L.A.Times Crossword Puzzle Blogging

 Wednesday, September 18th 2013, C.C.Burnikel

Theme: My mom is one - TWINS.   Each starred clue is answered by one of a brace of famous real or mythical twins.  The crossing theme answer is the other twin of the pair.  Further, one of these twins is indicated by a two-word answer in which the second word is a red herring, while the other is a simple one-word name, clued in a way that should specifically identify the specific set of TWINS in question.

17 A. *Edward Cullen's rival for Bella's hand, in the "Twilight" series : JACOB BLACK.  I haven't watched this series, so it took a lot of perp help.

2.D. *Biblical birthright seller : ESAU.  JACOB's TWIN.  Isaac's non-identical twin sons are both frequent crossword denizens.  You know the story.

23 A. *She played Michelle on "Full House" : MARY KATE.  Tricky, since the roll was shared by both of these TWINS.

11. *"High Crimes" actress : ASHLEY JUDD.  As this point, having only half sussed the theme, I'm thinking - wait!  The Judd sisters aren't twins! But MARY KATE and ASHLEY Olsen are.  They have since grown up, or at least gotten older.

45 A. *Brother of Helen of Troy, some say : POLLUX.  I did not know that.

28 D. *Source of an age-old medicinal oil : CASTOR BEAN.  CASTOR OIL, of course.  I don't recall ever being subjected to this cure.  CASTOR and POLLUX in Greek mythology, present a confusing case.   Per Wikipedia: "Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who seduced or raped Leda in the guise of a swan (Greek myths concerning divine sex are often vague on the issue of female consent)."  That's more than I can comprehend.  Better still, Helen also had a TWIN, the unfortunately named Clytemnestra.    CASTOR and POLLUX are also the brightest stars in the constellation Gemini, and a pet products brand.

59 A. *Beach Boys title girl : BARBARA ANN.  This takes me back to my ute.  But back in the day [1961] this was a hit recording for the Regents.  The Beach Boys cover came later.

44 D. *"Today" correspondent __ Bush Hager : JENNA.  BARBARA and JENNA are the daughters of former President George W. Bush, and clearly non-identical TWINS.  They also got older.  Here they are with their mom, former first lady Laura Bush.

And the unifier:  64 A. Target Field team, and each pair of intersecting names in the answers to starred clues : TWINS.  C.C.'s home baseball team is not having a good year.  They play three games against the Tigers next Mon.- Wed.

It took me quite a while to find C.C.'s wavelength.  But wow - eight paired, crossing theme entries, with the horizontal elements in perfect symmetry, plus a unifier stacked below the last horizontal theme fill. Also, two TWIN sets are male and two are female. I don't even want to think about what it took to put this together.

Hi gang, a very impressed JazzBumpa here.  Let's see what else C.C. has in store for us the rest of the way.



Across

1. Nation between Togo and Nigeria : BENIN.  Along the west coast of Africa where it takes a big sweep to the east.

6. "Look over here!" : PSST.  Sibilant attention getter. 

10. CSNY member : NASH.  Of course I should know what CSNY is, and of course, I didn't.  Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, famous for their tight harmonies.  Back to my ute again.

 
14. Private line? : ASIDE.  A stage line spoken to the audience, not the other players.

15. Elevator man : OTIS.  In 1853, Elisha Otis invented the elevator safety brake.  Now, 160 years later, his companies products are used in over 200 countries around the world.

16. "It's clear now" : I SEE

19. Genghis __ : KHAN.  No relation to Madelaine.

20. "The Plains of Passage" author : AUEL.  Jane

21. Former SSR : UKR.  The Ukraine.

22. Pharmaceutical rep's samples : PILLS.  

26. Dogpatch creator : AL CAPP

31. Alley cats, e.g. : STRAYS

33. Some crowns : TIARAS

34. Desert tableland : MESA

35. Blue bird : JAY

37. Looking for a fight : TESTY

38. Suffix with infer : IOR  This, I believe, is pushing it.

39. Cook, in a way : SAUTE

41. Bar bowl item : NUT

42. "Don't tell me!" : OH NO

44. 2007 "American Idol" winner Sparks : JORDIN.   Pretty obscure.

47. Fails to pronounce : ELIDES.  This took some thought.  It means omitting a sound or syllable in a spoken word.  I heard it in my ute.

48. Image to identify on a driver's license exam : ROAD SIGN

51. Drifters : HOBOS

53. Diarist Anaïs : NIN

54. Neighbor of a Cambodian : THAI

58. Short race, briefly : ONE K.  One kilometer, about .6 miles.

62. Ruse : SCAM.  Phoney business.

63. Duel tool : EPEE. The most common crossword weapon.

65. Funny Dame : EDNA.  Dame EDNA Everage is a character created and performed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries.  That's all I know.

66. Bombs : DUDS.  Funny how language twists.  "A bomb" is a failure, but "THE bomb" is something really cool, while a "bomb" can blow you away.

67. Narrow piece, as of cloth : STRIP.  Other definitions are possible.

Down

1. __ California : BAJA.  Spanish for "lower."  The peninsula extending south from CA. is part of Mexico.

3. "Great shot!" : NICE.  Well done

4. Teen Vogue subject : IDOL.  Today's star, tomorrow's has been.

5. Lincoln's st. : NEB.  Nebraska.  Gary can tell us all about it.

6. Beer garden music : POLKA.  Oom-pah!

7. Super Bowl I and II MVP : STARR.  Bart, QB for the Packers.

8. [Not my error] : SIC.  Short for sic erat scriptum, "thus was it written."  Used when something in a quote looks not quite right.

9. "That wasn't nice" : TSK.  Comic book admonition.

10. Former Soviet leader Khrushchev : NIKITA.  Famous shoe banger.  Or maybe not.

12. Corporate emblem : SEAL.  I wanted LOGO.

13. Egg sources : HENS.

18. Bruises partner : BUMPS.  They go together.

22. Shade provider : PARASOL.  I wanted ELM TREE.

24. North Sea feeder : YSER.  I didn't know what I wanted.

25. Naut. speed units : KTS.  Knots.  Wikipedia again: The knot (pronounced not) is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile (1.852 km) per hour, approximately 1.151 mph

26. Env. router : ATTN.  Abrv. for attention, often used on inter-office communication envelopes.

27. Stay awake in bed : LIE UP.  Or deliberately leave your golf shot short of a hazard.

29. Part of MOMA : ART.  The Museum of Modern ART.

30. Promotional bribes : PAYOLAS.  Big scandal back in my ute.

32. Composer Erik : SATIE.  French.

34. Cattle call : MOO.  Of the cattle, not to the cattle.

36. Hankerings : YENS.  I thought about going to Japan, but didn't have the YEN to travel.

38. "Need You Tonight" band : INXS

40. First name in shipping : ARI.  Onassis.

43. 1963 Newman/Neal film : HUD.  Family strife, sexual tension and diseased cattle on a Texas ranch.

46. Start of a show-off kid's cry : LOOK MA.  Followed by "No hands!"  and CRASH!

49. How traditional Chinese brides dress : IN RED.  Whay not?  It's a festive color.

50. Taunts : GIBES

51. Garden waterer : HOSE

52. Burned, in a high-tech way : ON CD.  Probably the next music presentation format to become obsolete.

54. "I __ I taw ..." : TAWT.  A puddy tat.  Tweety Bird

55. It may have highlights : HAIR.

56. Years, to Caesar : ANNI.

57. Clouseau's rank: Abbr. : INSP.  Inspector Jacques Clouseau, the bumbling police detective played by Peter Sellers.  A portrayal by any other actor is a SCAM and a fraud.

59. Place to sleep : BED.  Or plant flowers

60. Bart's Squishee provider : APU.  He runs the Kwik E Mart on the Simpson's TV show.

61. ACLU concerns : RTS.  Rights, not routes, except for the one to the court house. 

There you have it.  This puzzle did not BOMB.  In fact, I'd say it was THE bomb.

Cool regards!
JzB