google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, Sep 7th, 2013, Alan Olschwang

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Sep 7, 2013

Saturday, Sep 7th, 2013, Alan Olschwang

Theme: None

Words: 68 (missing F,J,Z)

Blocks: 28


    This was a very enjoyable puzzle - there seemed to be plenty of plausible answers that I filled in and was wrong about, but they gave me enough to work with, and I wrapped it up in the SW corner.  Our last construction from Alan came in Jan of '12.  A bit of a clunky grid; two spanners and one climber, plus two 10's and 9's ( but separated ).  Several multiple-word answers, too*.  The 'big ones':

24A. End of a wedding planner's promise : EVERY LAST DETAIL - I got married 'medieval style', and my ex-wife and I planned every last detail; too bad the marriage didn't have the details worked out....

46A. NFL practice team member : TAXI SQUAD PLAYER - first of a few new words/phrases for me; here's what I found

7D. Michael Caine memoir : WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT - well, he played Alfie, didn't he~?  A little wit and wisdom here

Oh! (35A.) - I think this might be the shortest "down" count I have seen....

O~~~~N~~~~W~~~~A~~~~R~~~~D~!

ACROSS:

 1. Asia's __ Sea : ARAL - Always good to start out with a gimme.  For Saturday, I don't think we need the "Asia" part

5. "One more thing," for short : BTW - By The Way, usually seen in texts

8*. Reaffirming words : YES I DO

14. Michael of "Year One" : CERA - His IMDb; can't say I have seen any of his movies

15. "Feels won-n-nderful!" : AHH~!

16*. Knows about : IS IN ON

17. Charity : ALMS

18. Dairy aisle selection : GRADE A EGGS - Great fill, and I had just --A E-- when I WAGed it

20. Relaxation of a kind, briefly : DE-REGulation

22. Abbr. seen in repeat citations : ET AL.

23. Sonic Dash publisher : SEGA - Video game

27. Publishing houses and such : MASS MEDIA

28. Old-time sidewalk show : RAREE - The Wiki on what's probably more commonly known as a Peep Show

29. NFL miscue : INTerception; if you want to get off the taxi squad....

30. Old Bikini Bare competitor : NEET - NAIR? NEET? which one~?

31. Univ. peer leaders : RAs - Resident Assistants - the ones who can get you the beer if they're cool, or take it away if they're not

32. They're beside the point: Abbr. : CTs - Dollars and Cents, tho it doesn't make sense; they're both beside the point ($14.95)

33. Pop-up costs : AD RATES

35. Raised-eyebrow words : OHs

38. Letters at sea : U.S.S. A clue for Spitzboov, et al.

39. Southwestern ridge : LOMA - another new word for me today

40. "Krazy" critter : KAT

41. One taking a cut : AGENT - what....about 10%~?  I'm looking for a book publishing agent

44. In cut time, musically : ALLA BREVE

48. Give the heave-ho : OUST - I had FIRE first

49. Goya's "Duchess of __" : ALBA - Whoa~! I dare you to look for images of JUST 'Duchess of Alba'



50*. Finish with : END ON

51. Toy based on a sports legend, e.g. : ACTION DOLL - I confidently put in "BOBBLE HEAD", and was wrong - I am not too sure about a toy being based on a sports legend = action doll; a movie or comic book character, that's more likely; I had Star Wars 'action figures' ( not dolls, you see ), and then it was G.I. Joe


54. Overindulge, in a way : TOPE - another new word

55. Used a Bic, maybe : SHAVED - Dah~!  I was thinking "PENNED", SIGNED, LIT ONE ( lighter, that is )

56. Illegal freeway maneuver : UIE - I went with UEY first; the various ways to abbreviate U-Turn; extremely dangerous on a highway, I might add

57. Scratches (out) : EKES

58. Patricia McCormick was the first American professional one in Mexico : TORERA - Bull fighter who passed this year - the Wiki

59. S.E. Hinton novel set on a ranch : TEX

60. Trade-in factor : DENT - I am thinking about a Ford Focus ST or the new Dodge Dart; I will not be trading in my 2000 Dodge Stratus SE; it has no dents, but it does have 238,000 miles on the clock - and counting

DOWN:

1. Purely theoretical : ACADEMIC

2. Like things that matter : RELEVANT

3. Some are ergonomic : ARMRESTS

4. Light-show lights : LASERS

5. Market option : BAG - As in paper or plastic? or is it cart/basket/bag

6. Sewing kit device : THREADER



8. Give : YIELD

9. Tampico "that" : ESA

10. Naps : SIESTAS

11*. Engaged : IN GEAR - ah, nice mis-direction; transmissions, not transgressions

12. Window occupant of song : DOGGIE - how much is that gorilla in the window?  - what show???

13*. Not as steep as it used to be : ON SALE - ah, prices, not hills

19. Target of some mining : DATA

21. Athletes on horses : GYMNASTS - anyone else want JOCKEYS? POLO-ERS? A pommel horse

25. City near Manchester : LEEDS - map; my family is from Nottingham; this was a gimme, too

26. Like whiteboards : ERASABLE

31. Draw new borders for : RE-MAP

34*. Wasn't straight : TOLD A LIE

35. "No problemo!" : OKEY-DOKE

36. Need to fill, as a job : HAVE OPEN - my position as Pre-loader at UPS is one they will HAVE OPEN in about 2-3 weeks; they delayed the training course for now

37. Least lenient : STERNEST

38. Promoting accord : UNITIVE - I had unitING; once I changed this, I got my "Ta-Da~!"

41*. Glass raiser's cry : "A TOAST~!"

42. Pampas rider : GAUCHO

43. Old-Timers' Day celeb : EX-STAR

44. Second word of a January song : AULD The song is "Should Auld acquaintance..."; not the second word of the TITLE - A-ha~!

45. Threw a fit : RANTED

47. Post-presentation period : Q AND A - Bang~! Nailed it Questions and Answers

52. "The Last Time I Came __ the Moor": Burns : O'ER

53. Livy's law : LEX - Latin language, and alliteration

Splynter

 

51 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Seems to be a trend for me this week -- once again I found the puzzle to be mostly straightforward except for one section that nearly killed me.

Today's "Section of Doom" was the SW corner. I love watching football, but I've never heard of a TAXI SQUAD before. Even with TA_ISQUADPLAYER in place, I couldn't think of anything that would fit. Ran the alphabet and realized that only X gave me a real word, but TAXI SQUAD? I must have a mistake somewhere else. Let me just go look (and look and look) for it...

I misread the clue for 58A as "Patrick" instead of "Patricia" and instantly went with TORERO. When that proved to be impossible due to QANDA at 47A I abandoned the entire answer instead of re-reading the clue. Oops.

Wasn't thinking sports for "Old Timers' Day celeb" at 43D and kept trying to come up with a synonym for "Old Timer".

And, of course, I had UNTING instead of UNITIVE at 38D. Double and triple *UGH*. Like Splynter, finally accepting the possible existence of that word was the key to solving that section. Seriously, though... UNITIVE?

[attarvav]
[rimsourc]

Barry G. said...

Sorry, make that UNITING...

Southern Belle said...

Mornin' to all,

I'm confused - which is not unusual - but several years Alan O. used to have a puzzle in once a week. Most of the puzzles were limericks, but now this?
This offering is completely different (in more ways than one)than the ones I remember. Can someone shed some light?

desper-otto said...

Saturday? No Problemo!

I had only a couple of write-overs today: PPS / BTW, and since I already had the A, MESA before LOMA. But I do remember Point Loma in San Diego, so when it showed up, I accepted it.

Splynter, I see what you mean about the Duchess. Frightening! Since your folks are from Nottingham, perhaps we should start calling you the Sheriff of Saturday?

BTW (not PPS), I really enjoyed the link on Michael Caine. He's a really funny guy. I think his funniest role was as the gay beauty queen coach in Miss Congeniality. He taught Sandra Bullock how to "glide." Shatner also had a great role in that film as the over-the-hill pageant emcee.

The bicycle awaits...

[raguida] -- ragweed?

desper-otto said...

Southern Belle, check out Alan's 2009 blog interview. His name is listed near the bottom on the main blog page.

HeartRx said...

Good morning Splynter, C.C. et al.

Wow, what a workout. I looked at 1A and thought, "Nah, it can't be as simple as ARAL, can it?" So I moved on. Next clue..."Hmmm, BTW would fit, but I don't trust it." Next, "YES I DO know the answer, but I had better wait to be sure..." Then I got to Michael CERA, who was really good in the movie "Juno" with Ellen Page, and I was actually confident enough to write in his name.

And so it went on the first pass, with largely a sea of white. When I went back and started putting in my first guesses, it all fell into place...almost. I had ACADEMIa instead of ACADEMIC. and had no idea what "aTS" was. Gaahh!! A DNF. Big V8 can dent in my head when I read Splynter's explanation.

Thanks for the fun, Alan Olschwang (and the bump on my forehead..)

Lemonade714 said...

Unitive, really?

Taxi squad has been talked about extensively on ESPN and the NFL network this past week as teams set their active roster and try to keep the others in reserve.

More short words than a regular Saturday, but some very tricky fill as well.

Rain woke me early so I started cleaning, back to it. Enjoy all.

Husker Gary said...

Splynter’s assessment was my experience as well. The construction of these huge puzzles remains a mystery to me. Do you just start with TAXI SQUAD PLAYER (a gimme for me) and WHATS IT ALL ABOUT and go from there? If so, where did these come from?

Musings
-$15,000+ weddings where there is a 50% chance of failure? YES I might.
-The Pop-ups on YouTube are annoying but understandable
-Throwing a UIE on a major city thoroughfare is an adventure
-I can’t imagine going to a bullfight
-A lot of decisions by ACADEMICS with no RELEVANT experience are worthless
-I had ABSTRACT first
-LASER show at Crazy Horse Memorial (2:33)
-The YIELD on our maters and cukes were fabulous this year!
-Sometimes the hardest part of a job is getting IN GEAR
-I hope lawn mowers go ON SALE next month. I’ve got the equivalent of 239,000 miles on mine
-A store in town always HAVE a job OPEN because the woman owner is a, well, hard to work for
-The STERNEST teachers can generate lotta problems for themselves

Yellowrocks said...

Just returned from 4 lovely days "down the shore." Do you use that Jersey expression? I lived here many years before it readily came to my tongue. Lovely weather, low 80's clear and not humid.

HeartRx, what a workout, indeed! I finally got it all. GYMNAST was clever and devilish.

UNITIVE does seem strange. I researched it. It rhymes with punitive. It makes sense, as in tending to unite, promoting accord. UNITIVE is mostly seen in scholarly writng.
Here is an example. Mendela's leadership was UNTIVE.

It is the absence of necessary distinctions and the concomitant relationship to understanding as illusion that allowed Mandela to include all South Africans in the creations of a new South Africa. The key to understanding Mandela’s leadership role in the South African transition from apartheid to representative democracy is through the irony of understanding from a UNITIVE perspective.

Yellowrocks said...

OOPS. Spelling error in 3rd paragraph in last post. Sorry.

I thought of RAREE immediately for old time sidewalk show, but I was thinking of the second definition, a street festival, somewhat like a carnival. RAREES appear frequently in novels about early America.
Today was the first I knew of it as a peep show.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone. Good intro, Splynter; thanks for the USS shoutout.

Used to have A. Olschwang frequently, but not much lately as Splynter points out. Found his puzzles could be tricky but usually doable as this one was. Was able to nail his grid spanners with some perp help. Liked TAXI SQUAD PLAYER.
47d; Q AND A. To me, more of an internet/web site thing. We call a post-presentation period a 'Hot Wash-up'.
ALLA BREVE - Basically 2/2 time. Here is some Alla Breve Vivaldi. In modern usage it suggests a fairly quick tempo.
UIE - I usually call it a 180.
Duchess of ALBA - Splynter's picture gives cantilevering a whole new meaning.

Have a great day.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

After a week of delightful, fun solves, I have to invoke my pal, Thumper. Tope, unitive, Loma, Tex, lex, torera?

Great job, Splynter; I'm glad I didn't have to explain Mr. O's offering, challenging as it was. BTW, I finished w/o help in just under an hour. Had to WAG Tex/lex.

Have a super Saturday.

Avg Joe said...

This one clubbed me like a baby seal. Managed to get it all (slowly) except for New England. Had yield, ESA, grade A..... And every last detail, but there I was stuck. Peeked at Splynters crib sheet to get yes I do, and was able to complete it. So..big time DNF.

Yellowrocks said...

This week I loved sitting on our fifth floor balcony at dawn and twilight, enjoying the play of light and color on the ocean.

Twilight on the Beach by: Mary Dow Brine (1816-1913)

The crimson glory of the setting sun
Hath lain a moment on the ocean's breast,
Till twilight shadows, gathering one by one,
Bring us the tidings, day is gone to rest.

Far out upon the waters, like a veil,
The mists of evening rise and stretch away
Between the horizon and the distant sail,
And earth and sea are clothed in sombre gray.

The tide comes higher up the smooth, wide beach,
Singing the song it has for ages sung;
Recedes, and carries far beyond our reach
The freight my idle hands have seaward flung.

Over the white-capped waves the seagulls soar
With heavy-flapping wing and restless cry,
As darkness spreads its deeper mantle o'er
The changing shadows of the twilight sky.

No voice but mine to mingle with the sound
Of ocean's melody--as one by one
The stars light up the vast concave around,
And live the glory that is never done.

Still higher creeps the tide with subtle power,
And still the waves advance with sullen roar;
But with the last faint gleam of twilight hour
I turn me homeward from the lonely shore.

desper-otto said...

Here's a little Saturday morning humor -- very little.

After Quasimodo's death, the bishop of the Cathedral of Notre Dame sent word through the streets of Paris that a new bell ringer was needed. The bishop decided that he would conduct the interviews personally and went up into the belfry to begin the screening process. After observing several applicants demonstrate their skills, he had decided to call it a day. Just then, an armless man approached him and announced that he was there to apply for the bell ringer's job. The bishop was incredulous. "You have no arms!" "No matter," said the man. "Observe!" And he began strikng the bells with his face, producing a beautiful melody on the carrilon. The bishop listened in astonishment, convinced he had finally found a replacement for Quasimodo. But suddenly, rushing forward to strike a bell, the armless man tripped and plunged headlong out of the belfry window to his death in the street below. The stunned bishop rushed to his side. When he reached the street, a crowd had gathered around the fallen figure, drawn by the beautiful music they had heard only moments before. As they silently parted to let the bishop through, one of them asked, "Bishop, who was this man?" "I don't know his name," the bishop sadly replied, "but his face rings a bell."

desper-otto said...

WAIT! WAIT! There's more . . . .

The following day, despite the sadness that weighed heavily on his heart due to the unfortunate death of the armless campanologist, the bishop continued his interviews for the bell ringer of Nortre Dame. The first man to approach him said, "Your Excellency, I am the brother of the poor armless wretch that fell to his death from this very belfry yesterday. I pray that you honor his life by allowing me to replace him in this duty." The bishop agreed to give the man an audition, and as the armless man's brother stooped to pick up a mallet to strike the first bell, he groaned, clutched his chest, twirled around, and died on the spot. Two monks, hearing the bishop's cries of grief at this second tragedy, rushed up the stairs to his side. 'What has happened? Who is this man?" the first monk asked breathlessly. "I don't know his name," sighed the distraught bishop, " but . . .

"he's a dead ringer for his brother!"

River Doc said...

Happy Saturday everybody!

Way too diff for Da Doc today. Turned on red letters about halfway through.?..

Had a lot of the missteps as Splynter, just couldn't overcome them....

One of these Saturdays.....

VirginiaSycamore said...

Hello all,

For 21D I wanted to use GYMKHANA, an equestrian event of various games, often done by children. But had to give in to the ordinary GYMNASTS when the clues across didn't work.

I knew about the Taxi Squad, but I had heard that it started with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Along football lines, IMHO, an INTerception is not a miscue, just a bad throw or catch. Offsides, where a player jumps the line of scrimmage before the snap, would seem to be a miscue, starting too early. Could the abbrev. for that be OFF? of OFS?

I couldn't help to notice that in the song "How Much is That DOGGIE in the Window" 12D,the singer wants to know if the DOGGIE is ON SALE 13D. [OK, technically for sale.]

Good day to all

TTP said...

Wow. Oh how I struggled with this one. A few unknowns such as CERA, TOPE, RAREE. Was clueless on "In cut time, musically."

Couldn't parse GYMNASTS even with 4 letters until I used Abejo's "stand up and look at it from a distance" approach. That worked !

My biggest problem was entering DECEIVED instead of TOLD A LIE for clue "Wasn't straight and thinking it must be the answer. But I couldn't get any crosses. Then I tried BEGUILED with the same results. So I deleted it and worked around it. After I got TAXISQUAD filled in, TOLD, then TOLD A LIE came quickly.

I didn't have an issue with UNITIVE as I had the V from SHAVED.

Initially fooled by "Market option." First thought was IPO, but the B from BTW gave me a BUY option. At least until I needed GRADE A EGGS.

My last fills were the two ELS in ALL, the UT in ABOUT, the E in UIE and the intersecting X in LEX TEX. That first L gave me ALLA BREVE.

I was thinking ALLA BREVE must have been an immediate fill for Pas and JzB.

TTP said...

Here's our favorite oke doke

Irish Miss said...

DO @ 10:44 - Corny but funny! Made Miss Grumpy (Thumper's partner) laugh out loud! (-;

Irish Miss said...

YR @ 10:20 - Thanks for sharing that lovely poem. I hope Alan enjoyed the Shore as much as you did. A well-deserved break for both of you!

Swagomatic said...

I got ot right, but I'm a little iffy on "action doll." I don't think I have ever heard anyone say that. It seems like a stretch. The same with "uie" I have only seen that written as "U-ey." Otherwise a pretty good puzzle.

Roland said...

Dammit Splynter!

I took your dare re:Duchess of ALBA, hoping for some racy images of Jessica. I didn't expect to see images of my recent grouper fishing trip.

Swagomatic said...

*it

oops, typo

Misty said...

Never thought I'd actually long for a Saturday Silkie instead, but this morning's puzzle just defeated me. Huge DNF even though I got WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT (remembered "Alfie")early on. But had so many problems thereafter. Still, I have to admit there were some clever misleading clues, like the one for GYMNASTS (had me wanting POLO PLAYER, too). And I loved Virginia Sycamore pointing out the DOGGIE in the Window adjacent to ON SALE. Never did get the Bic/SHAVED connection (is Bic a razor as well as a pen? Who knew?).

Anyway, great to finally get to actually see an image of the ubiquitous DUCHESS OF ALBA--thanks, Splynter. And Desper-otto's bell-ringer joke pretty much salvaged this Saturday morning.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

This puzzle beat me up and took my lunch money.

Possibly the biggest DNF since I joined the Corner. Of course I never heard of a taxi squad, that's football. I don't like football. Plus I think I fell for every misdirection in the pile. Unitive wasn't on my radar. Never heard of Michael Cain's memoir, or that novel "Tex".

My chances were = survival of a snowball in Hell. Steve - thanks for 'splaining. I am humbled.

Dudley said...

Make that Splynter in the prior post. Can't seem to get much right today...

Pookie said...

The only thing I confidently put in was
ALLA BREVE....period.
This one was brutal.
I don't even think a U-turn on a freeway is possible here in SoCal.
Meh for me.

Tinbeni said...

Splynter: Thank you for explaining my typical Saturday Ink Blot / DNF!

ARAL and RAREE were 'learned from crossword' gimmies ... but UNITIVE earned a WTF!

Of course, my fave today was "A TOAST" ... which I will be making to ALL at Sunset.

Cheers!!!

Jayce said...

Whoo! This was one hard sucker today! So many things I have never heard of, solvable only by perps and WAGs. Like HeartRx, I refused to believe ARAL could be right. I put in and took out SEGA three times because of the difficulty of believing there was such as thing as a RAREE. At least I was 100% confident in DOGGIE, KAT, AULD, ALBA, and ALLA BREVE. I sort of knew LOMA from our Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. I've been up on that Loma Prieta ridge a half-dozen times. I finally had to look up Michael CIRA, of whom I had never heard, and that enabled me to finish the NW corner. Yup, ARAL was right, after all. UNITIVE? Sheesh. Overal, the large number of times I said "Ew" after solving an answer makes me rate this a 3 out of 5. Hard yet doable, a challenge (which I like) but somehow unsatisfying in the end.

Anonymous T said...

Good Afternoon All,

GRADEAEGGS all over my non-bell ringing face (funny D-O).

Oh, I got some answers, but DNF almost everywhere even after googling 7d. @18a I wanted something to do with yogurt. Has anyone else noticed there's 15 feet of cooler dedicated to yogurt at the market (where I Buy (my 5d - hence yogurt eggs :-)) groceries and they BAG 'em).

NFL fans: TAXISQUAD - Why is it called that? The PLAYERS can't afford a car until a contract?

Thanks Splynter for ending my pain inflicted by Alan's pzl with your expo...

Time to help daughter with Geometry...

Cheers,

-T

Lucina said...

Greetings, amigos y amigas! Splynter, thanks for that brisk expose but you know, the most famous Goya is the Duchess of Alba reclining in the nude. She was younger and more attractive.

Yowza! Alan Olschwang beat me up today. What started easily with ARAL and, I thought, ABSTRACT turned beastly but BTW again deceived me. However, from some remote region WHATS IT ALL ABOUT seeped out. That gave me enough fodder to fill the bottom center, then the SE.

After that it was time to exercise and do some chores. This afternoon I tackled it again and s-l-o-w-l-y but verrrrry slowly made some headway. Patricia McCormick was unknown so looked that up. What an impressive bio!!

I also looked up TAXI in the interest of finishing quickly. SQUAD PLAYER had already appeared.

What a tough slog! But of course that's the best kind of puzzle. Thank you, Mr. Olschwang.

Now I'll read to see how you all fared. Better than I, hopefully.

I hope you're having a splendid Saturday!

Ol' Man Keith said...



I wonder if that Duchess of Alba is the same as the daughter of the infamous Duke of Alba--treated by Sardou as a symbol of innocence in his old anti-Spanish drama, PATRIE? I haven't looked into the background yet, so must do so.

My first fill, a real gimme, was WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT. I haven't read it, but, c'mon friends, what other title would be more fitting for the guy who made his breakthrough with Alfie?

Otherwise, Wow! A toughie. Well, yesterday I predicted a thorny Xword today-- to make up for the easy ride we had for Friday. This was no lark. I had to cheat a couple of times, first just to affirm that I was on the right track with ALLA BREVE, but then to fill in the remaining two letters on TA SQUAD PLAYER because I don't recall ever hearing the word TAXI in that usage.

I liked this one, though. There were very few obvious answers and many that had multiple possible fills. I especially enjoyed OKEY DOKE (which for me had to change the meaning of the perp EXES to EKES) and DEREG (which could have been just about anything).

I am disappointed that my initial response to "Glass raiser's cry" was wrong. I had I BLEW IT-- a lovely response, I thought (even though it didn't quite fit).

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Alan Olschwang, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for the fine review.

Yellowrocks, great poem.

D-O, groaner jokes, but pretty good, nonetheless.

This puzzle took me between 3 and 4 hours to finish. But, I got it without help.

First word ARAL was easy.

Second word BTW was not easy. I entered BUT. Fixed it after THREADER.

NE corner was tough. Got a few of the perps and then got YES I DO and IS IN ON. DOGGIE was easy for 12D.

LAST DETAIL appeared with a few perps. EVERY was almost at the end.

LOMA was easy for 39A. I lived in Alta Loma, CA, for four years. After a couple letters it fell.

GAUCHO was not too hard, only I spelled it wrong at first, GOUCHO. Guess i was thinking of GROUCHO Marx.

Got ACTION DOLL, but not sure what it refers to.

Q AND A took me forever. Makes sense, though.

Now I have to get some work done.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(tchiala)

Lucina said...

Desper-otto:
LOL! Oh, my! That's funny and reduces the pain from slogging through the puzzle.

yellowrocks:
I'm glad you're back and thank you for the lovely poem full of striking imagery.

Well, I see you all suffered as much as moi on this incredibly constructed puzzle.

Ol' Man Keith said...

No, that Duke of Alba was the military rock star of the 16th century, and his daughter Beatriz never came into the title. Sardou apparently took dramatic liberty with her in PATRIE.

The famous Duchess painted by Goya comes along a couple of centuries later. Splynter's challenge to us, his "dare" to look up the current Duchess, must be based on the distinctly unphotogenic appearance of the present (18th) head of the House of Alba. Her appearance in bikini must be counted an in-your-face moment of triumph for an 87 year-old. Or perhaps it demonstrates the coolness that nearly five billion bucks can buy.

61Rampy said...

Nobody answered Splynters question. What gorilla was for sale? Magilla Gorilla!
About the puzzle? WEES. I did it, but it took a loooong time.

Anonymous T said...

61Rampy - I thought Splynter was being facetious, but now I recall the HB cartoon! Ricochet Rabbit was my fave on that show. -T

Anonymous T said...

I should have read today's funnies before cheers at 41d. -T

Bill G. said...

I don't have much to say about this puzzle so I'll take the advice of Bambi's bunny friend. I'll offer these instead. The first is the Astronomy Picture of the Day with an explanation. If you like astronomy at all, you will love the view of the sky.

The next is a modern Rube Goldberg machine. Isn't advertising wonderful!

1) APOD

2) Rube Goldberg contraption.

HeartRx said...

D-Otto @ 10:43-44, funny stories!

Bill G., you inspired me with APOD - fascinating. But the Rube Goldberg contraption was THE BEST!!!

Burrito34 said...

Happy Saturday Afternoon everyone.

I always enjoy the challenges of the later in the week xwords and today's was especially tough for me as it kicked.my.rear. Lots of red letter help for me and you were right Splynter, there were several plausible answers that seemed nice, but did not suffice.

These items stood out for me today:

33A: (Pop-out costs) I put down "flyouts" as in baseball until "ad rates" appeared.

44A: "Allabreve" I dug out a vague memory from my days in the high school band many years ago.

56A: "UIE"? I have never heard that term for a u-turn.

51A: "Action doll"? Is that a European phrase for "action figure"?

54A: Nope, I didn't know "tope".

Well, University of Oklahoma football starts in about an hour. Y'all have a good weekend and

BOOMER SOONER!

TTP said...

Burrito34,

Last year's game in Morgantown was special. That was one for the record books. Now Landry Jones is with the Steelers and Geno Smith is with the Jets.

I don't think the Mountaineers are going to be able to hang with the Sooners in Norman tonight.

I'm not suer I'll be able to see it here. The Cards and Pirates are on MLB, so I'll be watching that.

Lucina said...

BillG:
That Rube Goldberg link is fantastic! Thank you for posting it.

Splynter said...

Hi again~!

Way to go 61Rampy~! I usually post an obscure question, and I am happy to see someone caught it~!

Thanks for the groaners, D-Otto~!

Splynter

Burrito34 said...

TTP,

Yes, last years OU-WVU game was a barn burner and a headache for the OU defensive coordinator. As I write this the Mountaineers are hanging tough.

Odd that you mention the Cardinals-Pirates game. I'm following that on MLB Gameday while I'm watching the football game on TV.

Yellowrocks said...

Bill G. Fantastic Rube Goldberg link.

Bill G. said...

Marti, Lucina, YR: I'm glad you guys liked that Rube Goldberg contraption. Me too. It reminds me of the one Honda did about a year ago. In both cases, sponsorship probably made it possible to accomplish by covering the expenses.

Anonymous T said...

Bill G - Got the laptop fired up so I could watch flash videos. And it was worth it! Thanks for the Rube Goldberg! -T

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Anonymous T (2:13pm),
Check Splynter's 46A link.

Lucina,
You're thinking of Goya's "The Naked Maja". Splynter has the correct link.

Keith (3:29pm),
You're right! That Duchess of Alba was in the news also due to her latest marriage.