L.A. Time Crossword Puzzle Blogging - Wednesday, January 13, 2016 C. C. Burnikel

Theme:  But wait, there's more  .  .  .  The first words of three theme entries describe ways in which you can make purchases from the comfort of your own home.

18 A. Worker in a red, white and blue truck : MAIL CARRIER.   For the U.S. Postal Service.   You can use it to order by mail.

37 A. eBay event : ON-LINE AUCTION.   And you can also order ON-LINE from Amazon and many traditional retailers.

61 A. Document that might be subpoenaed : PHONE RECORD.   I'll let our legal experts explain why PHONE RECORDS might be gathered as evidence.   But you can also make your purchases by phone.  Have your credit card handy.

And the reveal:  40 D. Catalog come-on ... three ways to do it begin 18-, 37- and 61-Across : ORDER NOW.   Our sales executives are standing by.  Act fast and at no extra charge  .  .  .  Well, you get the idea.

Today's constructor is, as Robert Plant once said, "a lady we all know."  And it looks like she's getting ready to buy something.  Even if the stores are all closed, she's discovered several ways to get what she came for.

Hi gang - JazzBumpa here, repping for The Corner Crew.  Are you in a buying mood?  It makes me wonder. Ooh, it really makes me wonder.  Let's check out the merchandise.


Down

1. Texting protocol initials : SMS.   Short Message Service, for phones and other mobile devices.  It has an estimates 3.5 billion users.

4. Fired (up) : AMPED.   Excited and enthused.

9. Immortal Jazz trumpeter, to fans : SATCH.   Short for Satchmo, AKA, Louis, one of the most influential jazz and popular musicians of the 20th century.

14. Power __ : TIE.   A solid or striped necktie in bold, conservative colors, used as part of a "dress for success wardrobe," if you believe in that sort of thing.

15. "That Girl" star Thomas : MARLO.  A 1966 - 1971 TV program about an aspiring young actress trying to make it in New York City.

16. Chef Hall who co-hosts "The Chew" : CARLA.

17. "Bambi" character : ENA.   Bambi's mother in law.  Oh, deer.

20. Fastest of Columbus' ships : PINTA.  A caravelle.   The Niña, also a caravelle, and Santa Maria, a carrack, were dawdlers.

22. Progressive rival : GEICO.   Insurance companies.

23. Kilmer of "The Doors" : VAL.  He played Jim Morrison in the movie.

24. Cyclist's violation : DOPING.  Defined as the "use of physiological substances or abnormal method to obtain an artificial increase of performance," a notorious problem in top level cycling competitions since at least 1886.

26. Unlikely smartphone user : LUDDITE.  One opposed to industrialization or new technology.  They have to actually go to the store to shop.   And probably pay cash.

28. Picnic __ : AREA.  Words seen on a park sign.

29. Opening : ONSET.  Beginning.

32. "Piece of cake!" : EASY.  No problem.

33. Room for family game night : DEN.  Can also be called the family room, if you're game.

34. Chambermaid's supply : SOAP.  Towels and linens have not inspired operas.

35. Hook shape : ESS.   Like the letter.

42. Funds for the future, briefly : IRA.  Individual Retirement Account.

43. Finish filming : WRAP.

44. Done with, with "of" : RID.   And good RIDdance, too.

46. Butler's home, for a while : TARA. Rhett in Gone With The Wind.

49. Technician with a fork : TUNER.  Worker in old keyboard technology.  Possibly a LUDDITE.

51. Inactive : IDLE.

52. Lex Luthor and Superman, e.g. : ENEMIES.  Villain and hero, respectively.

54. Mic users : EMCEES.  Masters of Ceremonies, initially phoneticized.

56. CXVI years ago : MCM.  More commonly, 116 years ago was 1900.

57. Indian royals : RANIS.  Of the female persuasion.   RAJAS also fits, but got perped out.

60. Belgrade natives : SERBS.  Belgrade, on the banks of he Danube, is the capital and largest city of Serbia.

64. Mets' div. : NLE.   National League East.   Baseball, of course.

65. Best Actress winner for "Two Women" : LOREN.   Sophia, in a tragic story set in WW II.

66. "Hooray!" : WAHOO.  Yippee!

67. "Days of __ Lives" : OUR.  One of those commercial operas obliquely alluded to above.   Strangely, does not feature chamber maids.

68. Strike out : ERASE.  Remove text.   Not baseball, sadly.

69. Stuck-up types : SNOBS.  At a deeper level, those who believe social status is an indicator of a person's worth.

70. Like freshly applied polish : WET.  Or paint. 

Down

1. Jay Pritchett, to Manny, on "Modern Family" : STEP DAD.  Never watched it.

2. Bite-size cookie : MINI-OREO.  Here, the cruciverbalist's favorite cookie makes a small appearance.

3. Co-screenwriter and star of "The Gunman" : SEAN PENN.   Murder, murder, and more murder.

4. University of Jordan city : AMMAN.

5. Billy's cry : MAA.  Especially on the Isle of Capri.  Did this get your goat?

6. Uptight type : PRIG. One whose SNOBBERY is based on a sense of self-righteous moral superiority.  

7. Allure rackmate : ELLE.   Fashion magazines.

8. Not likely to bite : DOCILE.   As a pet or other animal

9. New England whitefish : SCROD.  A young cod, haddock, etc.

10. Longest river entirely in Switzerland : AAR.  A tributary of the Rhine, it's name goes back to pre-Roman times.  During it's 195 mile run, it descends 5235 feet.  Its watershed includes about half of the country.

11. Small stuff : TRIVIA.  That which is not to be sweated.

12. Lacrosse shoes : CLEATS.    Sports shoes with projections on the sole to grip and prevent slipping.

13. Road hog? : HARLEY.   Iconic American-made motorcycle, aka a hog.

19. Clinic service for serious injuries : ACUTE CARE.   Emergency medical attention.

21. Niña's aunt : TIA.   Spanish, and an oblique reminder of the voyage of Columbus.

25. Run wild : GO ON A TEAR.   Usually in a good way, as an athlete having a hot streak.

27. Ricky portrayer : DESI.  Ricardo and Arnaz, respectively, from another well known TV show.

30. "Think again, laddie!" : NAE.   Denied in Scotland.

31. Bring forth : SPAWN.

34. Dubbed dude : SIR.   Good knight.

36. Additive sold at AutoZone : STP.   Viscosity modifier that should never put in your engine.

38. Hemsworth who plays Gale in "The Hunger Games" : LIAM.  Didn't see it.

39. Suffix with text : -URE.  TEXTURE is derived from the Latin textura, weaving, ultimately from the verb texere, to weave.  TEXT comes to us via Old French texte, meaning issue or literary style.   It ultimately also traces back to texere.  The suffix -URE indicates an action or condition, as in ersasure, closure or failure.  I can't decide if this is really legit.

41. Color similar to cerulean : NILE BLUE.  These are rather non-specific designations for blue hues with greenish tendencies. Cerulean is closer to a pure blue, while NILE BLUE leans more into the green region.  Or so it appears to my eye.

45. Piece of cake, e.g. : DESSERT.  The other, more literal, meaning of today's clecho.   Yum!

46. Head piece? : TEMPLE.  The region on each side of the head behind the eye.  The word comes from a different Latin root than its homophone meaning "a place of worship," which is derived from templum.  The head piece is derived from the vulgar Latin tempula, which also refers to time.   Hence our adjective "temporal," referring both to time and the side of the head.  So a well timed smack upside the head would be both temporal and temporal. 

47. Relay race closer : ANCHOR.  The last runner in a relay race is in the ANCHOR position.

48. Shark hanger-on : REMORA.  This fish has a suction cup-like structure formed from its front dorsal fins.   It can then hitch a ride on the skin of large marine animals, and gather ectoparasites and loose food particles.  Yum!

50. Mag that merged with World Report in 1948 : US NEWS.

51. Picked cubes : ICE.  Sorry, Tin Man, but we're cooling things off here.

53. Greek goddess of peace : IRENE.   Derived from εἰρήνη - the Greek for "peace".   Also the name of several Saints and my last surviving aunt.

55. Early PC platform : MS-DOS.  MicroSoft Disc Operating System.

58. "__ hardly wait!" : I CAN.  My feeling about baseball season.   Mud Hens start in 87 days.

59. London district : SOHO.   An area of the city of Westminster, part of London's West Side.  It has long been seen as a seedy area as a low class entertainment district., infamous for drunkenness and prostitution.  In recent decades there has been a good deal of gentrification and it is now a fashionable upscale district.  The name first appeared in the 17th century, and evidently was derived from a hunting cry.   To the best of my knowledge, there is no London district called Talley-Ho.

62. Wii forerunner : NES.   Nintendo game systems.

63. Steal from : ROB.  Burgle.

So we started off buying things and ended up shop lifting. But when you buy via today's theme entries, that temptation is preempted.  Till we meet again, keep your hands in your pockets and the economy chugging along.

Cool regards!
JzB