google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, October 20, 2014 David W. Cromer

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Oct 20, 2014

Monday, October 20, 2014 David W. Cromer

Theme: [WILL WORK FOR HAY] - Three old oater stars get answers to their questions.

20A. "What is our flatware made of, Lone Ranger?" : "STERLING, SILVER"

36A. "What does it take to succeed in Hollywood, Tonto?" : "TALENT, SCOUT"

43A. "What makes up my mane, Roy Rogers?" : "HAIR, TRIGGER"

57A. Start of the "Mister Ed" theme song, and hint to who is asking 20-, 36- and 43-Across : "A HORSE IS A HORSE"



Argyle here. David gave us a cute concept today with very few missteps. Not much to comment on.

Across:

1. Toast spreads : JAMS

5. Head-and-shoulders statuette : BUST. Reprise.



9. Charitable sort : DONOR

14. Cain's victim : ABEL

15. Lotion additive : ALOE

16. "Drab" color : OLIVE

17. Ashram authority : GURU. Ashram - a religious retreat or community where a Hindu holy man lives.

18. Agent Scully on "The X-Files" : DANA. 1993 to 2002 on Fox.

19. Rubber tree product used in paint : LATEX

23. Pea container : POD

24. "Sonic the Hedgehog" developer : SEGA. The title character and protagonist of a series released by Sega, as well as numerous spin-off comics, five animated shows, and a Original Video Animation.

25. NFL scores : TDs

28. Red, White or Black : SEA. Update: White Sea
 
 
30. Reddish-yellow : ORANGE

35. Toward the ship's rear : AFT

39. Quahog, for one : CLAM

41. In the past : AGO

42. Write with acid : ETCH

48. Environmental prefix : ECO

49. Meryl who played Julia Child : STREEP

50. Nine-digit-number issuing org. : SSA. (Social Security Administration)

51. Bad-mouth : DIS

52. Rock concert gear : AMPS

55. CBS forensic drama : CSI. (Crime Scene Investigation)

64. North Carolina fort : BRAGG

65. "It's a __!": "Easy!" : SNAP

66. Abound : TEEM

67. Quotable Yogi : BERRA. "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore." More

68. "Canterbury" story : TALE

69. Eve's mate : ADAM

70. Bakery array : CAKES. A CED specialty.

71. Google find : SITE

72. VAIO PC maker : SONY

Down:

1. Sporty English autos : JAGS. (automobiles/Jaguars)(M's company car is a Jaguar XJ L)

2. Lie against : ABUT

3. Nothing more than : MERE

4. Drink inelegantly : SLURP

5. "I wouldn't do that if I were you" : "BAD IDEA"

6. __ Bator : ULAN

7. Top 40 numbers : SONGS

8. Poke fun at : TEASE

9. Cents partner : DOLLARS

10. One of five Norwegian kings : OLAV

11. Evening, in ads : NITE

12. Above : OVER

13. Tyrannosaurus __ : REX

21. ABC drama about a missing plane : "LOST"

22. "__ Rhythm" : I GOT. An American in Paris - I Got Rhythm(4:52)

25. Dials next to speedometers, for short : TACHS and 45D. Readings on 25-Down: Abbr. : RPMs

26. C sharp equivalent : D FLAT

27. Step in a flight : STAIR

29. Jai __ : ALAI

31. Blackjack half : ACE

32. Pre-eminent : NOTED

33. Designer Aldo : GUCCI

34. Spirit of a culture : ETHOS

37. With 38-Down, yuletide quaffs : EGG

38. See 37-Down : NOGS

40. G.I. field ration : MRE. (Meals Ready to Eat)

44. Riot squad's supply : TEAR GAS

46. Bloodhound's quarry : ESCAPEE

47. Unthinking : RASH

53. Orkin targets : PESTS

54. Mount in Exodus : SINAI

56. Greek i's : IOTAs

57. Field of expertise : AREA

58. Quaint "Listen!" : "HARK!"

59. Fairy tale baddie : OGRE

60. Crystals in a shaker : SALT

61. Change the decor of : REDO

62. Actor Connery : SEAN

63. Television award : EMMY

64. "Doctor Who" network : BBC. (British Broadcasting Corporation)




Argyle


60 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Very odd theme, I thought. Once I figured out what was going on, however, it was smooth sailing. Of course, of course.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. It's never a good sign when I have difficulty with 1-Across. JAMS just wouldn't come to me.

Unfortunately, these TV horses were just before my time. I knew Mr. Ed, so realized we were looking for horse names. I knew of Silver, but no other horses on The Lone Ranger.

I was amused by seeing both Cain and Abel, and their parents, Adam and Eve in the same puzzle.

QOD: Do something you really like, and hopefully it pays the rent. As far as I’m concerned, that’s success. ~ Tom Petty (b. Oct. 20, 1953)

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Nice 'n' easy start to the week. No write-overs. "Who was that unmasked dancer, Gene?" "Gower, Champion."

HARK came to me immediately. That's our private name for our neighbor Harold who walks with us now and then. Sing along....."Hark the Harold..."

I think "Doctor Who network" should be clued as "Original Doctor Who network." I've only seen it on PBS.

I wish they'd change the time. I hate it being dark at 7 AM, and we've still got two more weeks of this DS stuff!

Avg Joe said...

"More hay Trigger?"

"No thanks, Roy. I'm stuffed."

Very smooth solve. Not a nit to be found.

OwenKL said...

Monday puzzles would be too easy, but they're still fun for having interesting themes. I was expecting the fourth clue would be "What type of people like art galleries, Dale?"
I did have a couple bad starts, OLEO>JAMS, SOX>SEA, ABLE>ABEL (-el vs. -le confuses me no end: easle, ladel, etc. C.Moe, can you write me a mnemonic to help keep them straight?)

Wahoo! CCW has a lot to report today! All crosswordese, but I caught 4 of them! (Plus 2 or 3 in Seattle Times that have been in LAT in the past couple days). --
LAT 57d. Field of expertise : AREA
ST 18a. Long-distance callers' necessities : AREA CODES
LAT16a. "Drab" color : OLIVE
ST 32d. ___ Oyl : OLIVE
LAT 61d. Change the decor of : REDO
ST 36d. Start all over : REDO
LAT 10d. One of five Norwegian kings : OLAV
ST 42d. Scandinavian saint : OLAF

In addition, some parallel clues --
LAT 14a. Cain's victim : ABEL
LAT 69a. Eve's mate : ADAM
ST 43a. Mother of Cain and Abel : EVE
LAT 33d. Designer Aldo : GUCCI
ST 34d. Christian of couture : DIOR

kazie said...

No hitches today, except for briefly trying to misspell STIRLING. Finished in almost record time.

Hope you all have a wonderful start to the week. We really enjoyed the fall color here over the weekend, but it's drawing to a close.

inanehiker said...

Smooth solve, except when I didn't look carefully enough at 27D and thought it was "step in a fight" aargh...
Thanks Argyle for the right up, cute them from David Cromer

Montana said...

Great way to start a week. Thanks for the write-up, Argyle!

Montana

Lemonade714 said...

Really cute Monday theme, and the horses were all familiar. Gower Champion was cute D-O, where were you going with BUTTERMILK Owen? Any thoughts for Hopalong's TOPPER?

Happy Monday all

Husker Gary said...

Easy fill with a fun theme. I first thought it would be an all Kemo Sabe theme with Tonto in the clue and SILVER (heels) in the fill.

Musings
-The best principal I ever had, still had a HAIR TRIGGER temper
-If anyone needs a high mileage replacement when I die, I am an organ DONOR
-A NASA guy would remember this DANA (:59)
-Classy Peyton Manning set the record for passing TD’S last night
-OK, Moe and Owen, let’s have a limerick with ORANGE ending the first line and rhyming it in lines 2 and 5 ;-)
-Going AFT only delayed the inevitable
-A twist on Wanna come up and see my ETCHINGS?
-STREEP voiced Eleanor in Ken Burns’ fabulous and very revealing The Roosevelts: An Intimate History”
-Three Bad Ideas in the chorus (3:02)
-I wonder what rent on a yurt would be in ULAN Bator?
-Top 40, October 1960
-Police had to use TEAR GAS at a Vermont Pumpkin Festival this weekend
-Who was your favorite movie ESCAPEE – Richard Kimble, Cool Hand Luke or Andy Dufresne?

Qli said...

Nice horsey theme today, and great links, Argyle.

Wouldn't tap dancing be a wonderful aerobic workout!

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were favorites of mine when I was a kid. When we were on our honeymoon, we saw a sign for their museum in Apple Valley (before it moved to Branson, so we just had to check it out. We saw the stuffed Trigger. That made me a little sad.

My Dad rode a big palomino gelding named Trigger to move cattle.

I always thought it would be fun to have a talking horse. Or a talking dog.

You'll figure it out said...

Are there any guesses on whose new kitty this is?

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

After the tough grind at last week's end, the change of pace that Monday usually offers is welcome. Sit down - one sitting - 5-10 minutes and it's done. (I don't try for speed runs, because I like to savor a good puzzle as I go along.)
No lookups or strikethroughs were needed.
Think we had BRAGG and TACHS yesterday; D FLAT a couple days AGO, too.

Have a good day.

HeartRx said...

Good morning everyone!

Fun theme, as others have said. I got STERLING SILVER right away, but failed to "get" that there was a comma in it. I finally caught on with TALENT, SCOUT. OK, so it's Monday and I'm a little slow...

Fun links Argyle - I just loved Leslie Nielson's deadpan lines in "Naked Gun."

HG, what a cute kitty! I bet the first question it asked you was "What was the nationality of the king in "The King and I?" (SIAMESE, CAT.)

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Well, this was quite the speed run. No bumps, no nits, just some "horsin' around!

Nice job, David, and ditto to Argyle.

Pretty kitty, HG.

Have a great day.

Qli said...

Beautiful cat, Husker. Bet she has plenty to say!

HeartRx said...

...or did she ask you, "What's that liquid in my bowl?" (WATER, LILY)

Yellowrocks said...

Very cute theme.
Here's another one for Gene Autry:
What was Sonja Henie's forte, Gene?
Ice skating, Champion.
I can still hear the Lone Ranger theme song from the William Tell Overture, the first, and sometimes only, classic music kids hear.
Do you remember Roy and Dale's Happy Trails to You?
I loved Julie and Julia. Both Meryl Strep and Julia Childs are super stars in my book.
As kids they used to say, "What a face, what a figure, two more legs and she'd look like Trigger." Kids don't realize how mean they sometimes sound, unlike the Internet snarks.

CrossEyedDave said...

Hmm, we have done the Lone Ranger before,,, it's going to be tough to find something different...

Oh well, might as well get started...

Talent Scout?

Still looking for something to go with hair trigger.

Mr Ed never had days like this...

CanadianEh! said...

Fun quick Monday solve today. Held up by starting with 5D as BACKOFF instead of BADIDEA.

Don't know Orkin but perps to the rescue.

Love your added clue YR.
Also thanks to YR and others who mentioned reading Girl with the Pearl Earring which I just finished reading. Now on to Falling Angels by same author which was also recommended.

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling thoughts":

C.C. @ 4:40 (from yesterday's blog) - I usually don't do very well at predicting baseball and football outcomes; golf, OTOH, is one that I have been pretty accurate in predicting. Hope you win your $40!

Owen @ 7:41 - other than the i before e except after c or when sounding like a as in neighbor or weigh . . . hmm, I feel a limerick coming:

This language of ours has too many rules,
And when we break them, makes us look like fools;
Don't you think it's ironic
That there is no mnemonic,
For knowing when "e's" should come before "l"(s)?!

Yellowrocks @ 10:07 - thank you for replacing the Mr Ed theme song I've had repeating in my head, with the William Tell Overture and Happy Trails tunes . . . gonna be an interesting afternoon of humming!! :-D

Argyle - dittos for the Naked Gun link!

Hahtoolah said...

Husker Gary: you might want to brush up on your US geography. Last time I checked, New Hampshire was its own state although they do share a border. LOL

Bill G. said...

Fun puzzle. Thanks David and Argyle.

OK, so the Lone Ranger's horse was Silver, Tonto's was Scout, Roy Rogers had Trigger, Dale Evans was Buttermilk, Gene Autry had Champion, Hopalong had Topper. What was the name of Tom Mix's horse? The Cisco Kid's?

For Gary's favorite escapee, I'd choose either Andy or Luke. It's hard to pick. Andy made it out but Luke's ending was more Existential.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Back from Nashville and almost part of the world again...

Wow - These HORSES are all before my time; yet, for some reason (syndication?), I knew them all.

Fun plz David C and a great write-up Argyle. HG & CED thanks for the fun links.

Hardest part for me was 70a/56d x-ing - CAsES? ABC-run and the V-8 can hit at K. Ouch. WBS re: ADAM and Eve / Cain & ABEL. Cute.

Who else had a SONY Walkman? I still have a portable CD and tape player. I couldn't tell you if either still worked.

So, whilst in Nashville, the group I was with got to (poorly) record "Hound Dog" at RCA Studio B. Elvis made that record there, I'm not a fan of C&W, but it was pretty cool.

Cheers, -T

Mike Sherline said...

What SpitZbov said - a nice easy Mon is a relief - it was a SNAP.

D Flat was a gimme both times; I'm always glad to see musical clues, especially when the answer is anything other than "oboe". We've even had my unusual instrument, tuba, a few times recently, though I wasn't fond of the most recent "first note of a tuba solo": "oom". We've been trying to overcome that image forever.

Lemonade 714 @ 8:30: What are we sleeping on tonight, Hoppy?
A mattress, Topper.

Anonymous T said...

Shoot, my C&W link didn't take.

Mike Sherline said...

YR @ 10:07: Thanks for mentioning William Tell as the first (and often only) CLASSIC (instead of classicAL) music kids hear. My personal favorites are the mid to late Romantic symphonists, and Bach.

inane hiker: Don't feel bad about your eyes - I thought the clue for 70A was "Battery array", but had to look again when "cells" wouldn't work and I couldn't think of anything else.

It's really only 7 am here.

Lucina said...

Hello, friends.

Funday today just horsing around with some SNAP to it. It was a complete sashay with GIVER/DONOR as my only write over.

Thank you David Comer and Argyle for taking Monday's romp up a notch.

Hiyo, everyone! Have a great Monday

Lucina said...

Last night I attended a concert, the first classical series of the season, led by Brandon Marsalis and the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. Lots of Bach and that's a great way to start, IMHO.

desper-otto said...

Bill G -- Tom Mix was before my time, but I remember the Cisco Kid's horse as Diablo. ("Oh Cisco!" "Oh Pancho!") That reminds me, in the song Pancho and Lefty it sounds to me as if they're one and the same person. Anybody agree or disagree?

Ergo said...



Thank you David and Argyle.

One of my favorite trivia questions has always been: "What was the name of Tonto's horse?" Sakes... now everybody knows the answer.

HG - my favorite escapee is Andy Dufresne. Although I wish he could have taken John Coffey with him.

Chairman Moe said...

HG @ 8:53

It's been said that no word rhymes with ORANGE,
And I found something equally strange:
That its acronym, too,
Has no rhyme; Sacre Bleu!
Could it be that this word's just deranged??!!

My best attempt . . . :-D

For those who don't want to look it up, the acronym of ORANGE is ONAGER . . .

Lucina said...

OwenKL:
This is my best try at the moment.
_el if it's a name, Abel or a label
_le if it's a suffix or a table

Argyle said...

Disagree, that's Merle on the last verse.

Andy is my favorite escapee.

desper-otto said...

Argyle, I'm not talking about the singers; of course, that's Willie and Merle. I think the lyrics hint that Pancho and Lefty are the same person.

Is it just me, or have the Captchas gotten really tough?

Argyle said...

Oh, good. I thought you were losing it.
I do agree in that case.

PK said...

Hark Y'all! Or maybe Hay Y'all! Gee, we start the week HORSin' around? Goody! Fast & fun, David! All the theme answers were gimmees.

Did the puzzle at 3 a.m. when I woke up. Went back to bed with the Mr. Ed earworm pulsating in my brain, of course, of course.

Didn't know VAIO PC maker = SONY but perped in before I read the clue.

Quahog? I'd forgotten what that was. For awhile, I was thinking it was an Indian tribe. Duh!

Thanks to Argyle and all you daily contributors for making this blog special.

It's amazing what you learn about your adult children's lives that you never heard before when you ride for an hour in the car with them with no little kids present. Very enlightening.

Tinbeni said...

Argyle: Excellent write-up! I especially like your EGG NOGS ingredients.

Isn't D-FLAT an apartment in London???

My favorite ESCAPEE was Steve McQueen as Capt. Virgil Hilts, the "Cooler King" in the movie The Great Escape.

Cheers!

Jayce said...

Cool puzzle.

CrossEyedDave said...

I had never heard of The White Sea before, it made me wonder how many seas are named after colors & why?

Also, it's time we quit horsing around & gave The William Tell Overture the serious attention it deserves...

Oh what the heck, as long as we are on the subject... (P.S. if you are not familiar with Victor Borge, check out the side links!)

One of the Stooges said...

CED @ 1:45

Had forgotten how funny Victor Borge was when he got "engaged" in playing the piano. I did check out a few of the side links, and this one of the Hungarian Rhapsody was hilarious.

Anonymous said...

This was a fun and easy start to the week. Thank you, gentlemen.

CED-- I watched the William Tell video and it reminds me of performances by Straight No Chaser, a mens a capella group. One of my favorites is "The 12 Days of Christmas". The group's name has to appeal to Tinbeni.

Hope you all have a great week.

Pat

OwenKL said...

Lemon, I was expecting someone would pick up on my line "What type of people like art galleries, Dale?" CULTURED, BUTTERMILK.

C.Moe: The acronym of orange would be O. An acronym is a word made up from initials. The word you wanted was anagram, a word made by rearranging the letters. Gerona, Spain, is an anagram of Orange Pains. Or maybe you meant acyrologia?

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, Whizzed through this one today. I knew after Sterling Silver and Talent Scout that I was looking for a horses name. That helped with the last two theme answers.

Other than putting in Ethic for Ethos, then erasing when Eco popped up things were easy enough today.

My husband was in the hospital for three days last week, so I've been a bit busy. I've done the puzzle--while waiting, and waiting some more in his hospital room, but haven't been to the blog very much.

He is doing better. He has an ulcer on his leg and was hooked up to an antibiotic IV for three days. Now he is home taking more antibiotics. It will take a bit of time before he is healed.

Have a good day everyone.

Misty said...

We got back from Riverside this morning, so I only go to the paper and the puzzle at around noon. But what a Monday delight, David! Many thanks, and you too, Argyle, for your always fun expo.

I fondly remember all the sweet Western programs and the horses, so that made this an especially charming ride down memory lane.

Have a great week, everybody!

Husker Gary said...

Musings 2
-I thought a good title for this puzzle would have been “Neigh sayers”
-“Who’s that guy that says he still sees George and Marian Kirby?” COSMO TOPPER
-Yeah, I kinda figured you’d guess that that was our new kitty Lily. She has knocked over two of my rockets up there but I’ll just reglue them. Thanks for the kind words about the new heartbeat in our, er, her house.
-Nice play on Lily’s name Marti. She came to us named “Smokey” but we negged that.
-Dang, NH not VT, Hahtoolah! I’ll bet most peeps on the east coast don’t differentiate between us “rectangularish” states either ;-)
-Good effort, Moe! Orange ya glad you tried? ;- )
-Andy was my favorite ESCAPEE because of his patience, the utter elegance of how he did it and the revenge he exacted in the process.
-I loved your link CED. I guess you’re a high brow when you here that music and DON’T think of “The Masked Man and his faithful companion Tonto”
-BTW, I wrote to Chef Wendy and she has ducked most of the hurricane from her outpost on Kauai just down the road from Ben Stiller. She too has a new kitty that showed up at their house just a month after they had to put down their 17 year old Paddy the Wonder Cat.

Tinbeni said...

desper-otto @12:10
Thanks for that link. Yeah, I listened to it a few times.

The Wiki Story says that the song is about Pancho possibly being turned into the Federales by Lefty for a reward ... that Lefty used to go back to Cleveland, Ohio.

"Pancho met his match you know
On the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dying words
That's the way it goes"

"The day they laid poor Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
There ain't nobody knows"

"The poets tell how Pancho fell
Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
So the story ends we're told ...
Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
But save a few for Lefty too
He just did what he had to do
Now he's growing old"

Bill G. said...

Self-referential question:
“How many letters has the answer to this question?” (If you are more imaginative, you can probably find several answers in addition to the expected one.)

Chairman Moe said...

Owen @ 2:58

I must be an acrologiac then!! Yeah, I meant anagram. Don't know WHAT my feeble mind was thinking . . . makes me recall a funny acrological comedian named Norm Crosby. Funny stuff . . .

HG - well, glad I tried, but wish I'd chosen the correct word!! :-P

Avg Joe said...

One of the Stooges, that Victor Borge Hungarian Rhapsody bit is hilarious. I've played that piece. It certainly doesn't lend itself to being a duet. Thanks for the huge laugh.

Anonymous T said...

Chickie - so sorry to hear about your husband. God Speed for recovery.

C. Moe - Yeah, yeah, real funny clip you 'ave there. Sees you seems like makin fun o me and the famly. Do I amuse you? Am I a clown to you? You plan to be a organ DONOR do yas? :-)

Bill G. Zero? or is that a BAD IDEA?

C, -T

Boo LuQuette AKA Boudreaux in Eunice, La. said...

Hi all.
Thought the theme would be precious metals at first. Then Tonto came into the picture.
Then I figured out the horses were asking the questions.

Raised up on the old oaters, so it was easy to figure this easy.

We make our own homemade jams our house so 1a was a gimmy.

So bon lundi mes Ami from Cajun Country !!!!!

JD said...

Good evening all,

Yup, you've all gone to bed.
Loved the theme today. I think I was a cowgirl with out a horse way too long in my youth. Spent hours on my "horse" which was a branch in our tree. When my oldest sister got too sophisticated to join us anymore, we all graduated to a higher branch that was so much more comfortable.Our double deckers were our pretend stagecoach.

Argyle , thanks for always being here when I need to know. Today it was what MRE was.Enjoyed the link to "I've Got Rhythm."
Breezed thru this, but was on the wrong trail for Orkin. I kept thinking Mork from Ork.

Chickie, hope Bill has a speedy recovery.

Avg Joe said...

King of the Cowboys

A good sign off tune for today's theme. First time trying to link with an IThingie. Hope it works.

JD said...

Hahtoolah, that was a great quote today. Working is not work, if you enjoy what you are doing.

Anonymous T said...

OK Bill G. I've re-considered the question... The answer is four because zero has 4 letters. Do I get the SILVER?

C, -T

Bill G. said...

AnonT, very excellent! When I first ran this in my newspaper column, several readers had other imaginative answers such as "Eleven maybe?" Can you come up with some others?

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Super puzzle, David! Great write-up, Santa! Loved the theme!

Hope the best for your spouse, Chickie!

Friends took me to Huntington Gardens, at Huntington Library, yesterday. Really enjoyed myself, although back now killing me (from long wheelchair ride). Bought some orchids. Tsk.

Cheers!

Anonymous T said...

Bill G. Seven, no? or Ten for sure. C, -T

Bill G. said...

Heh heh, good ones!
Approximately twenty-two?
What are you doing up so late?