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

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Jul 21, 2011

Thursday July 21, 2011 Claiborne Thompson

Theme: Smell the Cork - A wine quip puzzle.

17A. Start of a quip : I LIKE TO COOK

25A. Quip, part 2 : WITH WINE,

32A. Quip, part 3 : SOMETIMES

46A. Quip, part 4 : I EVEN PUT

52A. End of quip : IT IN THE FOOD

Hello Everyone. Boomer here, sitting in for Al, who is taking the next few months off due to extra workload.

I understand the quip, my sisters live in the wine country of Northern California. I stayed in the Scandinavian heartland, and no matter how much wine you put on the lutefisk, or drink with the eelpout, you will never improve the taste.

Across:

1. Grafton's "A" : ALIBI - "A" Is for Alibi.

6. Mill fill : GRIST - You can use the grist with Coors Light to make batter for that lutefisk.

11. Witchy woman : HAG - "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!"

14. Aristotle forte : LOGIC

15. Major outlet : AORTA - I think more of an artery. An outlet is a store that sells last year's stuff for half price, or the thing on the kitchen wall into which you plug your toaster.

16. Chemical ending : IDE - Aristotle says this clue is logical

19. Lot : TON -

20. First name in hair products : VIDAL - I first thought of ESTEE. Pass the White Out.

21. Spanish possessive : NUESTRO Never cared much for foreign words in puzzles

23. Like the 4-Down in a 1960 chart-topper : TEENIE - This took a while to get. "One, Two, Three, Four, tell the people what she wore."

26. Bear : BRUIN - Chicago NFLers may not compare to Boston's hockey team.

27. Champagne designation : SEC - Champagne is home to the Fighting Illini. They're in the Big Ten, not the SEC.

28. "them" author : OATES. Joyce Carol Oates.

29. Payoff : SOP - Sorry, I don't get this on at all.

30. Acquire : GET

31. Word in a current account? : AMPERE - Now we're talking electricity, just don't plug it in to your AORTA.

35. Take willingly : ACCEPT

38. Dreyer's partner in ice cream : EDY - They don't make sugar free.

39. River wriggler : EEL - Don't cook them in wine, it won't help

42. Don't just want : CRAVE

43. Top-secret org. : NSA

44. PETCO Park player : PADRE Who was Jack Murphy and what happened to him?

48. Hawks' homes : AERIES - I thought only eagles built aeries. The Hawks home is Atlanta.

49. Outclassed by a large margin, as competitors : DWARFED - "Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work we go"

50. You are, in Yucatán : ESTAS - Another foreign word - Yuc

51. Mid-seventh-century date : DCL - Anyone this old would not be much of a date.

56. Deborah's "The King and I" costar : YUL - Shaved his head before Michael Jordan made it stylish.

57. Thumbs-up person, perhaps : RATER - Or maybe sizes ripe olives.

58. "Amazing" magician : RANDI - Again I'm lost. David Copperfield nor Criss Angel would fit.

59. Ike's WWII domain : ETO

60. Alex's mom on "Family Ties" : ELYSE - I remember her in "Bridgette Loves Bernie"

61. Words of reassurance : IT'S OK - Thank you

Down:

1. Poetic pugilist : ALI - "The Greatest" self acclaimed

2. Online chuckle : LOL

3. "Tell me already" : I GIVE UP - or "Holler Uncle!!"

4. See 23-Across : BIKINI - I know it was a yellow polka dot one, but I never knew if the polka dots were yellow, or if it was yellow with a different color dots.

5. Stranded in winter, perhaps : ICED-IN - Oh Oh, you may have to get a filet of lutefisk out of the freezer.

6. Reading pen? : GAOL. Reading Gaol, prison in England.

7. Fabled flier : ROC

8. Like many "Twilight Zone" episodes : IRONIC - I thought it might be SciFis.

9. Pub choice : STOUT - Also a college in Menomonie WI.

10. Pay after taxes : TAKE HOME - It keeps getting smaller, and hopefully you still have a home.

11. Member of an ancient Asia Minor empire : HITTITE - I have heard of them, but whenever I see the word in print, I always think of a pitch, High and Tight.

12. Beautifier : ADORNER

13. Columbus, by birth : GENOESE

18. __ Bo : TAE - Could have asked for the initials of the guy who invented uses for 31 Across

22. Exchanges : SWAPS - Also a Kentucky Derby Winner in 1955 under Willie Shoemaker. Held off favorite Nashua at Churchill Downs.

23. "Conan" channel : TBS _ The commercials tell you - "TBS - very funny". Sorry that's an oxymoron. If Conan was funny, he's still be on NBC.

24. Handel cantata "__ e Leandro" : ERO

25. Least arid : WETTEST

27. Go out with : SEE - And have fun, as long as your date isn't 650 years old.

30. It's eight hours later than PST : GMT - Greenwich Mean Time. I always thought mean time was when your alarm clock goes off.

31. Singer Grant : AMY - I first thought of Gogi and her one hit "The Wayward Wind".

32. Cut : SEVER

33. Forest safety concern : OPEN FIRE - Smokey the Bear (or Bruin) is on the lookout. There's a wonderful statue in International Falls, MN.

34. Actress Lupino : IDA - Famous in crosswords as well as movies and TV roles. I remember her mostly with her then husband Howard Duff in a TV show, Mr. Adams and Eve.

35. Wool-coloring agent : ACID DYE Not familiar with this, sounds dangerous. I think I'll keep my sweaters the color that they came in.

36. Close-cropped hair style : CREW CUT - Military hairstyles are making a comeback.

37. Italian horse : CAVALLO - Another one of those foreign words.

39. Inventing family : EDISONS - And here's another tie in to the outlet and ampere.

40. Prior to : ERE

41. French article : LES

43. Feature of one who is barely sleeping? : NUDITY - What can I say, clever clue, got me.

44. "Great" czar : PETER I

45. Former PLO leader : ARAFAT

47. Corolla part : PETAL - If this a Toyota Corolla, then the answer would be PEDAL.

48. Pompeii burier : ASH - This clue threw me. Ash is a common word, I could think of a more common clue. Oh well.

50. French 101 verb : ETRE

53. Nintendo's Super __ : NES - Mario did not fit. NES is an acronym for something

54. Meter lead-in : ODO

55. Hägar creator Browne : DIK - Unusual spelling makes him a favorite of crosswords. He also teamed with Mort Walker on Beetle Bailey - one of my favorites.

Answer grid.

Boomer

Note from C.C.:

Here are two more wonderful "Hard to Believe" photos from another blog regular. Both taken by his father. And the boy is ??? (Answer: Bill G.)