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

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May 4, 2016

Wednesday, May 4, 2016 Parikshit Sreedhara Bhat

THEME: THE GREAT OUTDOORS

When the cold, harsh winter has given its last breath,
When the sky above shows life instead of death,
When the claws reaching to the frozen sky become decorated with leaves,
When the animals -long in hiding- scurry from trees,

We know winter has ended.
Camile Gotera

With spring in full bloom, what's better than to take a metaphorical roll in the hay! Parikshit has given us three words ending a two-word phrase denoting a bucolic area that "shows life instead of death" this time of year, at least for those of us north of the Mason Dixon Line. I wondered in what direction we were headed when I saw FLUSHING first but it was all good. I fully expected our crossword citizen LEA to show up too but was greatly entertained by this puzzle.  MONGER, MENORCA and ICE UP slowed up the swift completion of my appointed rounds.


As best as I can determine, it appears that Parikshit is a PhD candidate in India where The LA Times Crossword runs in this newspaper below. I hope he will drop in to give us more info on himself and this lovely puzzle. It would also be interesting to know how he came about acquiring all these American cultural references.


THEME FILLS

17. New York City park that hosted two world's fairs : FLUSHING MEADOWS - The Unisphere of the 1964 World's Fair serves as a backdrop for this comedy opening



35. Rice cultivation lands : PADDY FIELDS - The 31st Infantry Regiment in a rice PADDY FIELD


54. More exciting circumstances : GREENER PASTURES - How they are made in Nebraska



Across     

   
1. Sleep lab study : APNEA - How do you sleep in these?



6. Dalí works, por ejemplo : ARTE - Art in español  


10. Drug cop : NARC 

14. Some storytellers : LIARS


15. Midday : NOON - Astronomical high NOON occurs 36 min. sooner in Chicago than Omaha but both are on CDT


16. Chevy hatchback : AVEO

20. Current fashion : RAGE


21. Put on any old way : DAUB - One section has been DAUBED and the rest of the wattle awaits 




22. Permissible : LICIT


23. Ordinal suffix : ETH and 
34. Wks. and wks. : MOS - Our FIFTIETH anniversary is nine MOS. away


24. First-rate : A-ONE


25. Albania's capital : TIRANA - At the Mickey Dee's in TIRANA you'll get 38Lek in change for this bill when you buy a Big Mac meal



26. Dry out, so to speak : DETOX


28. Fall behind : LAG


29. Periodontist's deg. : DDS


30. "How Deep Is Your Love" group : BEE-GEES


37. Prefix with life or wife : MID


38. Star in Scorpius : ANTARES


39. Voice legend Blanc : MEL



40. U-verse provider : AT&T



41. "Not just a scooter, a way of life" brand : VESPA


45. Kind of surprise kick : ONSIDE - Football trickery



47. Popular berry : ACAI


50. Trawler's catch : COD


51. Present moment : NONCE - "
For the NONCE, however, he (Queequeg) proposed to sail about, and sow his wild oats in all four oceans." Chapter XII Moby Dick


52. Farm implement : PLOW - My minimum tillage neighbor and many others sold their PLOWS years ago



53. Coil in a garden : HOSE

57. Tan tone : ECRU


58. Scale for rock hounds : MOHS


59. Alaskan native : ALEUT - The volcanic island homes of these subarctic Alaskans



60. Filing tool : RASP


61. Petty fight : SPAT


62. Señorita's parent : MADRE - I'll bet you can translate this truism about Mamas  - "
Si la MADRE no es feliz, nadie está content" (* translation at the end of the write-up)


Down

1. Valet at Wayne Manor : ALFRED


2. Hand-washer of the Gospels : PILATE 
"Pilate . . . took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. "—Matthew, 27 : 24.



3. All for __: in vain : NAUGHT


4. Celtic language : ERSE - "
Maidin mhaith" is "Good morning"


5. Volcanic cloud that can disrupt flights : ASH - Can rise from those islands of the ALEUTS


6. 1997-2006 U.N. leader : ANNAN


7. Disobedient way to go : ROGUE


8. Mummy's resting place : TOMB - Lord Carnarvon, a real occupant of Highclere Castle below, financed the 1923 opening of King Tut's TOMB and died the next year. Curse?



9. Yakima-to-Spokane dir. : ENE


10. Low point : NADIR


11. Guacamole ingredients : AVOCADOS


12. Goes back a scene or two : REWINDS


13. Bob of "Football Night in America" : COSTAS


18. Words before a kiss : I DO


19. Sacha Baron Cohen alter ego : ALI G - Talk about a POSEUR (43 Down)



24. Shown the office door : AXED


25. Stun gun brand : TASER


27. Bk. after Amos : OBAD - OBADIAH with only one chapter and 440 words is the shortest book in the Old Testament 


28. Daughter of Darth : LEIA - Almost LEA


31. Bit of online courtship : E-DATE - I suppose


32. Ibsen's "Peer __" : GYNT - Surely some constructor has clued Oslo as "Where PEER GYNT premiered in 1876"


33. Young newt : EFT


34. Inventory: Abbr. : MDSE - Exchange students from the Baltic States are AWED by MerchanDSE in our American stores


35. Tapered beer glasses : PILSNERS


36. Big name in jeans : LEVI - LEES knew the wrath of my Delete Key


37. One of Las Islas Baleares : MENORCA - ENE of Valencia



39. Fish tail? : MONGER - A seller of fish. A WARMONGER? 


40. Yemen coastal city : ADEN - Where the USS Cole was attacked in October 2000



42. Made a point : SCORED


43. One with affectations : POSEUR - also Poser



44. Carol opener : ADESTE


46. Acquire a winter coat? : ICE UP - Very dangerous on airplane wings


47. Omega's opposite : ALPHA


48. Move effortlessly : COAST 




49. Cribside chorus : AWS

52. Pocket watch, to a hypnotist : PROP


53. Luau dance : HULA - Did MEL sing Aloha'Oe? 



55. Ambulance letters : EMS


56. Edinburgh bonnet : TAM


*62 Across roughly - "If mama ain't happy, ain't no one happy!"

Now let's put me out to PASTURE and FIELD some of your comments:


Answer Grid: