tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post5105322216810860139..comments2024-01-25T10:14:06.567-08:00Comments on L.A. Crossword Confidential: SUNDAY, July 12, 2009 — David Levinson WilkOrangehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-75425565152243515552009-11-25T04:49:25.506-08:002009-11-25T04:49:25.506-08:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-57102479968625770202009-07-15T22:24:13.064-07:002009-07-15T22:24:13.064-07:00Greetings from Birmingham, AL! We all got BESSEMER...Greetings from Birmingham, AL! We all got BESSEMER, from the sheer fact that B'ham is a huge steel producing city and one of the largest suburbs is Bessemer(I live about 10 minutes away)! Anyway, my friends and I just discovered your blog and LOVE it. These are the puzzles they print in the Birmingham News, and it's great to be able to figure out the answers to the Sunday puzzles before the next week. We always manage to get the whole puzzle minus one or two clues!! Keep it up!Eddie Qnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-2752744809376641692009-07-14T08:54:35.315-07:002009-07-14T08:54:35.315-07:00In my physics and chemistry background I definitel...In my physics and chemistry background I definitely came across ZEEMAN's name before. So I knew it. But ELUATE is completely unknown. I had a SALINE solution to begin with. Didn't get me very far.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-5689307865861505802009-07-13T18:01:59.887-07:002009-07-13T18:01:59.887-07:00Okay, sorry, here's a more detailed explanatio...Okay, sorry, here's a more detailed explanation of the theme.<br /><br />Each of the theme answers is clued by a single letter. The letter in 23A, for example, is S. And S is the first letter of the word STATE — so it could be referred to as the "head" (beginning) of "state." 29A: The letter A is the last letter of the phrase "AN ERA," so it's the "end" of "an era." See if you can figure out the rest of them and if you have trouble let me know and I'll try to help some more.PuzzleGirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06835502266781516627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-4392162024846771592009-07-13T17:45:53.480-07:002009-07-13T17:45:53.480-07:00I did the entire puzzle, and I have no idea what i...I did the entire puzzle, and I have no idea what it was about.<br />What????<br />Please!!! What????Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-31709639572856208482009-07-13T11:36:18.626-07:002009-07-13T11:36:18.626-07:00i am still confused by the meaning of all the them...i am still confused by the meaning of all the themes, how they tie together. also, why those particular letters were chosen as clues....<br /><br />any clue??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-51979629496108541792009-07-13T11:36:17.323-07:002009-07-13T11:36:17.323-07:00i am still confused by the meaning of all the them...i am still confused by the meaning of all the themes, how they tie together. also, why those particular letters were chosen as clues....<br /><br />any clue??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-66912921553102281252009-07-13T08:54:11.743-07:002009-07-13T08:54:11.743-07:00I was pretty baffled by the PORN clue as well, as ...I was pretty baffled by the PORN clue as well, as I came to it through the crosses, but I interpreted "gross" to be a two-way pun on "large": porn leads to a large income, and it's best if your "assets" are large (for both males and females) in order to "gross [a] large income."fingerprintshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301065192178672299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-83202085972007275482009-07-13T06:11:29.270-07:002009-07-13T06:11:29.270-07:00Isn't anyone bothered by 101D using numbers as...Isn't anyone bothered by 101D using numbers as letters? QEII is QE2 in my book, but for 109A& 113A the numbers become letters? It's this kind of thing that irritates me about crosswords!rublehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06581183413128040885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-55636767917392187312009-07-12T20:32:38.030-07:002009-07-12T20:32:38.030-07:00Paula, the L.A. Crossword Confidential blogging te...Paula, the L.A. Crossword Confidential blogging team does the puzzle using the Across Lite application, which confirms the official solution. In this case, the official answers are REVEL and EMIRS. As PuzzleGirl <a href="http://latcrossword.blogspot.com/2009/07/sunday-july-5-2009-richard-silvestri.html" rel="nofollow">recently told us</a>, in crosswords the most to least common spellings of that latter word are: emir, emeer, ameer, amir. When in doubt, go with the EMIR spelling!Orangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-63972099218729271642009-07-12T20:08:41.123-07:002009-07-12T20:08:41.123-07:0059D is Ravel (cut loose) rather than revel. That ...59D is Ravel (cut loose) rather than revel. That would make 64A Amir (Dubai dignataries) instead of Emir. An Amir is a military officer which I guess, technically, can also be a dignatary.Paula in ARhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023110243581005475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-85659674030551474172009-07-12T18:43:00.732-07:002009-07-12T18:43:00.732-07:00I found this one extremely difficult probably beca...I found this one extremely difficult probably because I couldn't figure out the over all riddle which usually gives me lots of letters. Still there were a lot of words I didn't know, such as Bessermer, Eluate, etc. Hopefully next week's a little easier!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-60359517847104590422009-07-12T15:55:43.072-07:002009-07-12T15:55:43.072-07:00Nice puzzle, cool theme and a good challenge.Nice puzzle, cool theme and a good challenge.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-51009823086688813432009-07-12T14:58:14.051-07:002009-07-12T14:58:14.051-07:00This was a tough LAT Sunday, but fun! I think &quo...This was a tough LAT Sunday, but fun! I think "lief" is one of my favorite archaic words. In Dutch it means "sweet", as a child or a person. It's also a friend's last name.<br /><br />I remember the Ladas and Trabants driving into Hamburg after the wall broke open in Berlin. The Hamburger people put flowers, fruit and chocolate on the windshields, and notes telling the owners where they could pick up some spending money. A lovely time to be in Germany.<br /><br />@Jeff in Chicago: chopped liver?;-)<br /><br />I think the Victorian antimacassars are mostly crocheted. I remember (but not in time....) Bessemer from another puzzle not too long ago, maybe yours, Joon? Pieter Zeeman was born in a lovely part of The Netherlands, all the way in South-West.<br /><br />Poor PuzzleBaby, hope she is ok. I had something similar happen when I was seven, dripping blood all over my first-communion dress in church.....machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-77235204441670396742009-07-12T13:58:53.057-07:002009-07-12T13:58:53.057-07:00This puyzzle was a workout!Had CARNEGIE in place o...This puyzzle was a workout!Had CARNEGIE in place of BESSEMER. Which fouled things up to no end! Also had to google ONEONTO and ZEEMAN to finish. Really enjoyable, overall.Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-61459587696491685382009-07-12T13:53:58.871-07:002009-07-12T13:53:58.871-07:00Thanks for the crosswordese lesson today PG. I go...Thanks for the crosswordese lesson today PG. I got my OTOE and my ROSCOE all fouled up for a while. ELUATE? Um...what?<br /><br />The cluing for Sir Georg SOLTI was clever. I never really thought about his name that way, i.e. SOL + TI = SOLTI. Jeff in Chicago should have gotten this answer instantly, since Sir Georg was the maestro of the CSO for many years and consolidated that orchestra's reputation as one of the finest in the world.<br /><br />"Leader of the Pack" always makes me think of the 1985 Broadway show of the same name which starred Dinah Manoff and featured the music of Ellie Greenwich ("Do Wah Diddy" and "Da Doo Ron Ron" among her many doo-wop hits from the 1960s). The show was an embarrassing catastrophe and closed in a quagmire of contentious litigation, but the score was fun and I still see high schools performing it from time to time.Greenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10412634072650228847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-82089972303474815052009-07-12T12:28:26.173-07:002009-07-12T12:28:26.173-07:00I once toyed around with something like "Firs...I once toyed around with something like "First name in genetics?" = GENE, but didn't get anywhere with it. This, on the other hand, is a very good effort.<br /><br />I agree with Jeff that you have to be very charitable to give "leader of the pack" a pass, but that phrase turns so nicely. Maybe "Peter principle" (princiPAL? I never remember which is which) could have worked.Gary Lowenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-7952328587640656032009-07-12T12:10:30.286-07:002009-07-12T12:10:30.286-07:00Another puzzle today had the same gimmick, and the...Another puzzle today had the same gimmick, and the letters did spell something. So it's possible. I liked this one better though because the puzzle overall was much more challenging. The other one was just far too easy.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14237719570277755498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-2864109681718022592009-07-12T11:14:49.507-07:002009-07-12T11:14:49.507-07:00Liked this. What a coincidence...I'll say no m...Liked this. What a coincidence...I'll say no more. And I get a shout out at 89A! YAY!<br /><br />A quibble: "Leader of the pack" is T, not P.<br /><br />WHATAMI? IMAMAN!<br /><br />OLEATE and ELUATE?? Ouch!jeff in chicagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10492964479021891094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-49751997956472996352009-07-12T10:19:50.825-07:002009-07-12T10:19:50.825-07:00We did not enjoy this puzzle. Had to look up too ...We did not enjoy this puzzle. Had to look up too many answers. Have been doing puzzles for years but this was too taxing for us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-61717528164742550812009-07-12T09:24:37.305-07:002009-07-12T09:24:37.305-07:00Joon, thank you for the help. This is the only cro...Joon, thank you for the help. This is the only crossword blog I read regularly so I wasn't aware of Orange's link. I found the article by way of a link to an article on handmade paper in Spain from the NY Times Travel Section that was posted on a paperdoll blog that I also read regularly. The crossword article then popped up as a sidebar on the Times website. I mention all this because I'm just astonished how small and inter-connected this apparently vast and complicated world is. Which leads me to quantum mechanics. Thanks for the ZEEMAN explanation. My late husband was a quantum chemist and I used to edit his papers, a task for which an ignorance of the subject was a definite asset. (Someone who knows what you're talking about will read what he or she thinks is there. A person ignorant of a subject has to fall back on textual analysis to explain to you what you actually said.) Still, I ought to have recognized ZEEMAN.gjelizabethnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-76305145600799350352009-07-12T09:12:13.563-07:002009-07-12T09:12:13.563-07:00So sorry to hear of PuzzleDaughter's mishap - ...So sorry to hear of PuzzleDaughter's mishap - those facial cuts can be very bloody and scary. Consider this a long-distance hug.<br /><br />Well, I plowed through this puzzle slowly but surely. I knew who let the dogs out, but got right off to a bad start by spelling it Baja rather than BAHA. I'm raising my hand for having entered empty before UNFED. Raise another hand if Superman came to mind before BESSEMER.<br /><br />As to TWEEDLES, never heard of it, but I recall that Ralph Nader (that Also-RAN) called George Bush and Al Gore Tweedledum and Tweedledee in the 2000 Presidential election.<br /><br />My Grandma had antimacassars (doily-like things) on the headrests of her living room chairs. Guess Grandpa must have had greasy hair?? Or maybe she just thought they were pretty?<br /><br />Turkey toucher was cute and I didn't get the dogs/feet FOOTREST meaning until PG clued me in. Filled in LIEF through crosses but that's a new (er, archaic) word for me.shrub5https://www.blogger.com/profile/09466867716773759568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-62287009308497269242009-07-12T09:05:14.885-07:002009-07-12T09:05:14.885-07:00i had a tough time getting any traction in the NW,...i had a tough time getting any traction in the NW, but after that i sprinted through it. i was certainly aided by a science background that enabled me to drop ZEEMAN, BESSEMER, and ELUATE into the grid with minimal crossing help. puzzlegirl (and everybody else), i don't think you're actually supposed to know who ZEEMAN is. anybody who's taken quantum mechanics has probably seen his name--the eponymous ZEEMAN effect is the splitting of atomic spectral lines in an external magnetic field. it's an important experiment in the history of science, but ... really, how many people have taken quantum mechanics? (*looks around*)<br /><br />BESSEMER is a bigger name, and one that i've used in a grid myself. the discovery of the BESSEMER process made possible the mass production of steel, which basically transformed the world in pretty much every which way. the industrial revolution started out as basically just steam, but once they added steel, there was no looking back. battleships, skyscrapers, cities... it's all because of BESSEMER.<br /><br />gjelizabeth, orange posted a link to that article on the front page of her other blog. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/fashion/12puzzle.html" rel="nofollow">here it is</a>.<br /><br />never heard of ted RALL either (i think i've seen RALL before, but only as the abbr of <i>rallentando</i>, which means "slow down gradually" in music), but ALTA is definitely crosswordese, so file that one away. i guarantee it will be back. likewise LADA.<br /><br />"antimacassar" is the $0.25 word for doily. "farinaceous" ... wow. never seen that one. very tough section of the grid over there.Joonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07825085755390339668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-2055291913170859652009-07-12T08:02:18.386-07:002009-07-12T08:02:18.386-07:00Just discovered a NEW YORK TIMES article from Frid...Just discovered a NEW YORK TIMES article from Friday about the decline of newsprint crosswords: "No Puzzle in the Paper? I'm Blank!" by Douglas Quenqua July 10,2009. It's interesting and ends with a quote from our own Rex Parker. Maybe someone with more tech savvy than I could post a link?gjelizabethnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-1926980560010912532009-07-12T07:44:23.516-07:002009-07-12T07:44:23.516-07:00Loved this puzzle! Got the theme partway through a...Loved this puzzle! Got the theme partway through and used it to get the other themed answers. I printed out the puzzle from the LA TIMES website. It was missing the clue for 76D. Got it from crosses and loved the clue when I found it here.<br />This had lots of stuff I didn't know: ELUATE; ZEEMAN; LADA; BESSEMER (most getable from crosses). I agree that TWEEDLES is an odd answer for what the Pied Piper did. Is this some technical music term? Or maybe a punning compound of "wheedle" and "tootle"?<br />I am vastly ignorant about music and sports.gjelizabethnoreply@blogger.com