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

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Dec 25, 2011

Sunday Dec 25, 2011 Doug Peterson

Theme: Christmas Potluck - All the 7 food theme entries are humorously interpreted and clued as if they're brought by the usual holiday favorite characters.

23A. The Little Drummer Boy brought __ : BREAD STICKS

34A. Tiny Tim brought __ : LITTLE SMOKIES

51A. Cupid the reindeer brought __ : ARTICHOKE HEARTS. Too stringy for my taste, Steve!

66A. Jack Frost brought __ : COLD-CUT SANDWICHES

86A. The Nutcracker brought __ : SHELLS AND CHEESE. Never had it. Don't eat cheese.

99A. Rudolph brought __ : RED VELVET CAKE

117A. The Salvation Army volunteer brought __ : BELL PEPPERS

C.C. here. Merry Christmas!

I bet Doug considered putting the cake as the last theme entry, but settled down on the current layout as it produced the smoothest fill. I could be wrong. Maybe Doug wants us to think BELL PEPPERS actually taste better. After all, Gisele Bündchen has been misleading her son (with Tom Brady) that broccoli is "dessert".

Here are more Christmas-related fill Doug gave to us:

1A. Enjoy a home-cooked Christmas dinner, say : EAT IN

25A. "The stockings were __ ..." : HUNG

61A. Santa __ : ANA

89A. "A Christmas Carol" epithet : BAH

122A "Four Christmases" actress Witherspoon : REESE

4D. Kid's Christmas Eve cry : I CAN'T WAIT. I can picture how excited Barry G's Joshua is this morning.

6D. Like Kris Kringle : ROTUND

24D. Nick's status? : SAINTHOOD. St Nick.

69D. "The Gift of the Magi," e.g. : TALE. Such a moving love story.

Across:

6. Linear opening : RECTI. Rectilinear. Prefix for "straight".

11. "Don't leave!" : STAY

15. Pretense : SHAM

19. "Funny Girl" subject : BRICE (Fanny)

20. Midnight follower : ONE AM

21. 2011 Home Run Derby winner Robinson __ : CANO. Second baseman for the Yankees. Doug & Tinbeni's team.

22. Dustin's "Tootsie" co-star : TERI (Garr)

26. Barrel of laughs : RIOT

27. Come by honestly : EARN

28. War hero Murphy : AUDIE. I saw this Life magazine with him on the cover at the flea market once. Very musty.

29. Baby barker : PUP

30. In the thick of : AMIDST

32. Kerbside container : DUST BIN

37. 81-Down scanners : WANDS. And 81D. Bag-checking agcy. : TSA.

39. Bosox legend : YAZ. Carl Yastrzemski. Another great player who spent his whole career with one team. LaLaLinda's husband might have no problem spelling his Polish surname. I just can't.

40. See-through piece : PANE. Oh, not this, Splynter!

41. Easily influenced : PLIANT

44. In a frenzy : AMOK

47. 1974 Peace Nobelist from Japan : SATO. Guessed. #1 surname in Japan. ITO is popular there also. Li/Lee is #1 in China.

48. Smartphone component, for short : CPU

55. "__ Theme": "Doctor Zhivago" tune : LARA'S. Love the movie.

57. Military assignment : POST

58. Drums out : OUSTS

59. Scuff, say : MAR

60. Song title words before "music" or "rock 'n roll" : I LOVE. Only know the latter.

62. Fire starter? : BON. Bonfire.

63. Serving to punish : PENAL

65. Prominent landmark : TOWER. Like the Eiffel Tower.

74. Point-and-click shopping : E-TAIL

75. Videotape format : VHS

76. Groovy : FAB

79. Orange-skinned Muppet : ERNIE

80. Word of unanimity : ALL

81. "Of __ Sing" : THEE I

84. Carter of "Gimme a Break!" : NELL

85. Runs through a sieve : RICES

90. Brickmaker's oven : KILN

92. Verdi villain who sings "Era la notte, Cassio dormia" : IAGO. In "Otello". We often has it clued as "Shakespearean villain".

93. Display deference : KOWTOW. Brought back my childhood.

94. "Bossypants" author Fey : TINA. So witty. Dennis loves her.

95. Humanities degs. : BAs

97. One-horse carriages : SHAYS

105. Get comfortable with : ADAPT TO

109. 1992 Wimbledon champ : AGASSI. Wow, he and his wife has been hot in Xword lately.

110. Kitty, maybe : PET

111. Dinero : LUCRE

113. Illegal USMC status : AWOL. Illegal in every military branch.

114. Attention : CARE

115. Glittery mineral : MICA

119. Change one's story? : EDIT. Great clue.

120. Period of prosperity : BOOM

121. Followers of various animals? : EIEIO. Another fun clue.

123. HR dept. data : SSNs

124. Inning sextet : OUTS

125. 2001 bankruptcy filer : ENRON. We have the Crooked E golf balls in our display case.

126. "What the Butler Saw" playwright : ORTON (Joe). Forgot. This guy stumped me last time.

Down:

1. Drew away : EBBED

2. Horowitz contemporary : ARRAU (Claudio). Chilean pianist.

3. Fan belts? : TIERS. Oh, in the stadium.

5. Marge's TV neighbor : NED

7. Seat of Oklahoma's Garfield County : ENID

8. Director DeMille : CECIL

9. He played Sulu on "Star Trek" : TAKEI (George)

10. Facebook exchanges, briefly : IMs

11. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" writer : SCHULZ (Charles). Grew up here in MN.

12. Hosiery hue : TAUPE. Like the color of her dress.

13. Raggedy redhead : ANN

14. Pad for posers? : YOGA MAT. Ha ha, Marti, JD and Lucina are all posers!

15. Light, as a match : STRIKE

16. Temple title role : HEIDI. Shirley Temple is still alive.

17. Developed : AROSE

18. Hands, slangily : MITTS

29. Sch. meeting group : PTA

31. Yosemite's El Capitan and others : MONOLITHS. Same as obelisks, right?

33. French bench : BANC. And "French bank" is "banque".

35. Trike rider : TYKE

36. Getaway destinations : SPAs

38. The shoe department in its flagship store has its own zip code : SAK'S. 10022 SHOE.

41. Storybook bear : PAPA

42. Scientology guru Hubbard : L RON

43. "No sweat!" : IT'S A CINCH. Great entry.

45. Encountered : MET

46. Noncommittal comments : OHs

47. Manger bedding : STRAW. Interesting for me to read your STRAW & HAY education a few days ago. Avg Joe is no ordinary guy.

48. Squinter's lines : CROW'S FEET. Annoying wrinkles.

49. Cover with concrete : PAVE

50. Icon clicker : USER

52. Gold unit : OUNCE

53. Mass conclusion : AMEN

54. Mapmaker __ McNally : RAND

56. Itch soother : ALOE

62. What are "smiling at me" in an Irving Berlin classic : BLUE SKIES. Like the song, Bill G? So cheery.

63. Amigo : PAL

64. Subsisted (on) : LIVED

67. Route 66 migrant : OKIE

68. Many a Jazz fan : UTAHN. Utah Jazz.

70. Threshold : SILL

71. Songbird with an onomatopoeic name : CHICKADEE. What tree is this?

72. Basil or rosemary : HERB

73. Teatro Rossini highlight : ARIA

77. "And don't forget ..." : ALSO

78. Cooled, in a way, with "on" : BLEW

82. "Macbeth" trio member : HAG. Argyle knows the "Macbeth" lines quite well.

83. Grandson of Eve : ENOS

84. Times, at times : NEWSPAPER. And 88D. The __: Georgetown University 84-Down : HOYA.

86. Balkan native : SLAV

87. Grace's "Rear Window" role : LISA. Another great movie. My favorite Grace Kelly movie is "To Catch a Thief". Yours?

91. Left hanging : IN LIMBO

94. Sports bar array : TV SETS

95. Second-string squads : B TEAMS

96. Charade : ACT

98. Obsess over : HARP ON. I'm obsessed over Mac's Lady Gaga pink lipstick. I'm not HARPING ON it though.

99. Olympic events : RACES

100. Old-school oath : EGADS

101. "Mack the Knife" singer : DARIN (Bobby). Boomer's Karaoke must-sing song.

102. Lake Buena Vista attraction : EPCOT

103. Anne or Calvin of couture : KLEIN. Love Anne Klein's silk scarves, the solid color ones.

104. Swiss mathematician : EULER

106. Message since 2006 : TWEET

107. Statue subject : TORSO

108. Pal of Kent and Lane : OLSEN (Jimmy). "The Daily Planet".

112. Adman's award : CLIO

116. Broke poker player's note : IOU

117. Blossom buzzer : BEE. Hi there Melissa!

118. Debate side : PRO. And CON.

Answer grid.

I'd like to share with you this HAIKU (72A. Three-line verse) from the wonderful "Baseball Haiku" book Ant kindly sent to me:

home run drive
into the cornfield-
fielder and girlfriend disappear

Happy Birthday to Fermatprime and Yellowrocks! Make today special!

C.C.

Dec 24, 2011

Saturday, Dec 24th, 2011 Jack McInturff

Theme: None

Words: 72

Blocks: 33

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all ~!! This is not Jack FROST nipping at your nose, but Jack McInturff nipping at your noggin - or is that egg-nog doing that???

I just checked to see when we last saw Jack McInturff, and he gave us our Thanksgiving Eve puzzle, too - now he is here with our Christmas Eve puzzle, and I do believe it is his first Saturday puzzle, tho he has given us Sundays before. I have to admit, this was the first time I went to Google to find an answer because I got stuck in the NE corner, and it was due to my mistake of thinking SGTS was the E-7 rank; more at 10D....

Anyway, this one was tough, and I cheated, but what can I say....triple 9's and 8's in a pinwheel fashion, with those frustrating one word clues, and some deception as well. I do like the early morning brain battle.

Onward ~!

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen ~!

Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen ~!

ACROSS:

1. Totally : STONE COLD

10. Rigs on the road : SEMIs

15. Annual All-American Soap Box Derby site : AKRON, OHIO - I knew this answer, but couldn't recall the city, so I put in OHIO, and waited....

16. Old French capital? : FRANC - how funny is this??? I was stuck on SOU and ECU for so long from doing crosswords, that FRANC totally eluded me until I changed my 10D answer

17. One may be marching : BRASS BAND

18. Keyboardist who founded Return to Forever : COREA - did not know this; I am sure JazzB was "HIP" to him; a little clip for you

19. Rembrandt van __ : RYN - I WAGed at RIN, should have known it was a "Y"; also 32A. Rug with a long pile : RYA - standard in crosswordese

20. Certain protests : SIT-INs - or bed-ins, as done by our last clue/answer

22. "Friends" actress, familiarly : JENnifer Aniston, my personal fave from a show I did NOT watch

23. Spread __ : EAGLE

26. Pmt.-lowering option : RE-FInance

27. Lacking a partner : ODD - as in socks, not people....ah.

28. Blessed event? : SNEEZE - by not reading this as Bless -ED, I was able to nail it

30. Italy's Como, per esempio : LAGO - Italian for Lake

33. Fancy layer : GILT - UGH ~! This one stumped me, and had to go letter cycling before the "G" made sense in both across and down....

35. "__ out!" : YER - not GET, which also has the central "E"

36. Giant in a 2000 merger : AOL - America On Line, did not know this (From C.C.: The AOL./Time Warner merge. Debacle.)

37. 1980s Screen Actors Guild president : ED ASNER - boy this guy gets around in crosswords, doesn't he!?!? Such user/solver-friendly letters, and his 'full' name

40. "The Complaint of Peace" essayist, 1521 : ERASMUS

42. Eastern Med. country : LEBanon

43. Ophelia's niece, in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" : EVA

44. TV Stone Age pet : DINO - the Flintstones "dog", so to speak

45. Court figs. : D.A.s - District Attorneys, part of the LAW side of LAW & ORDER, a favorite TV show of mine

46. Lacking : SANS - French, 'without'

48. Town across the Connecticut River from Springfield, Mass. : AGAWAM - map

52. Ring support : OLE - AH ~!! The cry from the crowd ~!! The ring being the bullfight

53. Baker's meas. : TSPs

55. Puck's eatery : SPAGO - not in my wheelhouse - this place

56. Veep before LBJ : RMN - A WAG, tho I knew he was in politics for a long time, Richard Milhous Nixon

57. Candy heart phrase : BE MINE - I tried being cute with "I LOVE U"

59. Gnarly : RAD - Helps to have a teenager in one's life for this kind of language - in my case it was my generation that typically found "cool" things to be Gnarly, and RAD - but I never said either word unless I was trying to be sarcastic - think Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

60. Big name in insurance : AETNA

62. One of two in a historic 1869 Utah meeting : IRON HORSE - Dah ~!!! I knew it was the two trains meeting at Promontory Summit, but STEAM TRAIN didn't fit, nor LOCOMOTIVE

65. "Sharky's Machine" author : DIEHL - this guy; WAGed the "H"

66. Classroom concern : TARDINESS

67. Wee hr. : ONE A.M. - I am DONE at UPS as of 9am this morning - spent all week getting up at 12 midnight for a ONE A.M. shift, getting out at 9-10am. How about you Dennis? Are you 0 & 1 w/u now?

68. Deliberate : SLEEP ON IT - De-li-BER-ate, as in a jury, not De-LIB'rate, as in an intentional act

DOWN:

1. Buffalo skaters : SABRES - Hockey Hockey Hockey ~!! My Rangers beat their Winter Classic rivals the Philadelphia Flyers, once again, this time 4-2. The outdoor game is a week from Monday, and New Year's Eve is an alumni (there's some CW for you) game of the retired types - should be a lot of fun, yes eddyB ~?

2. "Tumbleweeds" cartoonist : T.K. RYAN - good way to get a four-consonant word in the grid, with T-K-R-Y - this guy and his strip

3. Fruit in a knock-knock joke : ORANGE - OK, OK, I wanted Banana, and you get 'em both~!

4. Negatives : Nos

5. Cannes duo : ENS - ah, not the French number, but the two "N"s in the word caNNes

6. Picnic trash : COBS - Corn centers, leftover

7. 2011 Canadian Open champ Sean : O'HAIR - golf, this guy

8. Architectural support : LINTEL - A steel L-bar that spans a masonry opening over a window or door, e.g., and carries the weight of the load above; also decorative, as in this instance

9. "Chariots of Fire" executive producer : DODI FAYED - more famous for his romantic link and death with Princess Diana

10. E-7 Army personnel : SFCs - the killer for me, a Sergeant First Class - my friend Jim is in the Army, has about 6 years left, and the last I heard, he was an E-6, and deployed to Afghanistan; I wonder if he got holiday leave....

11. Ranch closing? : ERO - Ranchero

12. Mint family herb : MARJORAM

13. "Help me" : I NEED YOU - too long to fit on a candy heart ???

14. Checkout counter newspaper fodder : SCANDALS - Aww, I wanted UFO IS GOD, or something much more investigative - I was looking for that scene from MiB where they "check the hot sheets", the supermarket tabloids

21. Gulf of Guinea country : NIGERIA

24. Staying power : LEGS - ah, yes to say "it has legs" means it (or they) will last - all I want for Christmas is these two hot legs

25. Web issues : EZINES - hey, I don't mind the E- or A- words, but I am getting tired of all the I- things you can buy these days; I am getting rid of my i P.O.S. for Christmas

29. Raise : ELEVATE

31. Asian swingers : ORANGs - Primates, but I thought they didn't do much in the trees

34. Sends : TRANSMITS

37. Poe poem written at the time of the California Gold Rush : EL DORADO - here

38. Cardplayer's request : DEAL ME IN

39. Type of ballot : ABSENTEE

41. Suds source : SOAP - not FOAM, and not BEER

47. Cochlea shape : SPIRAL

49. Underground home : WARREN


50. Two-time U.S. Open champ : AGASSI - tennis

51. Unassuming : MODEST

54. Nighttime disturbance, at times : SNORE

57. Healer : BALM

58. Cologne conclusion : ENDE - more French, I believe (C.C.: German for "end".)

61. New Deal home loan gp. : NHA - Here's a great site that lists all of them, I think

63. Trendy : HIP

64. "Double Fantasy" artist : ONO - not a fan

Answer grid.

I have one last 2-hour shift at UPS at 7am today, sorting overnight Air packages, and then I am back to my regular schedule on Tuesday

- yea ~~!!!!

Splynter