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

Advertisements

Oct 22, 2010

Friday October 22, 2010 Clive Probert

Theme: The Art of the Pun - The first word/part of each familiar phrase/word is punnily replaced by a sound-like name of an artist, whose school of art is indicated in the clue with a question mark to let the solver know a play on words is coming.

20A. Baroque painter's study of a snack?: RUBENS SANDWICH. Pieter Pawl Rubens was a Flemish painter who perhaps is best remembered for his portraits of FULL FIGURED women, so much that the term Rubenesque is used to compliment an attractive but not petite woman. I am not sure it is a snack, but who (other than you Veeeegans) does not love a good REUBEN SANDWICH .

36A. Surrealist's portrait of a president?: DALI MADISON. The wife of James Madison our fourth, and shortest president, was DOLLEY MADISON who was the first president’s wife to get much notice. She might have been a good subject for Rubens, but not for our bizarre friend SALVADOR .

42A. Synthetist's picture of a French author?: GAUGUIN ZOLA. My favorite as this synthesizes into one word, GORGONZOLA, the cheese, which has little to do with the colorful paintings of the Van Gogh contemporary PAUL GAUGUIN who was around the night Van Gogh cut his ear off, and showed the world the beauty of Polynesia.

57A. Impressionist's study of a washerwoman?: MONET LAUNDERER. In my youth, as a criminal defense lawyer, I learned about the strange art of the MONEY LAUNDERER, who could make black money green. MONET not to be confused with his fellow impressionist MANET, was credited as the founder of impressionism. I personally enjoy all four of these artists work; as my father taught me, I may not know art, but I know what I like. My youngest is a big DALI fan.

Plus, 45D. Representing in drawing: LIMNING. I guess this DEFINITION supplements our artistic theme.

Good day to C.C. and all of you anxiously awaiting the week end, and Halloween next week end. Lemonade here, with a fun puzzle from Clive Probert, who this summer did a NYT puzzle with 48 “B”s, with at least one in each answer. This theme was much simpler.

On to the rest, with clechos, lots and lots of music, and more.

Across:

1. Bulletin board material: CORK. A little teeny deception if you were trying to think what was being posted.

5. __ ed: PHYS. Shouldn’t there be a period after ed. To show it is an abbreviation?

9. Human-powered Eastern cab: CYCLO. I was not familiar with this term for the BICYCLE TAXI which was my learning experience of the day.

14. Hyalite, e.g.: OPAL. INTERESTING .

15. Realize: REAP. Reap what you sow big boy.

16. Arcadian: RURAL. This ancient Greek concept of pastoral bliss could have fit in out UTOPIA puzzle.

17. Actress Andersson : BIBI. One of Ingmar Bergman’s regular ACTRESSES starring some wonderful movies, like Seventh Seal .

18. Karachi language: URDU. In our current world, we should all know KARACHI is the largest city in Pakistan, and URDU is one of the two official languages of Pakistan. What do you think the other is? We also have 25. Muscat money: RIAL with MUSCAT the largest city in OMAN.

19. Popped up: AROSE. Calm down Lois.

23. 1986 movie title trio: AMIGOS. How bad could a MOVIE starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Chevy Chase be? Watch and see. Funny, every puzzle I blog reminds me of a story from my life. I am sure most of you have seen the new commercial where the couple bumps into Chevy Chase on the plane, they buddy up on vacation. Well, when I was doing my traveling to LA to talk to record companies, I literally bumped into him (he is one tall guy, btw) outside a Mexican restaurant. It just so happens my brother had published a book on Karate for teenagers (Defend Yourself, New American Library, long out print, but sometimes seen on ebay) and the editor was Ned Chase, Chevy’s father, which I thought made for an interesting coincidence. He did not, and was rude.

24. Rib: KID.

28. Employees with a lot of keys: VALETS. Really, is this supposed to be literal?

33. Go back: EBB. A new, simple way to clue a puzzle favorite.

38. Spanish pronoun: ELLA. Our first language lesson of the day.

40. Suffix with polymer: ASE. Way beyond my knowledge of SCIENCE .

41. Org. co-founded by Babe Zaharias: LPGA. Ladies Professional Gold Association, now at home in Florida. She was an amazing athlete, who is worth reading about. LINK .

47. Afternoon break: NAP. I know, I am going so slowly, you all need one.

48. Radiances: SHEENS. Like these TWO .

49. Mars candy bar: TWIX. Their version of the KIT-KAT, which has been around in England for decades.

50. Pol. platform-promoting org.: DNC. Democratic National Committee.

52. Après-dinner confection: MENTHE. Now our French lesson, I am sure you all deduced it just means mint.

62. Intense excitement: FEVER. Do you like A or B ? Also, 63. Sheryl Crow's "__ Wanna Do": ALL I. A very nice SONG filmed in part outside the ROXY in Hollywood, where I had some wild nights with Dick Whitehouse from Curb records. This is balanced by 44D. Stevie Wonder's "__ She Lovely": ISNT. LISTEN .

64. When repeated, "I agree": HEAR. And, then 7D. When repeated twice, "and so on": YADA. (Clecho) For good measure we also have the semi-synonym, 34D. Yawn-inducing: BLAH.

65. Newmark with an online list: CRAIG. Never knew this GUY .

66. Land of 10,000 Lakes: Abbr.: MINN. Is there ever been a bigger gimme for C.C. Jeannie and you other northern lights?

67. Delinquent's fear: REPO. I was thinking more about my father’s belt, but…

68. Ma's forte: CELLO. More music from the fabulous YO-YO .

69. Pre-wedding party: STAG. Not any more, very un-PC.

70. Pres. Reagan's "evil empire": USSR. We all know better, don’t we TB DAMN YANKEES .

Down:

1. G.I. Joe foe: COBRA. Never got into that world with my boys, more Transformers and Power Rangers.

2. Subject of Great Britain/China wars: OPIUM.

3. Religious teacher: RABBI. Literally.

4. Filmmaker's __ light: KLIEG. Our WORD OF THE DAY

5. Berlin was its last capital: PRUSSIA. More to LEARN .

6. Bathrobe word: HERS. I think more of towels.

8. Mettle: SPUNK.

9. Freshwater crustacean: CRAWDAD. You catch ‘em you eat THEM . And, 51D. Quahogs: CLAMS. LINK .

10. First first name in space: YURI. Then, 59D. First first name on the moon: NEIL. (Clecho) followed by, 60D. Landed: ALIT.

11. Popular foam shoe: CROC. I wonder if Clive received some shoes for planting AN AD.

12. Mascara target: LASH. Better than La Rue?

13. Shout of support: OLE. Not for the Bull.

21. Gare du __: Paris railway station: NORD. This is where we got our word NORTH.

22. Aria singer, often: DIVA. More music, three in a row.

26. Country singer Jackson: ALAN. Wrote a powerful song after 9/11 .

27. Symphonic poem pioneer: LISZT. Listen and see if you can recognize where you know this TUNE is from.

29. Word in many a rap name: LIL. Eva, Wayne, etc.

30. "NBA on __": ESPN. I wonder why they started in Bristol Connecticut of all places.

31. Frat party wear: TOGA.More than just fraternities.

32. __ pea: SNAP. I had them for dinner last evening; wow Clive and I are in tune.

33. Noodle tests?: EEGS. Cute, noodle equals brain, use it wisely.

35. Sad: BLUE. LISTEN .

37. "Please open a can for me"?: MEOW. Poor Morris.

39. Improve, perhaps: AGE. Fine wine, steak and….

43. Have, as an operation: UNDERGO.

46. Let go: AXED. Never liked this phrase.

53. Type of jacket the Beatles helped make fashionable: NEHRU. Perfect costume for HALLOWEEN .

54. Windbreak, often: TREES.

55. Lots: HEAPS.

56. Oversight: ERROR.

57. Like mortals?: MERE. Mere mortals. Love the alliteration.

58. Track: OVAL. Like INDY .

61. Humerus neighbor: ULNA.

62. Govt. broadband regulator: FCC.

Answer grid.

Here is an awesome photo of our witty Santa Baby Argyle. Here is a closer look. So sweet.

Oh well, I went over board again, and you all will need to take the day off to finish, but it was fun. Meanwhile, I am serious about a Corner thanksgiving day where we try to get EVERYONE to say hello; it is so nice to hear from Dr.Dad, g8trmom, Robin and the others, but if you still talk to our MIAs, let’s aim for the day before Thanksgiving. Good night Mrs. Calabash.

Lemonade

Oct 21, 2010

Thursday October 21, 2010 Ed Sessa

Theme: You've Been Pied - Several 2-word common phrases & one compound word, unrelated to food, with first part being a type of pie, are humorously interpreted and ? clued with "Pie" and an associated description for the remainder.

18A. Pie flop?: CHERRY BOMB. Illegal fireworks, a type of "salute", which is a pyrotechnic device designed to make a loud report. A show that bombs is a flop. Cherry pie.

23A. Pie taste-test site?: CHOCOLATE LAB. A dark Labrador Retriever. Tests are performed in a laboratory. Chocolate pie.

39A. Pie to-do?: MUDFLAP. A splash guard for vehicles. A flap was originally Brit slang for a noisy tumult or to-do. Mud pie.

50A. Pie charts?: APPLE RECORDS. Music recording label founded by the Beatles. Charts and records as in a doctor's office. Apple pie.

60A. Pie patter?: MINCE WORDS. To try to politely tell someone something unpleasant in a manner such as to not hurt their feelings. Patter orig. from Latin "pater" to mumble prayers rapidly (pater from Paternoster, the Lord's Prayer). Mince pie.

Al here.

An OK puzzle today, sped through fairly quickly except the SW gave me some trouble getting a start, but I got it all without assistance, the perps filling in enough of the names and abbrevs for guessing, which is how it should be. I never saw a few of the clues, so this was more like a Wednesday level puzzle to me.

ACROSS:

1. A party to: IN ON.

5. Quite the fashion plate: CHIC. I find it interesting that it might come from two different sources: old German words for neat/orderly shikken/schicken, or from a French word for trickery (chicanery). Make your own fashion conclusions...

9. Spring bloomer: LILAC.

14. His epitaph reads "And the beat goes on": BONO. Sonny Bono (Sonny & Cher) was the only member of congress to have a #1 single on the Billboard top 100 chart.

15. Faulkner femme fatale Varner: EULA. A William Faulkner story, The Hamlet, was made into The Long Hot Summer in 1958, with Lee Remick as Eula. Also made into a 26 part TV series in 1965. Never heard of any of it before today...

16. BP merger partner: AMOCO. American Oil Co., British Petroleum.

17. TV role for Bamboo Harvester: MR. ED. The "real" name of the palomino horse in the TV show of the same name.

20. Italian deli sandwich: PANINI. Similar to a small Italian sub.

22. Travelers' burdens: VALISES. Suitcase, soldiers kit bag.

26. X, at times: TEN. Roman numeral. Also times at times. Cute.

27. www bookmark: URL. Uniform Resource Locator.

28. Film director's headaches: EGOS.

32. Luther's lang.: GER. Martin Luther, medieval priest. Basically stated that you can't buy your way into heaven, which got him in all sorts of trouble with the church.

34. First Amendment lobbying gp.: ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union.

36. Numbers game: SUDOKU.

38. Buckeyes' home: Abbr.: OSU. Ohio State Univ.

41. Post- opposite: PRE.

42. One in distress?: DAMSEL. Melodrama.

44. Slug or song ending: FEST. Shortening of festival.

45. Loft material: HAY.

46. Apartment manager, familiarly: SUPE.

47. Quaff for Andy Capp: ALE. British syndicated comic strip.

48. Curling setting: ICE. Probably the only Olympic sport you can participate in while preggers.

56. Like the auditory and optic nerves, e.g.: CRANIAL. They're all in your head.

59. Aspen topper: SKI HAT.

63. Prohibited thing: NO-NO.

64. Days of Hanukkah, e.g.: OCTET.

65. Flag: TIRE. To go limp or droop, as with a flag with no wind.

66. First name in Olympics gymnastics: OLGA. Korbut. The media whirl which surrounded her 1972 Olympic debut caused a surge of young girls to join their local gymnastic clubs, and a sport which had seldom been noticed previously made headlines.

67. Like beer halls, usually: NOISY.

68. Eyewear, in ads: SPEX. X-ray ones, no doubt.

69. Raid target: PEST. Not just for bugs.

DOWN:

1. High-tech debut of 1981: IBM PC.

2. Grammy winner Jones: NORAH. Best Album. Don't know why.

3. Bridge opening: ONE NO TRUMP.

4. "Fuggedaboutit!": NO DICE. Nothin' doin'. Gambling with dice was illegal in many states and so gamblers went to some pains to hide the dice when challenged by the police. Courts would sometimes throw out cases if the dice weren't offered in evidence. There are several court records where gamblers were alleged to have swallowed dice to avoid arrest. No dice, no conviction.

5. 1980s-'90s slugger Fielder: CECIL

6. "Whazzat?": HUH.

7. Seine sight: ILE. French river, island.

8. Longtime ice cream cake brand: CARVEL. Another unknown to me. Connecticut based.

9. Clapton title woman: LAYLA. Unplugged.

10. Wet one's whistle: IMBIBED. From Latin imbibere "absorb, drink in, inhale.

11. Johns, to Elton: LOOS. Probably from Fr. lieux d'aisances, "lavatory," lit. "place of ease," picked up by British servicemen in France during World War I. Or possibly a pun on Waterloo, based on water closet.

12. Top: ACME. Or apex. Need at least one other perp letter besides the A.

13. Male swans: COBS. Females are called PENS.

19. "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-__": Irish lullaby: RAL.

21. Hardly distinguished: NO NAME.

24. Nostalgic song title word: AULD. LANG SYNE

25. Godiva product: TRUFFLE.

29. Tunnel entrance of sorts: GOPHER HOLE.

30. Gumbo ingredient: OKRA.

31. Chop __: SUEY. From Chinese (Cantonese dialect) tsap sui "odds and ends."

32. Mars and Venus: GODS.

33. Name meaning "hairy" in Hebrew: ESAU. Perhaps a tad obscure...

35. __-de-sac: CUL.

36. Airline to Oslo: SAS. Scandinavian Airlines.

37. Slight market improvement: UPTICK. Stock market trend change.

40. Disconcerting glance: LEER. Or OGLE.

43. Hand-holding events: SEANCES. From French séance "a sitting,"

47. Parcels out: ALLOTS. To divide into lots. Related to the sense of "drawing lots" where in new settlements, sometimes the best properties were determined by lot. Also related, lottery.

49. Requiring change, briefly: COIN-OP. Like the government in both senses, needing to change, and being run by money...

51. Reverence: PIETY.

52. A pad helps protect it: PAW.

53. Elizabeth I's beloved: ESSEX. Robert Devereux, the second Earl of Essex. Eventually executed for treason after falling out of favor and trying to mount a coup.

54. Mild expletives: DANGS.

55. Brown ermine: STOAT.

56. "Get real!": C'MON.

57. Guy who "wore a diamond," in the song "Copacabana": RICO.

58. ABM component?: ANTI. Ballistic Missile.

61. Scary current: RIP.

62. Grammy-winning Dr.: DRE.

Answer Grid.

Bon voyage, Clear Ayes! You'll be missed.

Al