected to be released on Saturday. I'll call her later today. Malcolm talked to her yesterday and said "She’s a bit groggy because of the pain-killers
she’s on". Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
