L.A. Times Crossword Blogging

Thursday, September 29, 2011  Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel 

Cross-posted at The Corner.

Theme:  MADE IN CHINA.  Nine items that were invented in CHINA - the unifier - over the course of millenia are arranged in perfect symmetry.

1. *Rock conqueror? : PAPER.  Rock-PAPER- scissors game.  Oh - and that stuff you write letters on.

10. *Soy milk brand : SILK.   I'll pass on the soy milk, thank you.  But high quality fabric made from the cocoon fiber of silk worms is OK by me. 

17. *Dental checkup freebie : TOOTHBRUSH.   I always take a red one.

28. *Wile E. Coyote buy : GUNPOWDER. Ka-Boom stuff.

35. *Gets creative : NOODLES.  I usually think of NOODLING as thinking deeply on a challenging subject, but OK.

39. *Extent : COMPASS.  Not the most obvious sense of this word.  Is it within the COMPASS of your vocabulary?

45. *Flashy display : FIREWORKS.  Clever clue, and a carefully NOODLED use for GUNPOWDER.

59. *Beginner's piano piece : CHOPSTICKS.  The eating utensils used in Chinese restaurants that can be tricky to use if you don't know how to hold them.

64. *Forged check : KITE.  We had a discussion of check-kiting recently.  I will defer to the resident legal staff.  But the other meaning is a cloth or paper form that flies in the wind on the end of a string.

And the unifier -- 66. It celebrates National Day on October 1 (and it's where the answers to starred clues were invented) : CHINA

Wow - this is some dense themage in another virtuoso technical masterpiece by our dynamic duo.  Note that only some of the theme answers have double meanings.  Symmetrical pairings GUN POWDER - FIREWORKS and TOOTHPICK - CHPSTICKS add to the impressive fun.  Would you make a KITE out of SILK?  If so, add that one in, too.  And PAPER plates for CHINA?!?

Hi gang, JazzBumpa here.  C. C. is rightfully very proud of the rich heritage and culture of her original homeland, and shows them off here to good effect.   Let's explore the rest of this puzzle.

Down

6. Ilk : TYPE.  Categories

14. Diminish, as trust : ERODE.  A virtual wearing away.

15. Court target : HOOP.  Basketball

16. Singer with the platinum 1992 album "The Celts" : ENYA.  Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin  is a fine lass from County Donegal.  Potential ear worm.

19. Hungarian spa city : EGER.  I did not know that, sad to say.  But I do know of the famous, full-bodied red wine from the surrounding region, EGRI Bikavér - Bull's Blood of Eger.

20. "30 Rock" is loosely based on it, briefly : SNL.  Saturday Night Live.  Having never watched 30 Rock, I didn't know that either.

21. Georgia campus : EMORY.  Pretty frequent crossword grid campus, as well.

22. Transparent personality? : GHOST.  This one gave me eyestrain and brainstrain.

23. Webber's partner : PAINE.  PAINE, Webber & Co. was an asset management firm founded in Boston in 1880, now a part of trans-national mega-corporation UBS AG, headquartered in Switzerland.

25. Are proper for : BEFIT

32. Napoleon, before seeing Elba? : ABLE.  From the palindrome that everyone knows.

33. Its symbol is "$" : PESO.  And it's country of origin is the United States of Mexico.

34. West Bank initials : PLO. Palestine Liberation Organization

41. "Alice" spinoff : FLO.  Everyone remembers her famous quote, right?

42. Gives goose bumps, maybe : AWES.  Like Papa Grande shutting down the Indians for his 49th straight save this year.

44. Pennsylvania port : ERIE.  On Cleveland and Toledo's Lake of the same name.

48. Umbrella brand : TOTES.  Boots, too.

49. Idiot : LUNK.  As in LUNKhead, or "Ya big LUNK!"

50. Finalize, as a comic strip : INK IN. Converting a sketch to the final drawing.  Now you can do it electronically.

52. Pub drinks : SWIGS.  This one fooled me.  I was looking for the actual drinks, not the action of drinking them. 

54. Sudden outpouring : SPATE.  Another learning moment.  I thought it was just a large quantity.

55. Sch. with a Phoenix campus : ASU.  Arizona State University, home of the Sun Devils.

58. Comic book buyer of old? : DIME.  Can't go along with this.  As a kid, I was the buyer of many comic books -- with my dimes.

61. Analogous : AKIN.

62. Forceful takeover : COUP.

63. John who played Gomez Addams : ASTIN.  Father of Sean Astin who played Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings.

65. Maker of Kate Moss fragrances : COTY.  Anybody remember MY SIN?

Down

1. Bo and Barney, e.g. : PETS.  The two most recent Presidential Pups.

2. Mountain climber Ralston, subject of "127 Hours" : ARON.  No idea.

3. Hustler's game : POOL.  AKA billiards, not swimming.  The Hustler was a famous movie about a sand-bagging POOL player.

4. Atlanta summer hrs. : EDT.  Easter Daylight-savings Time.  Toledo, too.

5. Warm up : REHEAT.  I thought about playing scales and arpeggios, not nuking leftovers.

6. Crowd : THRONG.  Good old Anglo-Saxon word for a multitude.

7. Words to one on deck : YOU'RE UP.  Could it be a C.C. puzzle without a baseball reference?  Playoffs start Friday.  Consult your local listings.

8. Nosegay : POSY.  This is correct.  I thought a posy was actually a variety of flower, not a small bouquet or single blossom.

9. Bk. before Philippians : EPH.  The Epistle to the Ephesians in the Christian Bible.

10. Envision a way : SEE HOW. 

11. To a great extent : IN GOOD PART.  I guess this is in the language, but it feels very clumsy.

12. Caustic fluids : LYES.  Solutions of sodium hydroxide.  Would I lie about LYE?

13. Go-__ : KART.  

18. ASCAP rival : BMI.  Broadcast Music Incorporated collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it distributes as royalties to songwriters.

22. Union member? : GROOM.  Along with the bride, he enters into a marriage union.  Clever!

23. Like pintos : PIED.  Of two or more colors in blotches.  Perfect.

24. Lhasa __ : APSO.  A small, hairy dog.   Terminally cute.

25. Alberta national park : BANFF. Majestic.

26. "Christ Stopped at __" : EBOLI.  A social realist political novel by Carlo Levi.

27. Amount requiring a credit card authorization : FLOOR LIMIT.

29. Japanese chip maker : NEC. "One of the world's leading providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions."  Sounds like another trans-national mega-corporation.

30. Borden mascot : ELSIE.  The spokesbovine for Bordon since 1936.

31. Derby prize : ROSES.  The Kentucky Derby.

36. Some green acres : LAWNS.  My 0.4 acres is more than enough to cut.

37. "Star Wars" tree-dweller : EWOK.   Lhasa APSO look alikes?

38. Sun. talk : SER  Sermon.

40. Drudge : PEON.  Hard work, long hours, low pay.

43. Abandon, with "on" : SKIP OUT.

46. Oregon Ducks' home : EUGENE.  City in Oregan where the University is located.

47. Irritable : SNAPPY.  I thought SNIPPY.  SNAPPY to me means lively or quick.

48. Pin in a shirt : TIE TAC.

51. Gold units: Abbr. : KTS.  Karats. A unit of fineness for gold equal to 1⁄24 part of pure gold in an alloy.

52. Mt. Rushmore's state : S.DAK.  South Dakota.

53. Joint Web project : WIKI 

54. "Buzz off!" : SHOO.  Scram

55. When Emile sings "Some Enchanted Evening" : ACT I.  Where:  Across a crowded room.

56. Word with care or cream : SKIN.  An in-depth look.

57. Oliver North's alma mater: Abbr. : USNA.  United States Naval Academy.

59. V x LX : CCC.   5 x 60 = 300, no matter where or when.  Or, it could be C.C.  - See?

60. -like relative : ISH.  Somewhat comparable, relatively speaking.

Note from C.C.  The theme was inspired by one of Dennis' "Did You Know". Don and I managed to fit in 9 of the inventions & CHINA, a rather heavy themage with 70 squares. It is customary in this type of theme to asterisk the clue when there are many theme answers and they are not very long. We also clued each in away that's far from the product itself and with no hint to China. We're happy with the grid and I'm very proud of my heritage. A special "Thank you" to Rich for running this puzzle as close to China's National Day as possible.