L.A. Times Crossword Blogging

Cross posted at The Corner.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 James Sajdak 

Theme: ROUND AND ROUND WE GO.   Each of four theme entries - two of them grid-spanning - ends in a word signifying some type of revolution or rotation. 

17. Latitude between the South Frigid Zone and South Temperate Zone : ANTARCTIC CIRCLE.   It's around the South Pole.

27. Tried something out : GAVE IT A WHIRL.  Origin uncertain: perhaps related to taking a chance at a roulette wheel, or trying your hand at a whirlygig toy.

 48. Test-drove, with "in" : WENT FOR A SPIN.  Took a short drive in that sexy new car.  Could this be from going ROUND the block?

63. Macroeconomic theory to explain inflation : WAGE PRICE SPIRAL.  Remember cost of living adjustments from back in the 70's?  Prices went up, wages went up, rinse, repeat.  Not now, though.  Wages are stagnant.

Hi gang.  JazzBumpa here with a fine entry from James Sajdak, involving circular reasoning and a bit of misdirection, some of which is musical .  Let's play around with it.

Across

1. Finish using TurboTax, say : E-FILE.  File your tax return electronically, and you'll get your refund quicker.

6. They have scales and keys : MAPS.  This musical misdirection gave me pause, but it is spot on.

10. Avon lady, e.g.? : BRIT.  Not musical, but another misdirection.  Instead of a cosmetics sales lady who rings your bell, it's any lady from the no-longer-existent county of Avon on the west coast of -

62 D. Merrie __ England : OLDE.  Olde English spelling of a fine olde Anglo-Saxon word.

14. Pitch man? : TUNER.  Not an aggressive, flamboyant salesman or promoter, but the guy who tunes your piano.  Another musical misdirection.

15. Little bit of everything : OLIO.  A miscellaneous collection, a hodgepodge.  I've always known about OLEO, the ersatz butter substitute, but only learned about OLIO from crosswords.  It might be derived from olla podrida, a traditional Spanish rich, spicy stew of meat and vegetables. 

16. Tip-top : A-ONE.  ¡Lo mejor!  Probably not ersatz.

20. Surfboard fin : SKEG.  Really?!? Thank you, perps.  By the time you read this, I will already have forgotten - what was that again . . . ?

21. Native of Lima : OHIOAN.  Ha!  Can't fool me.  I are one - or was before I became a displaced person.  More misdirection, not musical, but still of the cartographer's scale and key variety. 

22. Novelist Kesey : KEN.  His most famous work is One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

23. Hindquarters : RUMP.  But -- but . . .   I had to back into this one, and almost fell behind.  No link. 

25. Arms treaty subjects, briefly : N-TESTS.  Nuclear test ban treaties.

32. Cleaned one's plate : ATE.  Figuratively.  Even after cleaning my plate, I still wash it.

33. Indian megalopolis : DELHI.  Located in North-central India. 

34. Copious : AMPLE.  Abundant.  More than sufficient.

38. Agent under M : BOND.   James Bond, Secret Agent 007, licensed to kill.  No?

40. Highways and byways : ROADS.  Lines on MAPS.

42. Chimney sweepings : SOOT.  Mandatory link.

43. Lipstick mishap : SMEAR.  Might need the Avon Lady.

45. Springs, in a way : FREES.  From prison.  Not very obvious.

47. Ref's decision : TKO.  Technical Knock Out.   The Ref stops a boxing match, lest the under-performing opponent get injured.

51. Environmental activist Jagger : BIANCA.  Mick's first Ex.

54. Copyeditor's catch, hopefully : TYPO.  What you get when you press the wrong key

55. Commentator Coulter : ANN.  Moving right along . . .

56. 16th-century Spanish fleet : ARMADA.  In 1588 the Spanish fleet attempted to attack the BRITS, but were repelled by fireships - literally, boats loaded with combustibles set afire and directed toward enemy ships.  The ARMADA retreated north of Scotland where they were further damaged by severe storms.  Only about 50 of the original 130 ships made it back to Spain.

60. Science fiction prize : HUGO.  Named for Hugo Gernsback.

66. Faded in the stretch : DIED.  Like the Tigers many times over and the Red Sox this year.

67. Dust Bowl migrant : OKIE.  Pejorative term for impoverished Oklahomans who migrated to California during the dust bowl years of the other Great Depression,

68. Denoting a loss, as on a balance sheet : IN RED. 

69. Every twelve mos. : YRLY.  Abbrv. in cl. & ans.

70. Unites : WEDS.

71. Napoleon, ultimately : EXILE. Nap was EXILED to the isle of Elba. Hence our favorite palindrome.  Recite it if you're able.

Down

1. Guesstimates at Maryland's BWI : ETAS.  Estimated Times of Arrival.

2. Name on a dictionary : FUNK.  Along with Wagnall

3. Involve oneself : INTERVENE.  More than just involvement.  One intervenes to affect the outcome.

4. Roughly three miles : LEAGUE.  I remember reading Roughly 60,000 Miles Under the Sea.

5. Push the wrong button, e.g. : ERR. A TYPO, frex.

6. Candlelight visitor? : MOTH.  Great imagery.

7. Et __: and others : ALII.  Latin.

8. Trillionth: Pref. : PICO.  We just discussed this a few days ago.

9. "You're not the only one!" : SO CAN I.  Anything you can do . . .

10. Block : BAR.  Ban.  Veto. INTERVENE, perhaps.

11. Is way cool : ROCKS.  Did your teen years ROCK?

13. "The Wonder Years" years : TEENS.  Blunder years in my case.

18. Whirlybird : 'COPTER.  Helicopter, that is.  Note slang in clue and ans.

19. Prefix with mural : INTRA.  Refers to sports competition between teams from the same institution.

24. Near the center : MID.

26. Shady group? : ELMS. Famous shade trees from by-gone Americana, depleted by Dutch Elm disease, alas.

27. Ties up the line : GABS.  or YAKS.  Neede perp help to decide.

28. Element element : ATOM.  The basic building block of matter - and an internal clecho.  Nice!

29. High, as a kite : ALOFT.  Up above, and less rankling than the typical A- word.

30. Quay : WHARF.  What's updock?  The other end of the pier.

31. Pitcher Nomo : HIDEO. Japanese baseball player who had an up and down career in the Major Leagues, playing for the Dodgers, Mets, Cubs, Brewers, Tigers, Red Sox, Dodgers again, Devil Rays and Royals.  Plus other teams in other countries.  You need a MAP.

35. "Jeopardy!" category : POTPOURRI.  Why don't they call it OLIO?!?

36. Mischief-making Norse god : LOKI. Nothing low key abut this guy, in some very confusing mythology.

37. Henry VI's school : ETON.  Four letters, School in Merrie Olde England: enter ETON and be on your way.

39. "Rosy-fingered" time of day, per Homer : DAWN.  That is downright poetic.

41. "Counting Sheep" mattresses : SERTAS.  Hmmm.  Not up on my mattress adverts.

44. Postgame rundown : RECAP. Sort for recapitulation, which has way to many syllables for the 21st century.

46. "I just had an idea!" : SAY.  Say what?  I'd say the correspondence of clue and fill is quite strained.

49. __-minded : NARROW.  Lacking tolerance, breadth of view, or sympathy.  Vide supra.

50. Egyptian with a riddle : SPHINX.  The SPHYNX sat by the side of the road and asked his famous riddle of all who passed by.  Woe to him who got it wrong.

51. Like some limericks : BAWDY.  There once was a blogger named Bumpa / Who sat overlong on his RUMPA / When finally he stood / (He felt that he should) / He fell with a hideous thumpa.  (Cut me some slack, OK - it's after midnight.)

52. ". . . the bombs bursting __ . . ." : IN AIR.  From the Star Spangled Banner.  BTW, Detroit has the best anthem singers.  No contest.

53. California pro : ANGEL.  Could not think of this team.  Needed lots of perp help.

57. Karaoke prop : MIKE.

58. Stomach product : ACID.  For digesting proteins.

59. Unenviable grades : DEES. And a bit of unenviable fill.

61. Highlands native : GAEL  Per Wikipedia, "The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx." 

64. Joseph of ice cream fame : EDY.  And an occasional treat in crosswords

65. Diner dessert : PIE.  Mmmm - PIE.  For PIE a la mode, vide supra.

I'd say James took us for a nice spin.  Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Cheers!

JzB