LA Times Crossword Answers 20 Feb 17, Monday










Constructed by: Mark McClain

Edited by: Rich Norris

Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers

Quicklink to comments

Theme: 8th thru 11th

Each of today’s themed answers starts with an ordinal number, running from EIGHTH at the top of the grid to ELEVENTH at the bottom:

  • 19A. Panama Canal nickname : EIGHTH WONDER
  • 34A. When baseball closers usually shine : NINTH INNING
  • 42A. NYC thoroughfare that becomes Amsterdam at 59th Street : TENTH AVENUE
  • 57A. When time is running out : ELEVENTH HOUR

Bill’s time: 4m 51s

Bill’s errors: 0




Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Soothsayer : SEER

A “soothsayer” is someone who claims to have the ability to predict the future. The term comes from “sooth”, an archaic word for “truth”. So a soothsayer was supposedly one who told the “truth” (about the future).

13. Cuba libre fruit : LIME

The cocktail known as a Cuba libre is basically a rum and Coke, although the traditional recipe calls for some lime juice as well.

14. Lorena of LPGA fame : OCHOA

Lorena Ochoa is a retired professional golfer from Mexico who was ranked as the number one female golfer in the world from 2007 to 2010.

18. Rice field draft animals : OXEN

A paddy field is the flooded piece of land used to grow rice. The water reduces competition from weeds allowing the rice to thrive. The word “paddy” has nothing to do with us Irish folk, and is an anglicized version of the word “padi”, the Malay name for the rice plant.

19. Panama Canal nickname : EIGHTH WONDER

The Panama Canal was predated by the Panama Railway. The railway’s route actually determined the eventual route of the canal. The impetus to build a canal was spurred on by the success of the Suez Canal which opened in 1869. Work on the Panama Canal started in 1881, but things did not go smoothly at all. Companies involved in the project went bankrupt, one after the other. Eventually the US government bought its way into the project with President Roosevelt handing over millions of dollars to the country of Panama. The canal was finally completed in 1914. All in all, about 27,500 workers died during construction. A kind blog reader highly recommends the book “The Path Between the Seas” by David McCullough, should anyone want to read more about the fascinating tale of Panama Canal’s construction.

22. Robotic maid on “The Jetsons” : ROSIE

“The Jetsons” is an animated show from Hanna-Barbera that had its first run in 1962-1963, and then was recreated in 1985-1987. When it was debuted in 1963 by ABC, “The Jetsons” was the network’s first ever color broadcast. “The Jetsons” are like a space-age version of “The Flintstones”. The four Jetson family members are George and Jane, the parents, and children Judy and Elroy. Residing with the family are Rosie the household robot, and Astro the pet dog.

27. Where to find Lima and llamas : PERU

Lima is the capital city of Peru. Lima was founded in 1535 by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who named it “la Ciudad de los Reyes” (the City of Kings). He chose this name because the decision to found the city was made on January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany that commemorates the visit of the three kings to Jesus in Bethlehem.

Many female mammals lick off their newborn. That’s not an option for llamas as their tongues only reach out of their mouths about half an inch. Instead llama dams nuzzle their young and hum to them.

31. Thanksgiving tuber : YAM

Although in the US we sometimes refer to sweet potatoes as “yams”, the yam is actually a completely different family of plants. True yams are more common in other parts of the the world than they are in this country, and are especially common in Africa.

42. NYC thoroughfare that becomes Amsterdam at 59th Street : TENTH AVENUE

Amsterdam Avenue in New York City is also known as Tenth Avenue between 59th and 193rd Streets. Tenth Avenue has existed from 1816, and in 1890 the name was changed by the landowners nearby in order to help give the Upper West Side an old-world feeling, and to help boost property prices.

45. Vert. counterpart : HOR

Remember the “horizontal hold” (HOR) and “vertical hold” (VER) on old TV sets? Our kids have no idea what we had to go through …

46. Gandhi’s land : INDIA

Mohandas Gandhi was a political and spiritual leader in India in the first part of the 20th century, as the country sought independence from Britain. He was also referred to as “Mahatma”, meaning “great soul”. His remarkable philosophy of nonviolence and living a modest lifestyle was a great inspiration to the Indian people. India (and Pakistan) was granted independence in 1947. Tragically, Gandhi was assassinated the very next year.

47. Garbage email : SPAM

Apparently the term “spam”, used for unwanted email, is taken from a “Monty Python” sketch. In the sketch (which I’ve seen) the dialog is taken over by the word Spam, a play on the glut of canned meat in the markets of Britain after WWII. So “spam” is used for the glut of emails that takes over online communication. I can just imagine nerdy Internet types (like me) adopting something from a “Monty Python” sketch to describe an online phenomenon …

57. When time is running out : ELEVENTH HOUR

Something that happens at “the eleventh hour” happens late in the day. The expression originates in the Gospel of Matthew in the Christian New Testament. In the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, the owner of the vineyard hires laborers throughout the day, even at “the eleventh hour”.

64. “Giant” author Ferber : EDNA

“Giant” is a 1952 novel by author Edna Ferber. It was adapted into a successful Hollywood movie released in 1956. In the film, Bick Benedict (played by Rock Hudson) marries Leslie (played by Elizabeth Taylor) and takes his new wife home to the family ranch in Texas called Reata. The ranch’s handyman is Jett Rink, played by James Dean. Dean was killed in a car accident before the film was released. Some of Dean’s lines needed work before the film could be released and so another actor had to do that voice-over work.

65. Four-sided campus area : QUAD

A university often features a central quadrangle (quad).

67. Cincinnati ballplayers : REDS

The Red Scare (i.e. anti-communist sentiment) following WWII had such an effect on the populace that it even caused the Cincinnati baseball team to change its name from the Reds. The team was called the Cincinnati Redlegs from 1953-1958, as the management was fearful of losing money due to public distrust of any association with “Reds”.

69. Saintly rings : HALOS

The Greek word “halos” is the name given to the ring of light around the sun or moon, which gives us our word “halo”, used for a radiant light depicted above the head of a saintly person.

70. “Garfield” pooch : ODIE

Odie is Garfield’s best friend and is a slobbery beagle. Both are characters in Jim Davis’ comic strip named “Garfield”.

Down

2. “Old MacDonald” letters : E-I-E-I-O

There was an American version of the English children’s song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” (E-I-E-I-O), that was around in the days of WWI. The first line of the US version goes “Old MacDougal had a farm, in Ohio-i-o”.

5. Fancy-schmancy : POSH

No one really knows the etymology of the word “posh”. The popular myth that POSH is actually an acronym standing for “Port Out, Starboard Home” is completely untrue, and is a story that can actually be traced back to the 1968 movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. The myth is that wealthy British passengers travelling to and from India would book cabins on the port side for the outward journey and the starboard side for the home journey. This trick was supposedly designed to keep their cabins out of the direct sunlight.

6. Have __: freak out : A COW

The phrase “don’t have a cow” originated in the fifties, a variation of the older “don’t have kittens”. The concept behind the phrase is that one shouldn’t get worked up, it’s not like one is giving birth to a cow.

9. Contemporary of Mozart : HAYDN

Josef Haydn was an Austrian composer, often called the “Father of the Symphony” due to his prolific output of symphonies that helped define the form. This is one of the reasons that he was known, even in his own lifetime, as “Papa Haydn”. Haydn was also the father figure among “the big three” composers of the Classical Period: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Hayden was a good friend to Mozart, and a teacher of Beethoven.

10. Jazz combo horn : SAX

The saxophone was invented by Belgian Adolphe Sax. Sax developed lip cancer at one point in his life, and one has to wonder if his affliction was related to his saxophone playing (I am sure not!). I had the privilege of visiting Sax’s grave in the Cemetery of Montmartre in Paris a few years ago.

11. Don Ho’s instrument : UKE

The singer and entertainer Don Ho apparently had a pretty liberal arrangement with his wife. When Ho was touring with his two backing singers, Patti Swallie and Elizabeth Guevara, all three of them shared a room together. He had two children with each of his roommates, giving a total of ten kids including the six he had with his wife. The arrangement was quite open, it seems, with all ten kids visiting each other regularly. To each his own …

12. “Gone Girl” co-star Affleck : BEN

“Gone Girl” is a thriller novel written by Gillian Flynn that was first published in 2012. The story tells of a man whose wife has disappeared, with the reader not being certain if the husband is involved in the disappearance. The book was adapted into a movie of the same name released in 2014, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.

24. Dickens villain Heep : URIAH

Uriah Heep is a sniveling insincere character in the novel “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens. The character is such a “yes man” that today, if we know someone who behaves the same way, then we might call that person a “Uriah Heep”.

26. “Pomp and Circumstance” composer : ELGAR

Sir Edward Elgar was the quintessential English composer, inextricably associated with his “Pomp and Circumstance” marches (including “Land of Hope and Glory”) and the “Enigma Variations”.

28. Capital of Latvia : RIGA

Riga is the capital city of Latvia. The historical center of Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared as such because of the city’s magnificent examples of Art Nouveau architecture.

29. Sch. near the Strip : UNLV

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) was established in 1957 as the Southern Division of the University of Nevada, Reno. One of UNLV’s flagship departments is the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, which is consistently ranked as one of the best hotel and hospitality colleges in the nation. I suppose that’s not surprising given the proximity to the Las Vegas Strip.

31. “Abominable” critters : YETIS

The yeti, also called the abominable snowman, is a beast of legend. “Yeti” is a Tibetan term, and the beast is fabled to live in the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet. Our equivalent legend in North America is that of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch. The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology.

33. Paris newspaper Le __ : MONDE

“Le Monde” is a newspaper published each evening in France. “Le Monde” is one of the two most famous French papers, along with “Le Figaro”.

36. __ Christian Andersen : HANS

The wonderful storyteller Hans Christian Andersen became very successful in his own lifetime. In 1847 he visited England for the summer and made a triumphal tour of English society’s most fashionable drawing rooms. There Andersen met with the equally successful Charles Dickens, and the two seemed to hit it off. Ten years later Andersen returned to England and stayed for five weeks in Dickens’ home as his guest. Dickens published “David Copperfield” soon after, and supposedly the less than lovable character Uriah Heep was based on Dickens’ house guest Hans Christian Andersen. That wasn’t very nice!

48. Rescued damsel’s cry : MY HERO!

A “damsel” is a young woman, often referring to a lady of noble birth. The term came into English from the Old French “dameisele”, which had the same meaning. The modern French term is “demoiselle”, which in turn is related to the term of address “mademoiselle”.

51. Throat dangler : UVULA

The uvula is that conical fleshy projection hanging down at the back of the soft palate. The uvula plays an important role in human speech, particularly in the making of “guttural” sounds. The Latin word for “grape” is “uva”, so “uvula” is a “little grape”.

55. Monday, in Le Mans : LUNDI

In French, “lundi” (Monday) is the day before “mardi” (Tuesday).

Le Mans is a city in northwestern France. The city is famous for the 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race that has been held annually since 1923. The 24-hour race uses the city’s race track, but closed city streets are also used for part of the circuit.

58. El __: weather phenomenon : NINO

When the surface temperature of much of the Pacific Ocean rises more that half a degree centigrade, then there is said to be an El Niño episode. That small temperature change in the Pacific has been associated with climatic changes that can stretch right across the globe. El Niño is Spanish for “the boy” and is a reference to the Christ child. The phenomenon was given this particular Spanish name because the warming is usually noticed near South America and around Christmas-time.

60. Mensa nos. : IQS

If you ever learned Latin, “mensa” was probably taught to you in lesson one as it’s the word commonly used as an example of a first declension noun. Mensa means “table”. The Mensa organization, for folks with high IQs, was set up in Oxford, England back in 1946. To become a member, you have to have an IQ that is in the top 2% of the population.

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Complete List of Clues and Answers

Across

1. Soothsayer : SEER

5. Quick fix for an elbow hole : PATCH

10. Underwater vessel : SUB

13. Cuba libre fruit : LIME

14. Lorena of LPGA fame : OCHOA

15. Phony : FAKE

16. Votes in favor : YEAS

17. “My mistake” : SORRY

18. Rice field draft animals : OXEN

19. Panama Canal nickname : EIGHTH WONDER

22. Robotic maid on “The Jetsons” : ROSIE

23. Inherently : BY NATURE

27. Where to find Lima and llamas : PERU

30. Like farm country : RURAL

31. Thanksgiving tuber : YAM

34. When baseball closers usually shine : NINTH INNING

38. They’re often big in showbiz : EGOS

40. Sparkle : GLEAM

41. “I’m hungry enough to __ horse!” : EAT A

42. NYC thoroughfare that becomes Amsterdam at 59th Street : TENTH AVENUE

45. Vert. counterpart : HOR

46. Gandhi’s land : INDIA

47. Garbage email : SPAM

49. “Get moving!” : STEP IT UP!

53. Wash or spin : CYCLE

57. When time is running out : ELEVENTH HOUR

60. Computer image : ICON

63. TV signal part : AUDIO

64. “Giant” author Ferber : EDNA

65. Four-sided campus area : QUAD

66. Extended families : CLANS

67. Cincinnati ballplayers : REDS

68. Tennis match segment : SET

69. Saintly rings : HALOS

70. “Garfield” pooch : ODIE

Down

1. Not as forthright : SLYER

2. “Old MacDonald” letters : E-I-E-I-O

3. Webzines : E-MAGS

4. Mail again, as a package : RESHIP

5. Fancy-schmancy : POSH

6. Have __: freak out : A COW

7. Pulsate : THROB

8. Like grandpa’s jokes, probably : CORNY

9. Contemporary of Mozart : HAYDN

10. Jazz combo horn : SAX

11. Don Ho’s instrument : UKE

12. “Gone Girl” co-star Affleck : BEN

15. Mint of money : FORTUNE

20. High school junior, usually : TEEN

21. Merit : EARN

24. Dickens villain Heep : URIAH

25. Totaled, as a bill : RAN TO

26. “Pomp and Circumstance” composer : ELGAR

28. Capital of Latvia : RIGA

29. Sch. near the Strip : UNLV

31. “Abominable” critters : YETIS

32. Insurance rep : AGENT

33. Paris newspaper Le __ : MONDE

35. Golfer’s starting point : TEE

36. __ Christian Andersen : HANS

37. “Still sleeping?” response : I’M UP

39. Regular payment : STIPEND

43. Precipitation stones : HAIL

44. A pop : EACH

48. Rescued damsel’s cry : MY HERO!

50. Enlighten : TEACH

51. Throat dangler : UVULA

52. Bicycle feature : PEDAL

54. Encrypted : CODED

55. Monday, in Le Mans : LUNDI

56. Use the delete key, e.g. : ERASE

58. El __: weather phenomenon : NINO

59. Throw away : TOSS

60. Mensa nos. : IQS

61. Billiards stick : CUE

62. Breakfast grain : OAT

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17 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 20 Feb 17, Monday”

  1. 7:15, no errors, but clumsy, half-asleep fingers kept going off and hitting the wrong “keys”.

    @Carrie … re “closers”, “starters”, and “relievers”: I may indeed be approaching the point of knowing as much as I need to know on the topic 🙂 … but it certainly came in handy on 34A of today’s puzzle!

    So … about those WSJ puzzles on Friday and Saturday: I thought both of them were uncharacteristically hard. I started the Friday puzzle on Saturday morning and finally finished it in the evening with no errors, but I counted no less than sixteen unfamiliar entries, some of which I got through crosses and some of which were educated guesses. I have no idea what my solve time was, because I was stealing time from other things to work on it and therefore didn’t bother timing myself. I also didn’t have time to think about the contest answer. Then, last night, I started the Saturday puzzle, thinking it would take me about 35 minutes … and … I spent 1 hour, 38 minutes, and 8 seconds on it and I ended up with two errors (only one letter, but two errors). The main problem: I had an awful time figuring out the theme/gimmick, without which several long entries made no sense. (Once I did figure it out, I felt pretty stupid, so others may find it easier than I did.) After finishing Saturday’s puzzle, I went back to Friday’s and tried to come up with the contest answer … and I succeeded 🙂 … ten minutes after the submission deadline 🙁 … so … maybe I’ll win my WSJ cup this coming Friday 🙂

    1. I just realized that one of my two incorrect entries in Saturday’s WSJ puzzle was “mug” – the very thing I’m not going to win by being late with Friday’s WSJ puzzle contest entry. The crossword puzzle gods are laughing at me … again … 🙂

    2. I did both puzzles and had the same experience. I think the meta answer made the grid harder. No entry had the letters g,l,u,t,e,n in them, which I’m sure made it difficult for the constructors. I thought it was quite elegant!

  2. Easy Monday, but as I stated last week I have newfound respect for Monday puzzles and their setters. Funny, Dave, the NINTH INNING haunts you once again…

    Those WSJ puzzles sound quite challenging. Glenn, Dave, Tony (others?) comments make me want to try them, but I’m doing LAT and NYT these days, and I really don’t have time for those 2 a lot of days much less another one. Unanswerable question: Would you swap out doing WSJ grids for doing NYT grids if you absolutely had to chose between them for whatever reason?

    Logistics question for all who solve online – I didn’t receive my paper this morning due to anticipated heavy rains and flooding in the Houston area today. Usually I print out the grid, but once in a while I just do it online as I did this morning. Whenever I use the LA Times site (games.latimes.com…) I get so bogged down with ads running on that page that my computer slows down at times and I can’t enter any letters. Other times it’s just sluggish. On Sundays the page will interrupt the grid just to run an ad before you can resume. I’m just curious if there is another place without all those ads where people do these online. No one else seems to have this problem, and it makes me wonder if I’m missing an easier place to do them.

    Best –

    1. @Jeff … I did the LAT puzzle this morning as I always do, at the following URL:

      http://games.latimes.com/games/daily-crossword/

      I hit “Play” and have to sit through a short ad. (They seldom to never last longer than 20 or 30 seconds and I can frequently skip them after 4 or 5 seconds.) Then, I have to select the puzzle I want, hit “Play” again, and wait a few seconds for the puzzle to appear. Sometimes, I then have to hit “Menu” so I can turn on the “Skip filled cells” option and turn off the “Arrows change direction” option. (If the app shows that it remembers the last puzzle I did, I can skip this step; otherwise, I have to do it.) After that, I never get interrupted again but … recently, I’ve been noticing that the screen occasionally flashes and I’ve been wondering if perhaps this means that my browser is intercepting another ad. (I’m using Safari on an iPad running the latest IOS. I think it’s possible that you might get different results if you use a different browser and/or a different system. I’ll try to do some experiments later.) I hope this helps …

      1. I just did today’s puzzle three more times (using Safari, Firefox, and Google Chrome) on my iMac and I think I now see what you mean. The app is superficially the same, but it’s not the only thing on the page, the way it is on my iPad; instead, it’s surrounded by ads and, in Safari at least, some of the ads stutter and flash in a most annoying manner. I didn’t have any trouble entering the letters, once I got used to another difference: when you finish one entry, the cursor doesn’t automatically skip to the first blank square in the next entry; instead, it just sits on the last letter you typed and you have to click on another square or hit “tab” (not a bad feature, once you get used to it, but confusing at first). I also didn’t have to wait through any more ads, but that may be because I wasn’t spending enough time in the app. (On my final attempt, I finished the puzzle in 2:31 – a new record! 🙂 )

        If I had to use my iMac to do these, I might just print myself a copy, using an inconspicuous “print” button I found in the upper left.

        Of course, if you’re using a PC, the app could be quite different from what I get on my Apple devices. I’d test that out if I could, but I’m an all-Apple site …

    1. @Pookie … Thanks for the Mensa link! The site uses “Flash Player” and works fine in all three browsers on my iMac, but not on my iPad. Apparently, Adobe does not provide a version of “Flash Player” for IOS devices. So … there it is … I’ve bookmarked the site, anyway, as there are situations in which it could be of use …

  3. Pookie/Dave – Thanks for the info. Pookie’s way seems like a nice possibility that I didn’t know about.

    I usually prefer a grid printed out, but on Sundays fitting all of that on one page makes both the squares and the clues very small and hard to read. Plus I’m always covering the numbers with the hand-written letters I’m putting in those squares.

    I use an Android tablet rather than an iPad, but because I use a real keyboard with it, the apps are clunky. I think the NY Times app on that, the virtual keyboard (haven’t found a way to use my real keyboard instead) covers part of the grid, and I find that very distracting.

    I do use a PC with Firefox (I’ll admit my “homepage” is 8 different pages so I’ve always got a lot open when I launch it). Sundays are the worst. They will stop the puzzle and you get a message such as “Your puzzle will be right back after this brief ad” or something like that. At least the clock stops during the ad. That only happens Sundays. And yes the screen freezes begin a few minutes into the puzzle and let up whenever the ad(s) has loaded. The clock keeps running when that happens. Dave might not take long enough on any given puzzle to see that (Grrr), but I do….

    My computer is almost 4 years old. It runs mostly on MS Dos (not really). Not for puzzle reasons but for several others, I ordered a new machine about a week ago which just shipped today coincidentally enough. Maybe that will clear up some of the issues on the latimes puzzle page. Spozably it’s arriving tomorrow.

    Best –

  4. For those who use Firefox, go to the icon on the top right that has three parallel bars and click add ons. Look for Ad Blocker Plus. When installed this add on completely blocks all ads from the LA Times. There is a few seconds delay where the ad would have been. But that’s it.
    Re doing the puzzle on Ipad, Adobe Flash Player is considered by Apple to be an unsecure application (subject to hacking). Therefore they do not allow it to be downloaded from the App Store.

  5. Wow ! What a profound and sagacious discussion on online puzzle solving. I never knew that ads could be blocked, or that they were intended to be. Imho, the ads are the payment for the privilege of getting a ‘free’ crossword, so the least you can do, is watch them – or, skip them. I must confess, I do learn new things, with some of the ads – cruise ships to seaways I have not even heard of, and a plethora of Russian and Ukranian girls ….

    Yesterdays, comments, I was delighted with PRIME TIME NUMBER – and as you all correctly pointed out, neither 8 nor 9 was indeed a prime number. Very cute clue. Also I learnt about the Openers, Relievers and Closer pitchers, in baseball. Something I was well aware of. Truly, the baseball pitcher is the only job that is in ‘full operation’ throughout the game, and sure enough, they can get tired…

    Bill, this is a belated note, for a Sunday puzzle … but ‘areca palms’ and ‘areca nuts’, are because 1) the palms ( and the nuts, themselves – ) are indeed like miniature palm trees – like dwarf coconut trees ( and coconuts) in shape and size. and 2) the areca nuts are called betel nuts because they ‘go’ with the betel leaves —– like bread and butter. You cannot have one without the other. Take it from somebody whose ‘cousins’ have a plantation, and make a living out of these things. Betel nuts ( also consumed in Vietnam and China, in the soft, raw state – ) have been clinically proved to be carcinogenic, but betel leaves are not. Although, the nuts contain some alkaloids like Arecoline ( and 8 others) they are not considered addictive, but more habit forming.

  6. I had a very good time with the puzzle – relatively very easy. I did not know about the drink Cuba Libre’ – I thought that the Lime had a symbolic importance in the (Fidel Castro ?) “Cuban Liberation” – like the storming of the Bastille, in the French Revolution.

    I sort of figured out the theme, but it was still a bit unclear. though I could see the progression of the numbers.

    Re; Mr. M. K. Gandhi – in the interests of fairness, and without bias, Bill, maybe, you may want to change the term, ‘Hindu nationalist’, for Mr. Nathuram Godse’ – the killer /assassin of Mr. Gandhi to that of, ‘Hindu zealot’ or ‘Hindu fanatic’. Irrespective, of what his intentions were , this type of a murderer is never a nationalist, unless you want to grow a nation of murderers. Imho, Mr. Gandhi, was only human, and far from perfect, but he was better than any of the other choices, out there. That his philosophy continues to be followed, in spirit, even now, in India, shows its enduring value. Just a mild note, if his murderer had been a muslim, he would definitely be called an ‘islamic fanatic’, so, in all fairness, the term should apply equally to hindus, as well ….

    have a nice day, all.

  7. So glad I don’t solve on line! I pay the NYT $40 a year additional to print out the puzzle. We can’t always get a NYT in Upstate NY, and can’t subscribe. My local paper provides the L.A. online and printable. I can lie down and use my Flairs of various colors.

    I hold that games on line are different from hand-filled. No one slaps your hand when you fill in a wrong letter, or refuses to let you continue. That was so evident with Sudoku that I stopped solving. The game’s original claim was that it was logic-based. Now, it’s guess between two solutions based. If I want to play guessing games, I’ll play slots. And I won’t ever play slots.

    I had RESend before RESHIP. I noticed 7 words starting with the letter “E” which was unusual.

    1. @Sfingi … Neither of the online crossword apps that I regularly use slaps my hand when I fill in a wrong letter, because, by default, that option is turned off and I leave it off (as I think most people would). The only help I sometimes get is that, when I fill in the final letter and I have an error somewhere, it doesn’t give me a “successful solve” message and the clock keeps going. I try to keep this from happening by leaving a square somewhere unfilled until I feel that I’m really finished, but it still happens now and then.

      As for sudokus: I’ve never used an online tool for them, but that’s because my solution technique for hard ones depends on being able to write in little notes and, as far as I can see, the online tools either don’t provide that capability or they provide it in such a clumsy way that I can’t see myself actually using it.

  8. Piano Man, thanks for the firefox hint. It seems to work nicely. All the pretty clothes and fatty livers have disappeared from the screen.

    Yesterday’s theme helped a lot. Didn’t notice today’s.

    Have a good week, friends…

  9. Jeesh, a lot of missteps ruined an otherwise pleasant Monday easy-fill. Had Ezine before EMAGS, RESend before RESHIP and STEPonit before STEPITUP (!!? who uses that.) After cleaning that up, I finished in about 18 minutes.

    I have Ad Blocker Plus and both the LA Times and KenKen Puzzle made me turn it off before I could use their sites, at least six months, or so, ago.

    @Dave Nowadays the team manager tries to save their starter’s arms by using them only about 6-7 innings max, depending on pitch count. If the starter is having an off day and only lasts 1-3 innings then they need a long reliever, who’ll try to go 3 or so innings. After 6-7 innings, they bring in the first of the regular relievers. Then, in the eighth comes the setup man, who may last into the ninth. In the ninth, comes the closer, who’ll be throwing 96+ mph heat to finish the game. Of course all this depends on their staff rotation, the team and what part of the line-up they’re facing as well as the park they’re playing in.

  10. Hi gang!
    Vidwan! Your views on Gandhi’s assassin are very enlightened and well stated; thank you! I think you make an excellent point. My only thought as to why one would call the killer a Hindu nationalist: without a Hindu nation, and if the Hindu extremists who wanted a separate nation employed terrorism, then in the context of the assassination, calling the killer a Hindu nationalist means he WAS an extremist. Of course, even my saying this is questionable, but it might explain why Bill or another source might refer to him that way.
    Even so, as I say I think you make an excellent point. It goes to the concept of the sanctity of nations and the fact that we have to use such labels correctly and with respect. Maybe “nationalist” is the wrong term for any assassin or terrorist, if the term demeans a religion or nation. I’ve seen other assassins called “nationalists,” tho I don’t remember exactly who — maybe the man who assassinated the Archduke, which event started World War 1….?
    Oh the puzzle! Easy — sorry for taking up all this space on the topic, but Vidwan, you brought up something important!! Well done.
    Be well~~™?

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