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

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Feb 1, 2016

Monday, February 1, 2016 Janice Luttrell

 
Theme: Where the little piggy went - The first theme word can come after market.

20A. *Football player using a tee : PLACE KICKER. Marketplace.

11D. *Split the taxi fare : SHARE A CAB. Market share

35D. *Travel website pitched by William Shatner : PRICELINE. Market price

59A. Secondary business venue, as for auto accessories ... and, literally, where the starts of the answers to starred clues can go : AFTERMARKET

White Rabbit, White Rabbit! Argyle here. My market day is Tuesday. Today is pretty straight forward; no tricks or puns. One or two nuts to crack but that's it. Janice is an early week regular.

Across:

1. Get cheeky with : SASS

5. __ and whistles: enhancements : BELLS

10. Vile Nile snakes : ASPs. Cute rhyme.

14. Harbinger : OMEN

15. Chinese or Japanese : ASIAN

16. Great, in '90s slang : PHAT

17. Salon request for prom night : UPDO
 
18. "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!" poet : DANTE

19. When doubled, American Samoa's capital : PAGO PAGO

 
23. GOP member : REP. (Republican)

24. Woman of la casa : SENORA

25. Wipe clean : ERASE

27. __ Dakota : NORTH

30. Moves furtively : SNEAKS

33. Kitten-lifting spot : NAPE

36. Not worth discussing : MOOT

38. Director DeMille : CECIL. Cecil B. DeMille, the B stood for Blount, his paternal grandmother's middle name.

39. Ventilate : AIR

40. Decorate, as with parsley : GARNISH

42. In the style of : À LA

43. French good-bye : ADIEU

45. It's prohibited : NO NO

46. Rap fan : B-BOY. We had this last month. Here

47. Hummingbird's diet : NECTAR

49. Get more mileage out of : REUSE

51. House overhangs : EAVES

53. Some car deals : LEASES

57. T-shirt sizes, for short : SML. Same answer if it was size?

62. Mini-exam : QUIZ

64. Ancient region of present-day Turkey : IONIA. It was ANATOLIA on the 23rd.

65. Racer Yarborough : CALE

 
66. Speeder's payment : FINE. I'll bet Cale paid a few.

67. Lovers' meeting : TRYST

68. Sch. near the Rio Grande : UTEP. (University of Texas at El Paso)

69. Fir or ash : TREE

70. Enjoy a cigar : SMOKE

71. Places to sleep : BEDS. But don't smoke in bed.

Down:

1. "__ on!": "Dinner!" : SOUP'S

2. More than sufficient : AMPLE. Like my stomach.

3. Family car : SEDAN

4. Ice-cream truck treat : SNO-CONE

5. Consequence of selfish acts, some say : BAD KARMA

6. Actor Morales : ESAI

7. "The Mod Squad" role : LINC. Portrayed by Clarence Williams III on TV; Omar Epps in the movie.

8. Hanukkah pancake : LATKE

 
9. Scornful looks : SNEERS

10. Smartphone download : APP

12. Numbered book part : PAGE

13. Call it a day : STOP

21. Suffix with 22-Down : ERO. Ranchero is the Spanish term for a person working on a ranch.

22. Cowboy's home : RANCH

                Milly's huevos rancheros

26. Witness : SEE

28. Pulled in different directions : TORN

29. Hold in high respect : HONOR

31. Narc's discovery : KILO. Because drugs have gone metric.

32. Do in, as a vampire : SLAY

33. Tandoori flatbread : NAAN

34. White House worker : AIDE

37. Fork feature : TINE

40. Tropical fruit : GUAVA. There are several species but roughly apple sized.

41. Love of one's life : SOULMATE

44. Pilot's prediction: Abbr. : ETA

46. Grizzly youngster : BEARCUB



48. Gets new supplies for : REFITS

50. Salty expanse : SEA

52. Tempest : STORM

54. Slide on ice : SKATE

55. Sought morays : EELED. Morays are eels.

56. Arthur Murray moves : STEPS

57. Floor plan meas. : SQFT. (square feet)

58. Sierra Club founder John : MUIR

60. Greek war goddess : ENYO. Warrior companion of Ares.

61. Take a chance on : RISK

63. New York's Tappan __ Bridge : ZEE

 
 
Argyle


Jan 31, 2016

Sunday Jan 31, 2016 Mark Bickham

Theme: Misaligned 

In Mark's lovely Sunday offering (Sunday? Offering?), he revealed the theme with 


121. Misaligned...or, literally, a perfectly aligned aspect of seven answers in this puzzle: OFF CENTER - as you see below in this mint mistake. 


The twist of course is the fact that Marks's fun theme fill has the word "OFF" in the geometric CENTER of some common phrases. So the theme is OFF CENTER (Misaligned) but the fill consists of the word OFF in the  CENTER of common phrases. Run that around your brain box a few times!

I found the triple stacks of 11 particularly impressive and here are Mark's fun theme fills


21. Place of business : THE OFFICE - Here's the cast from the original UK TV show THE OFFICE starring Ricky Gervais before Steve Carell, et al made it a hit here




23. Powerful display : SHOW OF FORCE - A joint US/South Korea Air Force SHOW OF FORCE intended for a certain party north of the 38th parallel  




39. Recidivists : REPEAT OFFENDERS - The NHTSA says the REPEAT OFFENDER rate for DUI is about 25%. 



48. Olive branch: PEACE OFFERING - After being accused of a horrible crime, Kobe Bryant gave his wife Vanessa a $4M purple diamond ring as a PEACE OFFERING which sports reporters called "The Apology Ring". She initiated divorce proceedings and then called them off eight years later




102. Clique : CIRCLE OF FRIENDS - Some thought it odd that this CIRCLE OF FRIENDS could not find a minority member in NYC for their clique. 




119. Vivien Leigh's last film : SHIP OF FOOLS - 36 years twixt Scarlett O'Hara and Mary Treadwell


93. Red Label spirits : SMIRNOFF VODKA - They get the Bronze Medal in this "Rate The Vodka" poll that was taken of the World's 50 Best Bars. However, it is the top seller world-wide by a large margin.

Across        

1. Time to hang on? : A SEC 


5. Dinner __ : DATE

9. Trunk hardware : HASP

13. Future flowers : BUDS

17. Sheltered area : COVE

18. Declare frankly : AVOW


19. NFL Titan, before 1999 : OILER - Earl Campbell running for the Houston OILER team 15 years before they became the alliterative Tennessee Titans. Tony?


20. "But I could be wrong" : OR NOT


25. 49-Down counterpart: Abbr. : SOR

26. "Assuming that's true ... " : IF SO

27. Heap : TON


28. Sics on : LETS AT - I said "Good Night!"




29. Like some guitar music : TWANGY


31. Comic Jay : MOHR - MOHR, you're in for LENO


34. Not nice at all : SNIDE


36. U.S. govt. broadcaster : VOA


38. Mandlikova of '80s tennis : HANA


42. Louise __, National Book Award winner for "The Round House" : ERDRICH - an Ojibwe writer of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American characters and settings


45. Empire with provinces called suyu : INCA - If you remember any of these after you scroll by... 




46. Superman nemesis Luthor : LEX


47. Hebrew for "skyward" : EL AL - Profiling is part of their security procedures


51. Still being tested, as software : IN BETA


53. Objectivism advocate Rand : AYN - Isn't there a 3-letter woman's LAST name we see often here hmmm...


54. Stadium shaker : ROAR


55. "There __ darkness but ignorance": "Twelfth Night" : IS NO


56. Undefined number : ANY - Give this A SEC




57. Thieves' room? : DEN


58. Cheat : ROOK


60. Wound covering : SCAB


62. __ center : MED


63. Sweater sizes: Abbr. : LGES


65. Ancient Roman garment : TUNIC - "Quod tunica spectat ridiculam super te , Caesar" (That TUNIC does look funny on you, Caesar!)  "Et tu, Brute" 


67. Camaro option : T-TOP


69. Where shakes may be seen : ROOF - Shake shingles


71. Udder parts : TEATS - "Quit that snickering or there'll be no recess!"


75. Quarterback Tony : ROMO


77. It receives many returns: Abbr. : IRS - I mail mine (don't trust electronic filing) on April 14th as late as I can. Grrrr....


79. Become less hostile : THAW - We've just had our January THAW this week with temps well into the 40's. Blizzard on Tuesday!


 81. Frigate front : PROW - The other end is called the what?



    

82. Meas. reduced by fog : VIS - VISiblity abbr. indicated


85. Major conflict : WAR


86. Country singer McCann : LILA


88. Picnic side : SLAW


90. Place for a nail : TOE


91. Van Cleef & __: French jeweler/perfumer : ARPELS - What's that S doing there?


96. Crisis team acronym : SWAT


97. Letters before F? : TGI - Everyday is Friday for me


100. Mr. Knightley's wife, in the novel of the same name : EMMA - Our EMMA at our house




101. Leaning : AT A TILT


106. Olympic hawk : ARES - I suppose a God Of War would be a hawk


107. Teen's opening number? : ONE - 13, 14...


108. Actress Ryan : IRENE - Her most famous role is on her tombstone




109. Close : NEAR


110. Common rejoinder in one-upmanship : OH YEAH -Not exactly pithy


112. "Full House" actor : STAMOS


114. Forest female : DOE


116. Rhein tributary : AARE


118. MLX ÷ X : CVI - We have 
1,060 and tunics are 10 apiece which means we can buy 106 of them


123. Farm girls : MARES and 8 Down. Farm girl : EWE - Some rural girls 


124. Polonius hid behind one : ARRAS - I first saw this in the January 22 puzzle this year


125. Razor brand : ATRA


126. Source : ROOT


127. Blown away : AWED - Even Simon




128. Reddish horse : ROAN


129. General __ chicken : TSO'S


130. Shelter sounds : ARFS



Down


1. Does as expected : ACTS THE PART


2. "But enough about me" follower : SO HOW ARE YOU - We all know people who never utter these words


3. Occasionally : EVER AND ANON - "And EVER AND ANON they made a doubt" - Loves Labours Lost


4. Board VIP : CEO


5. Black toon duck : DAFFY - None of my H.S. Juniors knew him




6. Alamo competitor : AVIS


7. In the future : TO COME


9. Greeting from Kermit : HI HO




10. King in "The Tempest" : ALONSO


11. Put in stitches : SEW


12. Hot-button political platform term : PRO-LIFE


13. Warner __ : BROS - For whom the Black Toon Duck worked


14. Came apart : UNRAVELED


15. High degree : DOCTORATE - At least get one that's worth something 




16. Fr. holy woman : STE


19. Exclusion : OSTRACISM - Heartbreaking to watch on the playground 


20. Quite a bit : OFTEN


22. Fruit often dried : FIG


24. Shipping overnight, perhaps : FEDEXING - The old "noun to a verb" trick


30. Certain undercover cop : NARC


32. Andy's son : OPIE


33. Painter Rousseau : HENRI - Post impressionist (looked it up) and this is cool




35. 32-team gp. : NFL


37. "The Lord of the whole wood," per Mr. Beaver : ASLAN


39. Blood typing concern : RH FACTOR - 85% of white people and 93% of black people are RH+


40. Worker with hides : TANNER


41. Ball girl : DEB - Front of utante? :-) 


43. Suffix with front : IER


44. Sweet talk : COOS


49. Rites group : FRAT


50. Titular character with no lines : GODOT - I think they're still waiting for him


52. "My eye!" in Minsk : NYET


56. "__ Aunt": Little Rascals short : ALFALFA'S - I don't know about his Aunt but the consensus was that Alfalfa (Carl Switzer) was a jerk. He eventually died of a gunshot wound




59. Cassis aperitif : KIR - A French cocktail made with a measure of Crème de Cassis mixed with dry, white wine


61. Starts to bubble, maybe : BOILS - Not if you're watching it


64. NFL season opening mo. : SEP - Next Sunday it's the Super Bowl and then a long wait


66. Monastery garb : COWL


68. Easy read : PRIMER - Just the sight of this PRIMER brings back great memories




70. Extremely : OH SO


72. Production design team member : ART DIRECTOR


73. Said farewell to : TOOK LEAVE OF - Aren't we more familiar with TOOK LEAVE OF his/her senses?


74. Resort area souvenirs : SWEATSHIRTS


76. With "a," eminently skilled at, as disguise : MASTER OF


78. Severe disrepute : SLIMINESS


80. Be carried gently : WAFT


82. Explorer __ da Gama : VASCO - First European to sail around Africa to India. He left 5 yrs. after Columbus went the other way




83. "The Young Lions" novelist : IRWIN SHAW


84. External Jeep attachment : SPARE TIRE - Famously carried on the back of the vehicle


87. Napoleon's légion : ARMEE - French dogfaces 


89. Mountain State: Abbr. : W VA - In the words of John Denver




92. List-limiting letters : ETC


94. Gram : NANA


95. Our Gang assent : OTAY - Unlike Carl Switzer, Billie Thomas below, was a real gentleman who found work as a Technicolor film technician when the Rascals filming stopped
98. Makes it big : GOES FAR

99. Dogpatch conditional : IF'N


103. Rides to the prom : LIMOS


104. Sinatra trademark : FEDORA


105. They may be rough : DRAFTS - Written in the White House on Presidential stationary not on the back of an envelope while on a train. Lincoln edited it the night before and added the tenth and final sentence. Yup, only ten.




110. Black-and-white swimmers : ORCAS


111. Bit of a chuckle : HEE


113. Mimicked : APED


115. "The Good Earth" wife : OLAN


117. Hendrix hairdo : AFRO - Buckwheat?


119. Wee : SMA - A 1909 Sadie Wendell Mitchell poster of scandalous behavior!




120. Granada gold : ORO


121. Meal opener : OAT - Mom used to say OATMEAL will "stick to your ribs"


122. Food service trade org. : NRA - Maybe someone with a potato gun could belong to both this and the other NRA


I'm sure Mark is happy with a very fine puzzle and does not require a BURNT OFFERING and so let's see if there are any "OFF CENTER" remarks to follow. Anyone posting such a comment would probably not be a FIRST OFFENDER




Jan 30, 2016

Saturday, January 30, 2016 Doug Peterson & Patti Varol

Theme: None (90° Turn~?)

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X)

Blocks: 30

Phew~!  I feel I've not been doing so well lately with my regularly scheduled puzzles, and when my first pass through this one remained about as white as the ground around these parts last week, I figured I was in for another orthorunic beating.  Ironically, it was a Frawnche word (and a sports car) in the Down that helped me gain some traction, and despite a grid with one too many (OK, more like 7 too many) proper names*, I was able to wrap it up - alright, so I cheated on ONE....One 15-letter spanner crossing a 15-letter climber, and some brutal 8- and 6- letter corners - but I have to say, some clever non-fun-sponge cluing;

8. Acted insubordinately : TALKED OUT OF TURN - Once I filled the SE corner, I had enough to suss the "-ED OUT OF..." phrase, and guessed that the 'verb' was TALK

37. Mating setting : CHESS TOURNAMENT - and since we had TURN and "TOURN", I imagine it could make for a "theme"


I found some fascinating chess sets when I went looking for this image; I have always wanted to build my own set, and something original - both indoors and OUT.









 ~!





ACROSS:

1. Entry level? : AGE LIMIT - OK, a little 'meh' on the first clue; I was looking for something a little more clever, like "Ground Floor"

9*. "Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges" co-author : SCALIA

15. Big picture : PANORAMA - I finally saw Star Wars VII - in IMAX 3-D, so that was my thought on 'big picture'

16. Fly-fishing gear : WADERS

17. Wet blanket : BUZZKILL

18. Surfaces : ARISES - dah~!  I was trying to think of a synonym for a horizontal plane, but we're talking verb here

19. Purplish fruit : SLOE

20*. Robert Southey, notably : LAKE POET - my one Google; I had LAKE----, and I suppose if I wasn't feeling a personal urge to get this puzzle solved, I could have put some thought in, and maybe even tried a WAG

22. Got comfy : NESTED

24. Outlying areas : 'BURBS - I was thinking "URBS", yet (su)BURBS did not pop into my mind

27. Juanita's pal : AMIGA - ah.  I had a final "O", but then again, I should have seen it was not Juan but his sister....

30. Leg up : EDGE - legs~?  See 43A.

32. Carrying a grudge : SORE

33. Some trainees : CADETS

35. Fodder bit : OAT

36*. "O Were My Love __ Lilac Fair": Burns : YON

41. Lisbon greeting : OLA - good guess on my part

42. Invoice abbr. : AMounT

43. Forward, in Firenze : AVANTI - oops, had a final "E", and this is why;

LevantE pantyhose

44. Dump, perhaps : SELL - the last time "dump" was in the clues, it messed me up

46*. Michelle of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" : YEOH - the "Y" was my last fill

48*. Zollverein Industrial Complex city : ESSEN - Saturday crossword cluing for a common crossword answer - and I should have WAGed it right away

49. Set of closely related notes : TRIAD - very familiar with this "chord" formation; OK, my guitar cronies, get out your axes and tell my what song this intro, predominantly triads, is from


51. Measure of concern for aerobatic pilots : G-FORCE - waiting for the day this is clued as the good guys from the cartoon "Battle of the Planets"


53. Starbucks order : SOY LATTE

55. Beyond gross : RANK

59. __ call : CATTLE

61*. "Respect for Acting" writer : UTA HAGEN - this one I did get with just --HAG--, but then again, the name makes enough crosswords....

63. Bro : PAISAN

64. Empathize with : RELATE TO

65. Get promoted : ASCEND - pondered something like "RISE UP", but the "P" was not user-friendly

66. Tops in malice : NASTIEST

DOWN:

1. BOLO equivalents : APBs - Be On the Look Out, All-Points Bulletin

2. Caesarean section? : GAUL - har-har

3*. Footwear designer Angiolini : ENZO

4. Pharmacy buys : LOZENGES

5. Exasperate : IRK

6. Submits : MAILS - and a clecho; 26D. Submitted : SENT IN

7. "Gotta run!" : "I'M LATE~!"

9. __ meet : SWAP

10. Evergreen with edible pods : CAROB - ah, similar to cocoa - did not know they were 'evergreens'; I was thinking "what can you eat on a pine, spruce, cedar or yew~?"

11. Parting words : ADIEUs - more Frawnche; see 39D.

12*. Berlioz opera based on the "Aeneid" : LES TROYENS - more more Frawnche; "The Trojans"

13. Land where hurling reportedly originated: Abbr. : IREland - oh, uh, this kind of hurling.  I'm more familiar with the drunken stupor kind....

14. Beast in some fables : ASS

21*. Catherine's husband in "Wuthering Heights" : EDGAR - I know this Edgar


23. "Good __": Alton Brown show : EATS

25*. "Wuthering Heights" author : BRONTË - oops, went with ALCOTT

27. Buttonhole : ACCOST

28*. Composer of an incomplete Tenth Symphony : MAHLER

29. Romantic : IDEALISTIC - ah, not the "intimate" kind of romantic; I was trying to find a link to associate the two clue terms, but it was a little more convoluted than I expected

31. Site of Vulcan's workshop : ETNA - makes sense, but I went looking for a specific reference - found one here

34. Order in the court : STAY

38. 007's watch since 1995 : OMEGA - I'm annoyed that I missed "Spectre" in theatres; gratuitous image for C.C.


39. With, on le menu : AVEC

40. Car with a trident emblem : MASERATI


45*. "Tao Te Ching" sage : LAO TSE

47. Spot in the afternoon : HOT TEA - I got the TEA part; the HOT part was not obvious

50*. Subject of the Robert Shelton biography "No Direction Home" : DYLAN

52. Rational and irrational numbers : REALS


54. Generate interest, in a way : LEND

56*. Miracle Mets star : AGEE - a good WAG

57. Has to spend : NETS - tough to grasp the clue's concept at first, but the answer ties it all in

58. Stomach trouble : KNOT - not ACHE - 100% 100% wrong

59. Pro with schedules : CPA

60. Wireless keyboard inserts : AAs

62. Outline in the Arby's logo : HAT

Splynter