google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday March 23, 2014 Annemarie Brethauer

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Mar 23, 2014

Sunday March 23, 2014 Annemarie Brethauer

Theme: "Call Me" - The last parts of all 7 theme entries are all cell phone related.

22A. Precursor to reality shows like "Punk'd" : CANDID CAMERA. "Punk'd" is a bit cruel. I do like Ashton Kutcher.

34A. "Oh, I give up!" : FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE. So who's the original Mike?

54A. Unlikely job for one with acrophobia? : STEEPLEJACK. The only one word entry.

71A. Deceptive action : SMOKE SCREEN

88A. 1952 Groucho Marx film : A GIRL IN EVERY PORT. Never heard of the film. In fact, I parsed the answer as A GIRL I NEVER * & could not make any sense.

107A. General Lee, in "The Dukes of Hazzard" : DODGE CHARGER

14D. "That proves it" : I REST MY CASE

Reveal entry:

63D. Where the ends of 22-, 34-, 54-, 71-, 88- and 107-Across and 14-Down can be found : MOBILE PHONE

I smiled at the puzzle title. Reminded me of those crazy "Call Me Maybe" days.

This puzzle has a perfect 100 themes squares. Rich's minimum is 84. Things get tricky when you venture into the +100 territory.

I think this is Annemarie Brethauer's first Sunday puzzle. And it's amazingly smooth and clean. Hardly any "Owen's Law" (every puzzle must have nits) moments. Congrats, Annemarie! 

Across:

1. Matter of faith : DOGMA. CREDO is 5-letter also.

6. Statutes : LAWS

10. Plays the harpy : NAGS

14. Puckish sort : IMP

17. Brooks Robinson, notably : ORIOLE. He spent his whole career with the Orioles. I once pulled a Brooks Robinson auto. Highlight of my card-collecting career.

19. John's 2008 running mate : SARAH (Palin)

20. Schubert classic : AVE MARIA

24. Least likely to make a faux pas : POLITEST. Also 105. Most fair : BLONDEST

25. Blackthorn fruit : SLOE

26. Beach feature : DUNE

27. Test in a small room, maybe : TRY ON. "Small room" here refers to "Fitting room", right?

29. Comes in last : LOSES

30. Sploshed : SPILT

32. Apothecary's bottle : PHIAL. I just call it Vial.

33. Guard : SENTRY

39. Singer Grant : AMY

40. Plant sometimes called a false shamrock : OXALIS. Unaware of this trivia. They do look similar, Irish Miss.


41. Australia's lang. : ENG

42. Intimate : IMPLY

44. __ Martin Cognac : REMY

45. Collar target : FLEA

47. Hank who voices Moe Szyslak : AZARIA.  "The Simpsons".

50. Soup holder : CUP. Most Cantonese have long-simmered soup every day. Have you been to Chinatown, Splynter?

53. "Annie" couple? : ENS. Letter N in Annie.

57. Pet shop purchase : LEASH

59. Perch : ROOST

60. Spinner in the wind : VANE. Nice clue.

61. Fell from grace : LAPSED

62. Slide preparations : SMEARS

64. North Pole explorer : PEARY (Robert). Must be a gimme for Spitzboov.

66. Straightened (up) : TIDIED

67. "Walk on By" singer Warwick : DIONNE

68. Narrated : TOLD

69. Honda, even in reverse? : CIVIC. Pangram. Hence "Even in reverse" (I meant Palindrome. Thanks, Lemonade.)

70. Reporter assigned to a platoon, e.g. : EMBED. When will "60 Minutes" bring back Lara Logan, Bill G?

74. Dancer Charisse : CYD

77. Mario Kart console : WII

78. Lampoon : SATIRE

80. Shells out : PAYS

81. Botanical balm : ALOE

82. Bath sponge : LOOFA. Or Loofah. Made from silk gourds. Common summer food for me. The Hmong farmers here grow all kinds of veggies I eat in China.



84. A pop : PER

85. Seal, in a way : TAPE UP

87. Girl o' my heart : PEG. "Peg o' My Heart".

94. Many a cottonwood : POPLAR. Also 99. Colorado resort : ASPEN

96. River nymph : NAIAD

97. Solo : ALONE

98. Rose pest : APHID

100. Smart __ : ALEC

101. Nimbus : AURA

110. Sexy sleepwear : LINGERIE. Does your daughter still work at Victoria's Secret, Dave?

111. "Silas Marner" novelist : ELIOT

112. Lacing aid : EYELET

113. Opposite of six, on a die : ONE

114. Gather : REAP

115. Phoned : RANG

116. Uplift : EDIFY

Down:

1. Severinsen and a dwarf : DOCS. The dwarf clue is enough for me. I don't quite get Johnny Carson's appeal. Was he that good?

2. Spoken : ORAL

3. Futurist painter Severini : GINO. Total stranger to me. So what does this picture try to convey?



4. Without pretension : MODESTLY

5. "Fight of the Century" contender : ALI

6. Barely believable : LAME

7. "... such stuff / As dreams __ made on": Shak. : ARE

8. Wild African pig : WARTHOG

9. "Funny Girl" actor : SHARIF (Omar). I wonder if he still lives in Egypt.

10. Italia seaport : NAPOLI

11. Stratford's river : AVON. Our Ol' Man Keith lived there for a short period.

12. Brylcreem, e.g. : GEL

13. Request at a sitting : SMILE. I don't get this clue. What sitting?
 
15. King novel : MISERY



16. Sitting duck : PATSY

18. Swirling currents : EDDIES

19. __ Domingo : SANTO

21. Without a key : ATONAL

23. Select : CULL

28. Edible tuber : YAM. Not YAM related, but what do you call those stacked bread in the left? Too thick to be nan.




31. Upsilon follower : PHI

32. __ code : PENAL

33. "Ice Road Truckers" truck : SEMI

34. Links cry : FORE. For golfers like Husker Gary.

35. Team in a field : OXEN. Loved the clue.

36. Ewes' guys : RAMS

37. Second in command : VEEP

38. Starfleet captain : KIRK. Star Trek.

43. Legendary attendant of Charlemagne : PALADIN. Not legendary enough. Never heard of him.

45. Own (up) : FESS

46. "Never __ Me Go": Kazuo Ishiguro novel : LET

47. Slightly open : AJAR

48. Screwball : ZANY

49. Lowest gin card : ACE

51. Secondhand : USED

52. Prof's degree : PHD

54. What's-his-face : SO AND SO

55. Went like the dickens : TORE

56. Skirt : EVADE

58. Really amazing, to a dude : EPIC. So EPIC success for Kenye West to lobby and put Kim K on Vogue cover? Don't remember Anna Wintour had to defend her cover choice before. Probably an epic fail for her.


59. Artist Magritte : RENE

61. Not taped : LIVE

62. __ Valley, Calif. : SIMI

64. Slipshod : POOR

65. Actress Sommer : ELKE

66. Binds : TIES

67. Web revealer : DEW. This refers to dew drops on a spider web, yes?

68. "OMG, stop telling me all this!" : TMI

69. Call out : CRY

71. Doe's beau : STAG

72. Use : SPEND

73. Give a hoot : CARE

74. "Pinocchio" goldfish : CLEO. Saw this clue before. Still forgot.

75. "In __ Eyes": Peter Gabriel hit : YOUR

 76. Agcy. : DEPT

79. Miles off : AFAR

81. Stood before the court : APPEARED

83. Flashing flirtatious looks : OGLING

84. Self-playing instrument : PIANOLA

85. Lozenge : TROCHE

86. Writer Rand : AYN

87. Ribbed fabric : POPLIN. Learning moment for me.

89. Keeping up (with) : IN STEP

90. Kool Moe Dee genre : RAP

91. German ballads : LIEDER. Plural of Lied.

92. Worker with many keys : VALET. Car keys.

93. Fridge juice: Abbr. : ELEC. V8 moment!

94. Cellist Casals : PABLO

95. One doing sums : ADDER. I'm a preferrer of the snake clue.

99. Cambodia setting : ASIA. Hope they find the plane soon. The tone in various Chinese blogs is getting extremely harsh.

100. All aflutter : AGOG

102. Hybrid citrus fruit : UGLI. It's in our grocery store.

103. Snorkeling site : REEF

104. Affectedly cultured : ARTY

106. Before, to Byron : ERE

108. Continuous babble : DIN

109. "I see," at sea : AYE

 C.C. 


57 comments:

OwenKL said...

My Cellphone ... with apologies to RLS.
-- --------- --- ---- --------- -- ----
I have a little cellphone that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of it is more than I can see!
It is very, very like me with my looks as avatar;
Because I use its CAMERA to take selfies at a bar.

The funniest thing about it is the way it likes to show
The strangest things upon its SCREEN - Not-Safe-For-Work I know!
Texts come in the whole day long; e-mail sometimes, too.
It makes me wonder what a cellphone MIKE is s'posed to do.

I have a music mix list that it always gets to play,
I plug my earbuds in the JACK, the cords get in the way.
I keep it close beside me, without it I'd be lost;
With a dongle in its USB PORT, I can come on like a boss.

One morning, very early, before the nightly sync was done,
I rose and saw a shining light; I think it was the "Sun"!
But my lazy little cellphone, inside its modded CASE,
Stayed plugged into its CHARGER, like a MOBILE PHONE home base!

Yellowrocks said...

walk in the park today. With CAMERA, MIKE, and SCREEN I wondered if the reveal could be MOVIE____. EMBED nixed that and I realized it was MOBILE. AZARIA was the only completely unknown, all perps. As often as the Simpsons have APPEARED here, I have a mental block on them.
I think SITTING is a session with a photographer. Nailed it. He tells you to SMILE.
I enjoyed Ishiguru's Remains of the Day. I just borrowed Never Let Me Go for my Kindle.
Really liked CANDID CAMERA, PUNK'D not at all.
Owen, great take off on My Shadow, one of my favorites.
I have seen PHIAL many times in novels. In real life, I always see VIAL.
Interesting blog, CC.

Yellowrocks said...

My Shadow (From Child's Garden of Verses) by Robert Louis Stevenson

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow--
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes goes so little that there's none of him at all.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close behind me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Mostly smooth solve today, but there were a few bumps in the road. I initially went with ALLADIN at 43D but changed it to SALADIN when AZARIA appeared at 47A. I had no idea what the heck IMSLY meant at 42A as a result, however. I finished the rest of the puzzle and came back to it, knowing it couldn't be right. Once I finally realized that "intimate" was a verb and not a noun or adjective, the light bulb went on and I got IMPLY/PALADIN.

Elsewhere, OXALIS was unknown to me and looked wrong, but the perps were solid. And PIANOLA was just plain weird. Is that the official name for a player piano?

Lemonade714 said...

Very nice puzzle. It had just enough of the unknown to make it a nice challenge.

C.C., I think you mean that CIVIC is a palindrome.

Johnny Carson was very adept at the ad lib and also made people comfortable so they talked to him. He was very entertaining.

Happy Sunday,I hope your brackets are busting Buffet.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

I was zipping right along until I got to Florida and had a tablet rather than a TROCHE and attested when I should have APPEARED. General Lee fixed both of 'em.

I was not aware of the relationship between Charlemagne and PALADIN. I thought you just wired him in San Francisco when you wanted somebody offed. It was a POPLAR show.

I renewed the network security software for my IMac, but still keep getting the "In just XX days you'll be unprotected!" warning. Finally contacted Best Buy to see what was going on. I was told my renewal would be processed the day the old license expires. "So I have to suffer these warnings every day until then?" "Yes, that's just the way we do things." No wonder Best Buy is in trouble!

I was delay-watching the Wisconsin game last night when my DVR caught up to real time at 9:00. I refused to sit through all those commercials, so I went to bed. I'll watch the end of the game this morning. Don't tell me how it ends.

HeartRx said...

Good morning all!

Great write-up, C.C. I thought “tenet” could also fit at 1-Across. The GINO Severini painting you linked depicts the Waltz. You can see all the dancers whirling around the room, with a beautiful play of light on them.

BTW “Sitting” in 13-D means sitting (posing) for a portrait or photograph.

I struggled with the clue for IMPLY, because I was thinking of the adjective for “intimate.” Even when it was all filled in, I still scratched my head as to how “IMP – ly” could mean “intimate.” How is an imp intimate?? Big V-8 moment when the coffee kicked in and showed me im-PLY.

A little medical mini-theme with SMEARS on a laboratory slide, TROCHE and PHIAL. And I was happy to see that Tinbeni has REMY Martin to get him through the grid.

Have a great day, everyone!

thehondohurricane said...

Good moring folks,

My first attempt at a Sunday puzzle in a while and my first success in a month of Sundays. First day I've felt well enough to tackle a puzzle.

Relied on perps often because of the plethora of unknowns today. PHIAL, OXALIS, PEARY (wanters Perry), EMBED (don't get this at all), LOOFA, & POPLIN were some.

My mom's favorite expression when I screwed up was calling me a something r SO AND SO. Wanted Saladin, Richards desert foe, before PALADIN. I still catch a Have Gun, Will Travel episode once or twice a week. during the winter months.

UConn ladies begin their quest today for a chance to meet Notre Dame for the NCAA title. Should be an EPIC battle. Just hope both get there with no major injuries. Either being upset is possible, but not likely.




Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C. and Friends. I enjoyed this cell-phone related puzzle. Getting the unifier helped complete the Groucho Marx clue, as I was not familiar with the Girl in Every PORT movie.

I tend to use my cell phone CAMERA now since I always have my phone with me, but not my camera. Unfortunately, the fabulous camera store in my city closed recently. A direct result of cell phones.

The Request at a Sitting = SMILE refers to posing (sitting) for a formal photograph.

I think those stacked breads are Pita Breads because they are stacked next to skewers of meat.

I was amused by having RENE Margritte and REMY Martin in the same puzzle. Small things must amuse me today.

My favorite clue was the Honda, even in reverse = CIVIC. (It's a palindrome.)

I also liked the Worker with Many Keys = VALET.

QOD: Selfish persons are incapable of loving others, but they are not capable of loving themselves either. ~ Erich Fromm (Mar. 23, 1900 ~ Mar. 18, 1980)

Lucina said...

Good morning, C.C. and all.

This was a nice, smooth romp from Annemarie Brethauer.

MOBILE PHONE appeared even though mine is an outdated flip one which only makes calls, no texting. It has a CHARGER, of course.

PHIAL as a variant of vial is commonly found in novels.

RANG at 115A finishes the theme nicely.

Spinner in the wind, VANE and ewes' guys, RAMS, really cracked me up.

Naan, as common as bread is here, is popular in the Middle East and served warm it's quite tasty. They flip it like pizzas.

Johnny Carson was one of the wittiest men on TV and never slandered anyone in the process. And I remember Hank AZARIA from Mad about You.

Have a sensational Sunday, everyone!

Lucina said...

PK (from last night)
Thanks for the welcome. I had been to Turkey 16 years ago and loved it but had not been to Israel or Jordan. It was what I expected and more! Jerusalem, especially, and though it is a magnificent city, it was difficult to relate it to the biblical visions I had of it. Yet, the churches in the special places we visited attest to the impact of Christianity.

Jordan is quite different but impressive because of its extraordinary sites like Madaba, Petra and Wadi Rum. Our guides in both places enriched our experience with their store of knowledge. Hazim in Jordan was exceptionally brilliant in his presentations and enthusiasm. I hope to show pictures soon.

Istanbul is a beautiful, bustling city reeking with history of the Ottoman, Byzantine and Christian presence. Everywhere it was peaceful and safe.

Al Cyone said...

Pretty straightforward. WBS (and HeartRX) about IMPLY. That "P" was my last fill.

[16:32]

Anonymous said...

"'Legendary attendant of Charlemagne : PALADIN.' Not legendary enough."

That's funny.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-How did I manage before my iPhone with all those functions?
-I saw the title “Call Me” and the ME in CANDID CAMERA but it was a blind alley
-These sand DUNES in Oregon are on our July itinerary
-That SHARIF movie also had this 51 Down song
-Every state fair has this photographic entry entitled SENTINEL of the Prairie
-LAPSED – my brother saying, “Quitting drinking is easy, I’ve done it at least twenty times.”
-Being in a house that really needs to be TIDIED makes my bride uneasy
-DIONNE singing (14:35) Walk on By and other Burt songs with him at the piano
-POPLAR grow very fast but get blown over or die quickly too. Put slower growing trees in front of them
-Nebraskan Johnny was that good as a comedian and interviewer
-I remember one” sitting duck” who could sure sing Crazy
-Ice Road Truckers only plays in the heat of summer
-On our narrow course, you’d better yell FORE and react when you hear it!
-Who was the PIANOLA player in The Music Man?
-In what movie did John Wayne tell kidnapper Richard Boone (TV’s PALADIN) that the ransom money for his grandson was “stuff dreams are made of”?

Bid Easy said...

Well this puzzle had many unknown that I managed to fill using perps. PHIAL is a word I never saw in my 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry. FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE is a saying I have never herd. PIANOLA OXALIS AZARIA PALADIN (have gun will travel) GINO all new. I wish I could remember CYD because I have a neighbor named SYDNEY and another named SIDNEY. Even though I never use it, I think BRYLCREEM, a little dab'll do you, was a white cream.

Nice Sunday puzzle that I went from NW to SE easily.

Yellowrocks said...

HG, beautiful prairie sentinel picture. I never thought much about sand dunes on the west coast, but now that you mention it . . . lovely.
I looked up Paladin in the 70's when the western was on because it seemed a strange name for a gun fighter. That was useful today. Curiosity is the handmaiden of crossword solvers.
Off to visit my son and DIL. I get to see my grandson. Yay!

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a tad more difficult than a usual Sunday, for me, anyway. I didn't get the TADA due to crossing of oxalis/oxen. I had opalis/open, thinking of a sporting event, like the US Open. And, yes, CC, oxalis resembles shamrocks but I never heard of it before.

Nice job, AnneMarie, and super expo, CC.

Spring may have sprung but not here. It was 5 last night and today, possible high of mid 20's. Basically the same for the next several days. Throw in the blustery March winds and you have Brrr!

Have a great Sunday.

Anonymous said...

regarding 28 down question:
that stack looks like bialys which are named for a city in Poland (Bialystok). They are baked yeast rolls with a depression in the middle that is filled with chopped onion and other ingredients as wished such as garlic, poppy seeds, or bread crumbs. I found some in the Stop and Shop. The clue was in another puzzle a short while ago.
They are heavy to eat.
My Shadow has always been a lovely poem, Yellowrocks.

LaLaLinda said...

Hi Everyone ~~

I enjoyed this puzzle and finished with no real problems. I did have missteps, which usually involved having to look at words as a different part of speech: EMBED, Solo and Flashing...

~ Had Santa before SANTO Domingo ~ learning moment.

~ At 45A - Collar target, I wanted 'Perp' before FLEA.

~ 'Continuous babble' didn't come quickly - I associate DIN with being loud.

~ I was thinking of 'Trial' ( in a Lab) for 27A - Test in a small room - nope, it's a verb / TRY ON.

~ Unfamiliar with PHIAL, PALADIN, and PIANOLA - I, too, thought of a Player Piano.

~ Jerry REMY and Ned Martin worked together as Red Sox announcers.

~ Favorites: Fridge juice / ELEC. and Web revealer / DEW.

~ Thanks for a wonderful write-up, C.C. ~ I loved your comments!

~ Like Hondo, I'll be watching the UConn women today - the men's team surprised me with a win last night!

Lucina said...

Yellowrocks:
I also love My Shadow and remember it from my school years. Thank you for it.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Zoomed right through today, the unknowns having been filled right up by perps. Couldn't see where the theme was going until the unifier.

Morning, C.C. - I always assumed that Pianola was a brand name or trademark, but Wiki doesn't put it that way.

A belated welcome home, Lucina! I have visited Turkey, but none of the others. They're on the bucket list.

A local man of means bought one of the surviving General Lee Chargers for his son, then a high school senior. The machine is sometimes seen on our local roads, making almost as much noise as the accursed Harleys. I never watched the show, but I was aware that lots of Chargers were wrecked during production.

buckeye bob said...

Thank you for the fun puzzle, Annemarie. Thank you for the excellent review, C.C.

I enjoyed this puzzle, and liked the theme. It must have taken some work to come up with 7 clues / answers that fit the theme.

In the end I solved this puzzle in my normal Wednesday – Thursday time, but it was a good challenge along the way. I had some unknowns, but the perps helped me get them.

I knew Paladin from the 50s-60s TV series Have Gun - Will Travel, but didn’t know the origin. Learning moment for me.

Bill G. said...

Good morning...

I haven't read CC's writeup yet or any of the comments. I finished this puzzle late last night and it was hard not to say something ahead of time. It's hard to put the reasons in words but I really liked this puzzle. The theme was good though not great. I guess it was the cluing; clever and tricky and fair, different from many other puzzles. For instance, Test in a small room maybe, for TRY ON. Honda, even in reverse for CIVIC, General Lee for DODGE CHARGER, Severinsen and a dwarf for DOCS, Request at a sitting for SMILE, "That proves it!" for I REST MY CASE, and the list goes on. Anyway, I really enjoyed this puzzle. Thanks Annemarie and CC.

Also, fridge juice for ELEC was clever too.

CC, dunno about Lara Logan but I miss her. Either they are being unfair to her or maybe she's got her feelings hurt (understandably I think).

The only minor complaint I can remember is What's-his-face for SO AND SO. I think of SO AND SO as meaning an impish little troublemaker, not someone's name I can't think of. Calling to my grandson maybe, "Get over here you little so and so!"

desper-otto said...

Well, this tech-savvy miscreant managed to watch most of the Wisconsin-Oregon game. I watched right up until there was less than a minute left and Wisconsin was ahead by 3. And then..."Are you finished with this recording? Delete it?" Dagnabbit!

If any of you over-50 folks are looking for a way to stay fit:

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface where you have plenty of room at each side.

With a 5 lb. potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides, and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10 lb. potato sacks.

Then try 50 lb. potato sacks (this is the level I've reached).

After you feel confident at this level, put a potato in each of the sacks.

Anonymous said...

SO, PLEASE...WHERE CAN I FIND MORE PUZZLES FROM ANNEMARIE BRETHAUER? THIS ONE HAD SO MANY DELIGHTFULLY SURPRISING WORDS--THANKS. Sandy in Colorado

OwenKL said...

• Funny article on crosswords by Gene Weingarten.
Paladins are familiar characters in RPGs [Role Playing Games] as exceptionally good fighters with some additional priestly abilities, but hobbled by only being allowed to do ethical and moral things in fantasy worlds where stealing treasures and killing creatures are de rigueur. It's a generic term, not the name of any specific one of Charlemagne's knights.
Pianola was a brand name, not a general term.
• An interesting STEEPLEJACK.
• I'm surprised no one's asked yet about TMI, shorthand for Too Much Information.
• 62d=SIMI vs. 33d=SEMI.
• 86d=AYN vs. 74a=CYD.

Avg Joe said...

Good afternoon all. I enjoyed the smoothness of this solve and had no major hangups or nits. But did have a few minor nits: Wondered about the clue for Brylcream, cuz I too remember it as a white cream not a gel. Had G__P from crosses, but still didn't like gawp. Tried Imbed before embed. And while the poplar is a member of the same family as a cottonwood (or aspen), they are hardly synonymous. Still, liked it a lot and just kind of rolled through it from top to bottom.

D-O...you need a hobby :-)

Oh!. I went to a continuing ed course the other day and the instructor brought up an off the wall barometer of sorts. Talking about an ethical breach case study, she said: "...and that was at least 3 or 4 Pinocchios." During break I told her of the Mili-Helen concept and obtained her permission to adapt Pinocchios in the same way.

Spitzboov said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Enjoyed the puzzle and C.C.'s commentary. No nits.

Met DOC Severensen once at a 'meet and greet' in our area.

OXEN - One of the few plurals in English ending in EN. Almost all plurals in Dutch are formed by adding EN.

An IMP in Itzehoe (Holstein) would be a Spitzboov.

The only advisor of Charlemagne I ever heard of is Alcuin. That might be good puzzle fodder on another day.

Had weekend company from #3 son, DIL. and 2 granddaughters. Nice post-birthday treat.

Irish Miss said...

Avg Joe @ 12:34 - There is a feature in The Washington Post called The Fact Checker that rates speeches, quotes, assertions, etc. (usually by politicians) by Pinocchios. Sort of like star ratings for movies, but the more Pinocchios awarded, the more distortion of the facts.

CanadianEh! said...

Local newspaper had this puzzle titled as Call Me by C.C. Burnikel, edited by Annemarie Breathauer! I wondered where Rich had gone.

WEES about original cluing. Hand up for SANTA before SANTO. Also smiled at Web revealer and Fridge juice.

Puzzle title immediately made me think of Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen. Call Me Maybe

It was snowing here this morning. Where is spring??

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Bravo, Annemarie! Encore! I found this puzzle easier and more interesting than last Sunday's. I had trouble starting this puzzle. Hand up for "tenet". DOCS & ORAL straightened this out.

"Z" in AZARIA was the last to fill after I finally got STEEPLE JACK. I wasn't feeling ZANY, I guess.

I knew OXALIS from online researching weeds in my lawn last summer. Knew NAIAD but had trouble with the spelling.

A recently read book was partly on the slave rebellion in the old sugar plantation days of SANTO DOMINGO, so it was a gimmee.

C.C. Thanks for the great expo. My husband and I weren't Johnny Carson fans. I think his popularity was helped because in the days before cable with few channels, he was the best show on at that time.

D-O: Loved your exercise advice.

Snowed here last night. Mostly gone by now. My lawn needs the moisture.

Bill G. said...

There are banks of Oxalis around here; both along my bike riding path and along a nearby greenbelt. It just looks like green ground cover except for a few weeks in the Spring after some rain and then it's a sea of pretty bright yellow. A weed is just a flower out of place.

HeartRx said...

Bill G., I have a purple oxalis plant in my solarium, and when it is in bloom, the flowers add a pretty pink color to the ensemble. So that one was a gimme.

D-otto, I roared when I read your exercise advice. Hmmm, sounds like something I should try. (Sans potato, of course!!)

OwenKL, thanks for the Gene Weingarten ("Wine garden" - what a great sounding name!) article. I'll have to be careful about what I put into my crossword puzzles from now on.

Lucina said...

d-otto:
Thanks for the fitness exercise! A couple of questions though: where can one obtain potato sacks? If potatoes are not available, will any other vegetable qualify? I can't wait to try this!!

After walking the up and down the hills of Jerusalem and 5 miles (2.5 each way) through Petra, Jordan, I feel a surge of confidence. One potato in each sack?? No Problem.

CrossEyedDave said...

Wees, + several What Somebody Said, except there were so many I lost track...

A list of Nits & Kudos:

I remember watching Brylcream commercials as a 6 year old, & while I have never used it, gel just seems plain wrong...

38D Starfleet Captain = Kirk
Spitz, back me up on this, once someone is promoted to Admiral, wouldn't it be an insult to refer to them as Captain? Ok, maybe he was demoted in the last movie,,, (but I digress...)

CC, (re:Q@110A) Daughter#1 requested a transfer, & now works at Victoria Secret in their main store on 34th St. NYC as a Bra specialist. 1) because NYC offers $10-/hr as opposed to NJ's $8-/hr, &B) so she can go to auditions for Broadway plays. (If anyone needs an actress who can sing, pls email me....)

Oxalis (Wood Sorrel) is one of those ever present plants (like Dandelions) that might keep you alive if you were starving. However note that Oxalic acid in high quantities can damage your kidneys. So I wouldn't eat them outright, but add them as a garnish to your squirrel stew...

Tx HG for Prairie Sentinel! (I was looking for a new Desktop Wallpaper!)

I remember Have Gun Will Travel, The theme was awesome. (wait a sec,,,) That sucked, I remember the card with the Chess Piece, what the heck did I like about that show...?

To Be Continued....

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. I had a lot of fun with this puzzle today, once I got past the vast expanse of white with a few toeholds here and there. Excellent fill and cluing.

OwenKL, thank you for your writings every day.

Loved the potato sack joke and the Weingarten article.

Best wishes to you all.

CrossEyedDave said...

Continued...

Hank Azaria? I remembered him as the dog walker on Mad About You, but when I couldn't find the clip I IMDB'd him. Detective in Pretty Woman??? Does anyone remember a detective in Pretty Woman?

Desperotto@12:21 Your post hit a nerve,,, many years ago I separated my shoulder on a camping trip & went to the emergency room. Being a teaching Hospital they made me stand in front of a live X-Ray machine with a gallery of resident MD's with 1 gallon milk jugs in each hand to show them what a separated shoulder looks like. I spent the rest of the night in a tent in agony! (Sheesh! you would think they would at least have given me some painkillers!)

OwenKL (As Always...) Your Poem was excellent! & a learning experience for the unpoetic. (namely me...) but your 12:31 Gene Weingarte post was hilarious! I had just opened some cheese flavored popcorn before I clicked your link. The ensueing hilarity caused me to choke on my popcorn! (In future, if you are going provide such funny links, pls enclose some painkillers...)

CanadianEh@1:52 I bookmarked "call me maybe" to watch to cheer me up after I choke on my popcorn...

Anonymous said...

I almost finished another Sunday puzzle. Maybe I'm getting better. Thanks, Annemarie and C.C. The puzzle had fresh clues for some old answers, and the write-up was fun.

My most despised answer ever: PATSY. That was my nickname until I graduated from high school. I changed to Pat in college and have had that name ever since. I am not an idiot/ass/sitting duck.

Happy belated birthday, real PK! I hope it was a great day.

Welcome back, Lucina. Looking forward to pics.

Happy Sunday evening.

Pat

Argyle said...

"The Ballad Of Paladin"

buckeye bob said...

desper-otto’s exercise and Lucina’s question made me realize something I haven’t thought about before.

Where have all the potato sacks gone?

I haven’t seen a potato sack in years. I’ve seen loose potatoes. I’ve seen potatoes in clear plastic bags. I’ve seen potatoes in mesh bags. But potato sacks? Nope, not in a long time.

Maybe 3-legged racers have them. Maybe the exercisers have them. Maybe some other area of the country has them. But not here.

Hmmm, something to muse about…

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Awesome puzzle, Annemarie! Great expo, CC!

The fastest Sunday that I have ever done! (Worked both ways at once as per usual). No complaints!

Loved Have Gun Will Travel. (Link is incorrect, I think.)

Cheers!

fermatprime said...

Thanks, Santa! Great song!

Bill G. said...

CED, as a teenager, I used Wildroot Cream Oil, a lot of it. When I combed my hair, the comb would have white gooey stuff between all of the teeth. I think Brylcream was the same; a white cream, not a gel, so I agree with you.

I think "Call me Maybe" is a cute, insignificant little song by Carly Rae Jepsen, another cute one-hit wonder I'm guessing.

I don't remember Hank Azaria from Pretty Woman. (The hotel dick was Hector Elizondo.) Azaria used to be married to Helen Hunt so at least he seems to have good taste.

Buckeye Bob, interesting question to which I don't even have a good guess.

Avg Joe said...

BillG, I don't know if your comment solves anything, but I have to fess up that my memory was based on Wildroot, not Brylcream. Not the same, no matter how similar.

Slicked back Sam said...

Brylcreem was indeed a pomade, or gel. It never was a white cream.

Spitzboov said...

CED @ 1709 - Consider yourself backed up. (I didn't mean this in a colonic sense.)

CrossEyedDave said...

Spitz@7:33 LOL!

CanadianEh! said...

CED @5:43 LOL!

Bill G @6:20
Actually Carly Rae Jepsen has done quite well since Call Me Maybe. She won 3 Juno Awards and was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2013 and is currently performing on Broadway in Cinderella.

Carly Rae Jepsen

Bill G. said...

This is a wild patch of Oxalis along the bike path after a rainy spell a couple of years back in the Spring.
Oxalis along the bike path (Click on the image after it opens.)

Thanks for the heads up about Carly Rae. I guess I just assumed she wouldn't be heard from again due to my low opinion of the state of current popular music. Good for her.

Anonymous said...

CC: When you sit for a photograph, you are told to "smile." With early cameras, images were "put" on the plates by exposures of several seconds. The subjects had to be perfectly still...and therefor, were told NOT to smile because it was hard to "hold" a natural smile that long. That`s why very old photographs show people looking so solemn.

PK said...

Potato sacks aka gunny sacks made of jute or some such itchy stuff: When we lived on the farm, one night some fugitives from heinous crimes back east were chased by local sheriff's deputies who were bored enough to be checking tags. In a high speed chase, the felons crashed in the ditch about 1/4 mile from our house. One ran to our doors. Locked. He ran to the garage. No keys in the car. Ran to the barn. No keys in the vehicles. He grabbed a couple gunny sacks laying in the barn and ran out into the harvested milo field. He covered his body with those dirt-colored bags and lay between the rows of stubble. Search lights didn't find him. There's a lot more to the story, but they caught him about noon the next day trying to hitchhike, still carrying the sacks. They were not returned.

Bill G. said...

I think I"m reaching the point where my train of thought often leaves the station without me...

Unknown said...

Thank you Annemarie and C.C.

In answer to your question about Omar Sharif. He died on March 25, 2014. Also, a few weeks ago someone commented that two actors on Rizzoli and Isles had died. Lee Thompson Young unfortunately committed suicide. However, Chazz Palminteri is alive and well.

I used to watch Johnny Carson all the time. He was really good at what he did. After he retired, I switched to David Letterman. I couldn't stand Jay Leno.

The last part of the puzzle to fill was the northeast corner. When I finished the rest, I went back up there and suddenly realized that Schubert classic must be Ave Maria. From there the rest filled in easily.

Paladin and troche were totally perped. Whenever the clue says ____ Valley, California, I never know if it's Simi or Napa. So I have to wait for a perp. My favorite clues were Test in a Small Room and Collar Target.

Nancy

Lucina said...

Nancy Murphy:
Considering that today is March 23, 2014, you must have some powerful premonition to know that Omar Sharif died on March 25, 2014. Or should that be 2013?

If the former, I have a few questions for you . . . . .

Irish Miss said...

Nancy Murphy @ 9:26 - Reports about Omar Sharif's death are a hoax.. He is still among the living. BTW, welcome to the Corner.

aka thelma said...

Is there anyone out there at this time of nite who might have an idea why my Imac won't accept a disc?? what am I doing wrong ?

It won't take the disc to set up a new printer and it then wouldn't take a music disc..

Anyway, I would appreciate any help I can get.. :)

Didn't finish the puzzle today... took me too long to get as far as I did and had too many interruptions...

In my neck of the woods we were looking for the love of Pete... not the love of Mike.... :)

thelma

Burrito34 said...

I was wondering if someone would link to the "Have Gun, Will Travel" theme song. Thanks, Argyle.

Like many of us older folks, the first time I heard the word "paladin" was in reference to the western tv series way back when.