google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday February 25, 2010 Gary Steinmehl

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Feb 25, 2010

Thursday February 25, 2010 Gary Steinmehl

Theme: HEAD (65A. Word that can precede each word in 17-, 38- and 61-Across) - All three component words in each theme entry can follow HEAD.

17A. Detectives assigned to unsolved mysteries?: COLD CASE HUNTERS. Head Cold. Headcase (a mentally unstable person). Headhunters (professional recruiters).

38A. Intermission queues?: RESTROOM LINES. Headrest. Headroom (Nautical term for "the clear space between two decks", new word to me). Headlines.

61A. Shower gifts for brie lovers?: CHEESEBOARD SETS. Headcheese is defined as "A jellied loaf or sausage made from chopped and boiled parts of the feet, head, and sometimes the tongue and heart of an animal, usually a hog". Yuck! I am glad I've never had (or heard) of it. Headboard (of bed). Headsets.

I've never seen a theme with a defining word that can precede three different words in each theme entry. Very ambitious, isn't it? Reminds me of this constructor's last "LINCOLN CENTER" puzzle. Just ingenious! Gary Steinmehl not only placed LINCOLN CENTER in the very heart of the grid, he also embedded ABE in each of the four theme answers.

Although I am not familiar with every "head" word, the resulting theme phrases all sound natural and fun to me. I also love the twisty clues for the below small words:

27A. Stable diet?: HAY. Nice play on "Staple diet".

29D. House call?: YEA. The congressional vote.

36D. Like a whip?: SMART. Idiom: smart as a whip. I was thinking of the lashing whip.

64D. Fled or bled: RAN. Good rhyme.

Across:

1. Quick kiss: PECK. I like how it crosses PACK UP (1D. Get ready to go).

5. Bond player, seven times: MOORE (Roger)

10. Confiscated auto: REPO

14. End of a fronton game?: ALAI. Literally the end of the term Jai Alai. Fronton is the Jai Alai arena. Stumped many of us last time.

15. Back list: INDEX

16. Court cry: OYEZ. And NINE (19. High Court count). The High Court (Supreme Court) has NINE justices.

21. Calls, in a way: RADIOS

22. Waste not: USE. Just could not think of a three-letter word synonym for SAVE.

23. Navig. guide: GPS

26. Quarterback Roethlisberger: BEN. With the Pittsburgh Steelers. A pretty good golfer.

30. Soak through: PERMEATE. Nice word.

33. Siesta shawl: SERAPE. It's a wrap!

35. Local groups: UNIONS

37. Start of a theory: IDEA. Ah, no wordplay on "start".

42. Hawaii's "Valley Isle": MAUI

43. Midwestern landscape: PLAINS

44. Ring setting: CIRCUS. Was thinking of the wedding ring.

47. Carrying capacities: ARMLOADS. Came to me slowly.

51. Pavement warning: SLO. Wrote down WET first.

52. Word processor setting: TAB

54. Mad Hatter's drink: TEA. "Alice in Wonderland".

55. Fjord relative: RIA. Narrow inlet. Fjord is the Norwegian long & narrow inlet.

56. Like some bio majors: PRE-MED

59. Daphne eloped with him on "Frasier": NILES (Crane). I've never seen "Frasier".

66. Crucial artery: AORTA

67. Regarding, to counsel: IN RE

69. Watch secretly: SPY ON

70. "Just a coupla __": SECS

Down:

2. Kay Thompson's impish six-year-old: ELOISE. The girl who lives at the Plaza Hotel.

3. Mobile maker: CALDER (Alexander). The sculptor who invented the mobile art.

4. William the pirate: KIDD. William the Kidd. He was hanged for piracy in 1701. New to me. Interesting crossing with KIDDO (20A. Buddy boy).

5. Hamm of soccer: MIA. Wife of Nomar Garciaparra (ex-Red Sox).

6. Switch positions: ONS. Or OFFS.

7. River forming part of Germany's eastern border: ODER. Kazie just mentioned yesterday that it flows north to the Baltic.

8. Betty Ford Center program: REHAB

9. Oozes out: EXUDES

10. Prefix with tiller: ROTO. Rototiller.

11. Sleeping aid: EYESHADE. Got a lovely pillow-like lavender-scented eyeshade for Christmas.

12. A pop: PER

13. Jigger's 11/2: Abbr.: OZS. Dictionary defines jigger as "a small whiskey glass holding 11/2 ounce".

18. Clear and convincing: COGENT

24. Poker holding: PAIR

25. Condescend: STOOP. Penned in DEIGN.

31. Partner of words: MUSIC. Shouldn't it be "Partner of lyrics"?

32. Gay leader?: ENOLA. Enola Gay, the WWII bomber. Got me.

34. Unilever laundry soap brand: RINSO. I've never heard of this brand.

38. Train guide: RAIL

39. Continental: EUROPEAN

41. Away from the coast: INLAND

42. Roast hosts, for short: MCS

45. Sport __: family vehicles: UTES. We had plenty of discussions (and whining) about this fill before.

46. Equal to, with "the": SAME AS

48. Actress Dahl: ARLENE

49. No-calorie cola: DIET RC. Have never tried RC Cola.

50. Gets fresh with: SASSES. Classic right or bottom edge word. Four Ss.

53. Dizzy's jazz: BEBOP

57. Wine list heading: REDS

58. Fishing craft: DORY

60. Cow-horned goddess: ISIS. Maybe JD can tell us more about this Egyptian goddess of fertility.

61. Comic Margaret: CHO. Of Korean descent. Her stuff is often too racy for my taste. Cho is Cao in Chinese.

62. Cut off: HEW

82 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - another relatively easy day, making it four in a row. Loved the theme (for several reasons) - and it's gotta be tough integrating nine words into a common theme.

I liked the fresh cluing/answers as well. Don't see 'permeate' very often in a puzzle, and it was a nice change of pace having 'Calder' as the answer and 'mobile maker' as the clue; normally it's something like 'Calder's output' for a clue. Only screw-up was putting 'oat' for 'Stable diet'; that didn't go so well. And as C.C. pointed out, interesting crossing of 'Kidd' and 'Kiddo'.




Today is Pistol Patent Day. On this day in 1836, Samuel Colt patented the revolver.

Today's Words of Wisdom, appropriate for our weather here: "No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible." -- Stanislaw Lec

A few thoughts on animals:

- "Odd things, animals. All dogs look up at you. All cats look down on you. Only a pig looks at you as an equal." -- Winston Churchill

- "No animal should ever jump up on the dining-room furniture unless absolutely certain he can hold his own in the conversation." -- Fran Lebowitz

Heavy snow falling this morning - my back's pre-hurting already, but.....

7 & a w/u.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Dennis,
Remember Verna Suit used to give us "Three Blue Things" & "Three Red Things" style themes? Strings of three individual words tied in by the "blue" or "red" commonness (all simply clued as "Three blue/red things"). What a huge improvement today's puzzle is!

KQ,
I arrange most of my interviews weeks (some months) in advance. I get the constructor addresses via references, Rich Norris, or my own internet search.

Dodo,
All of the interviews are in written form. I speak poor English.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Chickie et al,
Thanks for the nice words regarding the interview yesterday. It always pleases me to know that the interview is enjoyed.

Frank, Al and others,
Thank you for the explanations on the belted ORION & the reason why there are so many insurance companies in Hartford.

fermatprime said...

Hi All,
Dog had to desperately answer call of nature. Hopped on bed at 2 AM. Two hours sleep. It is now 3:50 AM here. Rats.

Puzzle slowed me down a bit. Brain at half speed. Switched ISIS with ibis at first. Threw me. Knew PERMEATE but thought on first pass that it was too arcane to put in!

C.C. I heartily recommend watching FRASIER. (Reruns often on cable.) Very intelligent show with wonderful language. (Really funny also.)

I seem to recall working a puzzle a while back where all possible words in a theme answer were united in the same fashion as they were in this one. (?)
Happy Thursday!

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Fermatprime,
We've solved a couple of LAT recently with a defining entry that unites two words, not three. Verna's "Three ... things" puzzles have no tie-in entry at all.

Lucina,
Don't worry. Your original two posts yesterday were safely with the puzzle Comments section, not the Interview.

Dot,
Thanks for sharing Ken's Haiti trip. So many heroic actions are done quietly.

Dennis said...

C.C., couldn't agree more on the improvement.

Fermatprime, you're right about Frasier; just brilliant dialogue. I watch it whenever it's on.

Gracie said...

Good morning! Another fun puzzle, just hard enough to have a little challenge along with the easy fills. I had I?IS for the cow horned goddess for a long time. I should probably learn about ancient gods, goddesses, and myths.

Dennis, I saw a nice animal-quote on the back of someone's t-shirt the other day:

Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms." ~ George Elliot

So true.

More snow here over the past couple of days and it's expected to continue for the rest of the week. Winter's last stand, I guess.
Gracie

Dennis said...

You guys in south florida, am I reading the forecasts right? Highs in the low 60s??

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, CC. This was a fun Thursday puzzle. It seemed a tad easier than some Thursday puzzles. Maybe I'm just learning. I knew the Fronton clue (ALAI) immediately.

I, also, liked the KIDD / KIDDO intersection.

I initially thought of Earplugs instead of EYE SHADE for a sleep aid, but quickly realized the error of my ways.

My favorite clues were Carrying Capacities: ARM LOADS and Local Groups: UNIONS.

So just how SMART is a Whip?

QOD: That would be a good thing for them to cut on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment. ~ Dorothy Parker.

Mainiac said...

Good Morning CC and All,

Had to work around the puzzle a few times before I finished on line. I couldn't get Enola or Smart and I was looking at Armload from more of an engineering perspective (roof load or some sort of stress factor). Couldn't get my brain away from it so I gave up and then felt stupid.

Kind of a late night last night. My oldest's jazz band played at the Island Jazz Festival and they were smokin!! Of course I'm biased but I thought they were better than one of the High School's bands. Districts are tomorrow and I'm nerved up already.

Rain, snow and high winds hear today. I've got to go home and cut holes in the snow banks of my driveway to let the water into the ditch. Where supposed to get 2-3 inches of rain today and its supposed to stay unsettled through the weekend.

To all those who have to shovel/snow blow the heavy wet stuff, be certain to stretch prior to the workout.

Everyone else, stay out of the hot sun!

Have a good one!

Bob said...

Pretty easy for a Thursday. I wanted SATURATE at 30A, but that clearly wouldn't work, especially since I thought 3D should be Alexander CALDER. Also started with FLIRTS at 50D which I think fits the clue better than SASSES. Cleverest clue was 32D. 18 minutes.

Anonymous said...

C.C.,

"Head Cheese" is also slang for the "Boss", the "Big Cheese" or the Head Honcho".

FYI - enjoy reading your blog.

John

Paul said...

(Misplaced on the Interview Comments section)

Greetings, just found this spot last week and I love it. Today's triple string answers almost got me....then figured out that HEAD was the lead-in for each word not just the last one as usual.

Annette said...

Dennis: 'fraid so! Last night was very comfortable... Then this morning, the current temp is about 50 degrees, and is expected to drop to 40 tonight. We've got 7 days to warm it up for you! We'll see what we can do.

kazie said...

You southerners, don't complain about your 40 degree low--we had 3 this morning and it's only 10 now, but beautiful sunshine.

As already noted, a very pleasant and not too difficult Thursday. At first I groaned because I couldn't see what to put anywhere. Then slowly, they began to fall. My only erasure ended up being for SERAPE--I had PONCHO, and couldn't think what eyeSHADEs are called.

I agree with the comments on Frasier. One of our all-time faves.

My mother used RINSO for as long as I can remember, but I've never seen it here. It must have been replaced before the seventies.

Al said...

The question isn't why a whip is smart, but why the word smart means sting, which is a pun on the original meaning:

O.E. smeortan "be painful," from W.Gmc. *smert- (cf. M.Du. smerten, Du. smarten, O.H.G. smerzan, Ger. schmerzen "to pain," originally "to bite")

So then why does smart mean intelligent? Believe it or not, they are related:

The meaning of "quick, active, clever" is attested from c.1300, probably from the notion of "cutting" wit, words, etc.

See also a whole bunch of meanings for sharp. Getting cut with something sharp would smart, but it wouldn't be smart...

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi Gang -

I can relate to HEAD COLD, but the rest of the puzzle was a slog for me. Trouble everywhere. Came here for a few answers, and the rest slowly fell into place.

My brain feels very clogged.

Sunny here for the moment, but more snow on the way.

I got ENOLA for "gay leader" right away, but as Gollum would say, "We hates it forever."

I hsd HARD for 65 A for a while. HARD CHEESE, HARD BOARD, HARD LINES, HARD CASE - all make some sort of sense. HARD ROOM woke me up. I'll leave HARD HUNTER for someone else to consider.

Filled in UTES too fast as UTUS, then was totally baffled by PRUMED.

Good thing I don't have to make any earth shattering decisions today.

Cheers!
JzB the less than COGENT trombonist

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Well, it really is Thursday and I'm back in sync with the calendar.

I messed up on 26A for a while. I had it in my mind that the name was TIM.

I also had PONCHO for 33A the first time around. poncho or serape, they seem to be interchangeable in most cases.

I wouldn't expect anyone under the age of 50 to get RINSO easily. As I recall, my grandmother used it in her wringer washer and then hung the laundry on the clothesline. In winter weather the whole basement was taken up with strings of temporary line. I bet our snow people are glad they don't have to deal with that issue.

"The INLAND Empire" is the nickname for San Bernardino county in SoCal. It is the largest county in the US.

I really liked Frasier too, although for me it finally "Jumped The Shark" after NILES and Daphne got married. The dialog was great, but so much of that was because the brothers pompous language was made fun of by their down to earth father and co-workers.

Clear Ayes said...

I was hoping the snow storms wouldn't be making a last stand, but it looks like our eastern neighbors are in for more. Here's an interesting poem that also pays homage to the imagery of Chinese poetry.

images of snow - february 1996

snow is a thousand flowers
the chinese probably said
hundreds and thousands this morning
drop their garlands on my head
last night the festoons started
long before we went to bed

snow is a white-furred rabbit
the chinese probably wrote
hedgerows and fields this morning
wear a similar fluffy coat
last night the winter danced back
with a white fur round its throat

snow is a treacherous fox-face
the chinese probably thought
it lurks in wait this morning
for the weak and overwrought
last night it laughed its head off
loving the fear it's brought

- Rg Gregory

Frenchie said...

C.C. et. al.,
I'm packing up, literally, and I'm off to see more relatives. I know the ones I've seen miss me already and I them...I'm in Melbourne today...really beautiful!
My husband and I are rich in art history and named our son, "Calder" after Alexander.
Rinso Blue, Diet RC from old commercials...who drinks RC Cola anyway? tab was used in this puzzle in a different context. permeate/exude...no, not ute, slo or one other that bothered me.I'm out!

Mainiac said...

Clear Ayes, I got Rinso because I can remember my mother using the ringer in the basement. I also remember getting my arm caught in the ringer one day while she took a phone call. I did some hollering and she came running down the stairs to see me with my feet off the ground. She reversed me out of it with no problem. Didn't break anything but I got one hell of a road rash around my elbow. Once I stopped crying she gave me hell because I knew better than not to "try to help". She also let me know she had to do the sheets again because they got bloody.

That's why Rinso came to me right away. Oh the things you remember (and the things I can't)!

Bill G. said...

I agree about Frasier. Great stuff! Up until Niles and Daphne got married that is. All the tension left the show and it became very bland. The producers and writers should have known better.

I had already written this before reading what CA posted. Oh well...

Another old favorite was WKRP in Cincinnati.

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon, all.

Thanks C.C. for the blog. It's great and it has become an obsession.

I really had trouble with Gay leader? Couldn't get the homosexual link out of my head.

Dennis: The forecast for Naples next week is: Sat. 71, Sun. 72, Mon. 76, Tues. 74, and Wed. 70. Maybe you should come to the west coast. The nights are chilly, tho.

Cheers

carol said...

Hi C.C. and everyone -

Glad some (most) of you had such an easy time with this. I didn't. On first pass I thought, *^&#, on second pass I found a few. I decided to start at the bottom (always worked before) and things began to improve. I made the same mistake Dennis did in putting OAT in 27A. In any case I did not feel 36D (SMART as a whip).

Got a kick out of RINSO (Blue)...had that in the house when I was a kid. Also had OXYDOL - I know some of you will remember that, along with Mrs. Stuarts Bluing (it's still around, mostly for little old ladies who want to remove the yellow from their gray curls, but unfortunately end up with a violet coif) :0

Jeannie said...

I found myself in Jazz and Mainiac’s shoes. I had trouble all over the place today. Can someone please explain the following clues/answers: “court cry” – oyez and “pavement warning” – Slo? I had to hit the G-spot for Calder and wanted cocktail for a sleeping aid. Hey, it works for me!

Dennis, why did you like this theme for several reasons?

JD said...

Good morning CC and all

This was an easier Thursday c/w. Do cheeseboards really come in sets?

Saw Calder's work the 1st time at the Bellagio in LV. They always have a fantastic display in their art museum.

Jigger made me laugh. My dad always used one to measure his drinks...don't know why, especially if he was drinking more than 2 or 3.

Seeing a fjord is also on my "Bucket List". They have been carved out of glaciers, and many are in Chile also.mmmm, do I cruise north or south? Anyone been?

Cogent is not in my voc., but I'm familiar with cognate, cognitive, cogitate.Yea for perps!

circus/utes...I guess I will have a worm on that since you said we have had discussions about it.

Isis is the sister/wife of Osiris. When Osiris was murdered by Seth, she scoured the earth for all of his parts and magically put him back together....except his phallus which she fashioned out of clay. Then she miraculously had Horus.One myth says her tears of sorrow created the yearly flooding of the Nile each year.
She uaually has a throne on her head and her wings are outspread. In other pictures she has a solar disk on her head with cowhorns.

Dot, you must be so proud of your son. but then he had a good model.

Dennis, I especially loved Churchill's quote today. I look forward to them each day.

CC, always a thank you..a few jiggers to you

Lucina said...

C.C. and fellow bloggers:
I agree this was an easier than usual Thursday xwd; I, also, started w/oats for 27A and that didn't work out, then I saw "serape" because exudes was already in place. Local meetings, ring setting and gay leader were my favs.

Cold case was easy because I love that program on TV.

Seeing permeate and cogent was a pleasant surprise because they were used literally. Imagine that! In a xwd!

C.C.:
I also recommend watching reruns of Frasier for all the reasons mentioned. The language is outstanding as is the repartee.

Clear Ayes:
What a lovely poem. I love the imagery and although not surrounded by snow, I can appreciate it, having lived in Colorado for five years.

Adios, amigos. Have a wonderful Thursday!

Dennis said...

Jeannie, 'oyez' is said three times and is used to announce the opening of a court of law, as I understand it. I remembered it from old TV shows. There's a bunch more on google on it. As to the pavement warning, more and more we see alerts written on the road, such as 'slo', 'ped xing', etc.

And the theme? I don't know, just seemed to make me happy.

Lemonade714 said...

These intricate themes are amazing, and to find phrases which would yield three words which would become phrases when added to HEAD is awesome. That said, the puzzle was pretty easy, but fun.

I loved starting the day with a memory of A BUSHEL and A PECK from when my Devin played in Guys and Dolls .

Of course OYEY . is a gimme to those of us who have been in a courtroom, but my favorite was OYEZ et TERMINER which they use in British criminal courts. Terminer, is the Latin root for our word DETERMINE.

More ice skating tonight, and I was so unprepared when I went out my door and it was 50 degrees; too many phone calls and I never turned the radio or tv on, so...but I am not so foolish as to complain, I did spend time in the Berkshires where the day was below zero many times. Frenchie, did you bring us the cold?

Dennis said...

I just came across my favorite crossword clue of all time: 'Dick lover of the comics'.

Who else knows the answer?

MR ED said...

Good afternoon CC and all attendees here.
CA,
We must be the same age!, the ringer washer, the clothes drying in the basement, etc.
I remember Rinso from back when..1940's & 1950's. It's slogan was 'Rinso white'. It had blueing in it which was used for whitening. Bluing, a liquid, came in a small bottle and was a heavy royal blue color: it was powder form in the Rinso. The maker, Unilever was a huge international corporation at the time.

CC,
Enola Gay was the name of the plane that carried 'Fat Boy' the Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The pilot named the plane after his mother.

no shoveling for me, God put the snow there and He will take it away.

Lucina said...

J.D.:
Cheeseboard sets include the cutting board and a cheese knife.

Lucina said...

Dennis:
Dick Tracy?

MR ED said...

Dennis,
I think it's Tess Truehart.

Dennis said...

Lucina, close, but read the clue again.

Dennis said...

Mr Ed, correct.

MR ED said...

Dennis,

I guess you and I are about the same age.

BTW, don't you think that the Frasier show has a bit too much canned laughter?

MR ED said...

snow, snow, snow.

Andrea said...

Had to circle around this puzzle several times, leave it and come back, and leave it once more. But finally got it all. Got the theme very early on, but still had to come here to get cheeseboard sets... I had cheese stand sets, which didn't ring quite right, and threw me way off in the lower middle... You'd think I'd get cheeseboard right away - they're popular sellers at our restaurant!!

The best fjords I've visited are in the
Lofoten Islands
in Norway. Incredibly beautiful. Did a great biking trip there in July, 2000. It's within the Arctic Circle, so the sun didn't set the whole week we were there!

Headed to San Antonio for vacation soon. Looks like it's in the upper 60s there, which is a welcome break for our current teens... Perfect temp for margaritas!

Ditto on Frasier - one of my favorite TV shows. They don't make Must See TV the way they used to...

Mainiac said...

JD's bucket list reminded me of Somes Sound. Apparently we've got a fake fjord here. It sounds like there's too much oxygen in the bottom of this one which takes it out of the fjord category. Fine with me, I get my mussels at my "super secret spot" there and we catch mackerel and blue fish when they are running. I also did my check out dive there when I first was certified for SCUBA.

The wife and I have Greece and Italy on our bucket list.

MR ED said...

and more snow!

MR ED said...

Andrea,
I visited your web site and I wish I were closer so I could visit your Brasserie. It looks like you have good food as well as spirits there. As CC would say...yum.

dodo said...

Another Frazier fan here.

What a Thursday surprise! This one just fell together beautifully for me. I think we should be prepared for a real killer tomorrow. This week has been letting us become maybe a little too relaxed.

Bill G. I was also a fan of WKRP. You probably are aware that you can enjoy some of them again on Netflix's instant play. I watched them a while back. As in Frazier and Cheers, every character is perfectly cast. I think my favorite of all time was Roz of Frazier. What has happened to t.v?

Now that I think of it, I have to take back my rating of Roz as my fave; there are way too many other good ones: Rhoda, Diane, Mary, Carla, Daphne, Dr. Johnny Whatsis name from WKRP!
And I can't be alone in relishing BarneyMiller and all those Weirdos who appeared every week in the Precinct station. What fun! They're on Netflix, too.

C.C, I;m not recommending all of the above as language role models for speech,Frazier is the best for that, but the writing is something we just don't get any more. .

Nostalgia! Not only is Rinso buried in my memory but I'm probably the only one in this group who remembers Fels-Naphta, which my mom used to shave into flakes from its hard bar. Dot, how about you? Oh, wait! My grandma used to MAKE head cheese. I never ate it but the adults loved it. She was Scottish and I wonder now if that was something like Haggis,although head cheese was not encased in entrails.

C.C., sorry about taking the trip down Memory-lane. I could probably go on all afternoon.

Thank you all for your patience,

eddyB said...

Hello all.

Rinso White, Rinso Brite.

Fat Man carried over Nagasaki by
Bockscar. Kyota covered by clouds
and spared.

My 120mm refractor has suffered more abuse than any reflector could. It went to Walden and other star parties.

eddyB

Dennis said...

Mr Ed, just a heads-up: post limit is five.

Anonymous said...

This was like doing two completely different puzzles today. The bottom came together like clockwork, but couldn't get the top for the life of me. Had no idea on ELOISE, CALDER, COGENT, OYEZ. Kept wanting OAT vs. HAY, wanted PREPARE but it didn't fit for PACK-UP. So I was only half successful. Oh well. It was a cute theme though, and I caught on to that right away, but with a bunch of blanks on the long fills it was hard to figure out what the sayings would be. Had to do some read letter help to finish it out.

It did spill of remnants of my father though. He loved Headcheese - I of course thought it was disgusting and more so when I hear what it was made of. He also drank RC Cola, although never diet. It was cheaper than the name brands and tasted more like Pepsi than Coke. He was a cheap one that guy. Hated spending money. Thank goodness or we would have been living on the street, however, even when he was affluent enough to loosen up it was hard to rid himself of that trait (poor mom).

CC, looking at the ad for RINSO, now wonder we never heard of it. It certainly is an old one, as many of our posters have attested to.

Stay safe on the East coast. I feel for you with all this snow.

Off to my kids swim meet this afternoon. This one will qualify them for the State meet. Last year my older son was seeded first in an event and jumped the gun disqualifying himself. It was devastating for him, so hoping for good things this afternoon.

carol said...

Dodo, you are not alone in remembering Fel-Naphta..my Mom had a bar by the washing machine and an old fashioned (to me) scrub(wash) board in one of the cement sinks in the basement. She used to use the soap on my Dad's work pants when she needed to get grease out of them before washing them. No one had heard of pre-wash sprays then.

As to head cheese (yuk), my Grandparents (Mom's side) were pure German, and made their own head cheese, as well as assorted sausages and beef tongue. They had a farm in N.Dak, near Bismark, and in those days, most things were home/hand made. A trip to town for anything 'store bought' was a real treat for my Mom when she was young (she was born in 1913).

KQ - I can relate to a 'frugal' father. My Dad could squeeze a dime til it gave 9 cents change. He was forever following us around the house turning off lights and telling us not to let the water run. I am glad for all the 'lessons' in thrift as they have held me in good stead over the years.

Anonymous said...

From Vern:

"jiggers" reminds me of our Uncle Harold (doesn't everyone have one?)
He saw himself as an expert on good whiskey. In our early marriage with almost no money, we did manage to get a bottle of Old Grandad. When the bottle was empty, we always filled it with a cheap whiskey. Uncle Harold would take a sip, smack his lips and say "There's nothing like good whiskey."

Re "cheeseboards"--I made one in high school, beginning with a 1" board. As I planed the board to get it level, I kept having to replane & replane. When it was finally level, it was not much wider than a piece of cheese. So much for my carpentry skills.

There once was a slogan for Rinso--"Rinso White, Rinso Bright."
Why is my mind so cluttered with trivia?

I've been busy fulfilling my New Year's resolution--ten pounds in ten weeks. It's now 8 1/2 weeks with only 1 pound to go.

Lucina said...

Dennis:
Tess! The light bulb went on as I went to the gym.

kazie said...

One of my favorite fjords has to be Milford Sound on New Zealand's South Island. There are several videos of it on link. This one is narrated in a very odd sounding English accent.

Another favorite was our trip down the Kenai Fjords in Alaska in 2008--a lot of similar scenery and wonderful wildlife.

dodo said...

Oops! I knew it didn't look right:Fels-Naphtha. Isn't naphtha some kind of a gas, Jazz? You're a chemist. no?

Curious Anon said...

@Jeannie, AGB stands for?

Bob said...

Mr ED, C.C., and all: Some more on the Enola Gay. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, was called Little Boy (not Fat Boy). It was a gun-type uranium fission device, whose U-235 core was manufactured near me at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Enola Gay was the name of the pilot's (Paul Tibbets) mother and was painted on the B-29's nose just prior to the bombing run over Hiroshima. The plane didn't have a name before that, and since it was going to be famous he thought it needed a unique name. No one else he knew had the name Enola Gay. Tibbets died in November of 2007. The Enola Gay has been restored and is in the Udvar-Hazy facility of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The Nagasaki device was called Fat Man. It was a plutonium implosion bomb whose Pu-239 core was manufactured at Hanford, Washington. It was dropped on August 9 by a B-29 called Bockscar which is on display at the National Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

Lemonade714 said...

I personally like the Fjord Fjusion; which brings me to my recent rerading of Brave New World which as you may recall was the topic of convesration recently, inspired the its cluing the author, ALDOUS HUXLEY. As an adult reading the 75 year old work, I was intrigued by his intuitive fear of the potential for genetic engineering, and by his use of Ford as the replacement for a divine being. For Ford's sake, it was priceless, though I doubt many recall the term flivver, which he uses as well. Additionally, the drug induced escape using SOMA certainly was represented in the sixties and seventies, as well as the casual attitude about sexual partners. I find it interesting most writers of the future abandon all current sexual and marital mores. Since, monogamy is a fairly new concept, and more likely a product of intellectual progress, it is amazing how quickly it is discarded.
I know the puzzle was a while back, but it is quiet and I was thinking...

Go USA, and I really will be rooting for the Canadian Figure Skater

Lucina said...

Carol:
I was rereading Wednesday's blog (yes, I do that; I love this blog) and noticed you asked to have your sentence rewritten. How's this:

"Big people" use them (brads) when they are building to hide the nails.

eddyB said...

Hi. Last storm has cleared the
Rockies. Next storm is just off the CA coast. Don't put away the shovels just yet. The East is going to be hit again.

Fels (Dial) is still available at
Ace Hardware. Was also good in soaking baths to treat Poison Ivy
when I was a kid.

eddyB

Crockett1947 said...

@dennis Tess Trueheart? (Yep)

@vern Keep up the weight loss. It makes one feel sooo good!

Tomorrow should really be a hammer. It's been a great week so far!

Annette said...

I couldn’t remember SERAPE, so I had to google it. I’d never heard of CALDER, but finally had to accept it once I felt confident of KIDDO. Otherwise, a fun, easily do-able Thursday puzzle. C.C., I had WET for 51A at first too. I’d put in OAT for 27A initially too.

Jazzbumpa: HARD HUNTER did bring a smile to my face! And a HARD ROOM versus one with padded walls…

Dodo: Dr. Johnny Fever! And I’ve been watching the Barney Miller reruns Sunday nights on WGN lately, and bought the first season on DVD. We remember these all these old shows as fun, silly little sitcoms, but when you watch some of them now, it’s impressive how complex they were, and what serious topics they often covered!

dodo said...

Annette, I'm glad they're rerunning Barney. Don'tcha love that gay couple that come in to the station every so often? Linda Lavin used to be the female cop for a while, but I loved that other one who was so hapless. Harris was another favorite, and Steve Lansdorf who was Harris's nemesis. I don't think we have WGN on the left coast; is it a local or network?

Oh, right! Johnny Fever! Howard Hessman was the actor. Wasn't he on the Newhart show sometimes?

carol said...

Lucina (4:34) Thanks so much for the 're-write' of my sentence, yours sounds so much better. I often write in a hurry, and don't pay much attention to the structure. I figure there won't be a test so who cares but I don't want to appear tooooo dim.

Lemonade - I ordered Brave New World from the library and look forward to re-reading it after so many years. I had forgotten about Ford. LOL. The way people are taking anti-depressants today, reminded me of SOMA.

Speaking of Fels-Naphtha (geez, what a name!), I just saw bars of it in my local Winco store. I had to chuckle, and of course, those in the same aisle probably wondered who the ditzy blonde was. :0

windhover said...

Lucina:
May I suggest:
.............when they building, in order to hide the nails.

This construction avoids introducing (implicitly) the idea that the purpose of building is to hide the nails.

Bill G. said...

Re: WKRP

"As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

windhover said...

correcting myself - "when they ARE building.
The iPhone has an "autocorrect" feature which often belies its status as a "smart phone".

Jeannie said...

I loved WKRP in Cincinnati. My favorite episode was when Herb the salesguy, who had the hots for Jennifer and wore the really cheesy suits decided that their mascot should be a carp...WKRP...funny writing. I don't know if any of you have caught a new sitcom this year called "Modern Family". I find the writing and the interaction of the family hilarious.

Anon@ 3:55pm...AGB stood for Alexander Graham Bell as Lemonade has had some telephone issues lately. He's also "A Great Barrister" and "A Good Boy" much to his chagrin.

JD said...

Lucina, well, that explains it. Thx. I was envisioning 3 or 4 boards in different sizes. WM would like that.

Andrea, Lofoten Island looks gorgeous. "Remembr the Alamo' on your el paseo. PS..I just love seeing your dog!

Bill, I had forgotten why I stopped watching Frazier, but you are so right about Niles and Daphne.

CA, "Images of Snow was lovely, especially when read out loud.

Mainiac, Somes Sound sure reads like a fjord. Those scientists just have way too much information, but lickily you have your mussels. new word-fjard.

Kazie, Milford Sound is the fjord I want to see.Thanks! It looks awesome, exactly how a fjord should look. Enya in the background didn't hurt. Actually, I have been to Kenai Fjord and it was lovely, but I didn't get the feeling that I was in a real fjord. There weren't any high sheer cliffs, but there was an abundance of wildlife.Everybody should put Alaska on their bucket list.

Anon-Amous said...

I remember fel-naptha. It wasa brown and very hard, but it did the job.

Jazzbumpa said...

dodo -

Naphtha is a distillation cut from crude oil with about the same molecular distribution as gasoline.

Fels Naptha (note: spelling not quite identical) is a soap product that contains Stoddard solvent, a similar, slightly heavier distillation cut.

The solvent in the soap is what makes it affective at removing grease stains, chocolate, and the plant oils that cause the reaction to poison ivy.

Both naphtha and Naptha contain aromatic hydrocarbons, which are likely carcinogens.

Use sparingly.

Cheers!
JzB the trombonist who used to wash his hands with benzene.

Argyle said...

I just bought two bars of Fels-Naptha(Contains No Naphthalene...anymore). If that doesn't get the stain out, I don't know what will.

Look for it in the detergent section, usually on the top shelves or the bottom shelves.

Jeannie said...

Thanks guys for letting me hit my number...shrimp linguine tonight fabulous!

carol said...

All this talk about the sentence involving 'BRAD' our hapless nail drove me to this:

There was a nail named BRAD
He said he was the best to be had,
but he had a small head
and all the girls said
his talents in bed were so sad.

HUTCH said...

I was going to write in "butch" for "gay leader" but saw it wouldna fit. Had detox for rehab at first until I remembered Roger Moore. Had to "G" for Kidd and Eloise and the rest all followed.

Clear Ayes said...

Costco day, so we've been gone for most of Thursday's laundry nostalgia. I remember Fels-Naptha (didn't it smell like mothballs?) and bluing too.

Chorus practice tonight, so I might miss the ladies skating final. If I come skidding down the mountain side afterward I may be home in time...never mind, I'll check it out online if I miss it.

I do like "The Office" and "30 Rock", but usually miss them...see above. They're both on Thursday night.

About Barney Miller, wasn't Harris the guy who was writing the great cop novel "Blood On The Badge"? It makes me laugh to think about it even now.

Speaking of laughing....Carol...LOL.

eddyB said...

Hi.

Three interesting books came to mind.

The Sum of All Fears by Clancy.
About missing plutonium from K reactor in WA.
War and Remembrance by Wouk. Chapters about Oak Ridge and the making of the bomb.
And. A Man Called Intrepid by W. Stevenson. About the SOE, OSS and
The Manhatten Project all in the same NYC office building

eddyB

Annette said...

dodo: Don't forget Fish and Wojo! :-) I don't remember Howard Hessman on Newhart, but I'm a little more lukewarm with that show (they're airing it right before Barney). I believe WGN is based out of Chicago.

Speaking of Chicago: I hope you're doing okay, PJB!

I actually saw more wildlife in the Canadian Rockies (Banff/Jasper) than Alaska. But my Alaskan trip was not an organized tour, and I'd done very little planning for it. It was just me renting a car in Anchorage and making my way to Homer and back. It was too late in the season to go north of Anchorage.

Great limerick, Carol! LOL!!!

Jeannie said...

Lemonade, speaking of memories...my Southern Belle Momma from the south, who BTW has a beautiful soprano voice used to sing "Bushel and a Peck" to me as she put me to bed. I actually own a copy of a 78 that I play on my Victrola and refurbished 1965 Capehart. I always got a peck or two, too. My parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on March 19th. I will post a pic of them that day in their honor. I can't make the journey to MI as it is so close to foodshow for the sibling dinner, but My sisses and I are in the planning mode for a bigger "get together" for friends amd family Memorial Day weekend. I will miss the family dinner on the day...bums me out, but I guess I chose to live here.

Al said...

Government surveyors came to Ole's farm in the fall and asked if they could do some surveying. Ole agreed and Lena even served them a nice meal at noon time.

The next spring, the two surveyors stopped by and told Ole, "Because you were so kind to us, we wanted to give you this bad news in person instead of by letter.

Ole replied, "What's the bad news ?

The surveyors stated, "Well, after our work we discovered your farm is not in Minnesota, but is actually in North Dakota!"

Ole looked at Lena and said, "That's the best news I have heard in a long time, why I just told Lena this morning,

I don't think I can take another winter in Minnesota."

tfrank said...

eddyB,

What a coincidence. Jean and I watched a film version Herman Wouk's "Winds of War" last night via Netflix,and found it has stood up to time very well. I have the rest of them in my queue, and am looking forward to the next installment.

All of the action takes place in 1939, prior to and including Hitler's invasion of Poland on 9/1. Hard to believe it took us more than two years to become participants in that war.

Time for bed.

Dot said...

Dodo, It looks like we have lots of company in the soap memory lane. My main memory of Fels Naptha dates to my first year of teaching. I taught in a one-room country school and boarded with a farm family in the area. They had a daughter who had beautiful blond hair which she shampooed with Fels Naptha soap. I couldn't believe that that horrible brown stuff could make her hair so shiny.

Thanks to everyone who expressed interest in the Haiti trip.

Clear Ayes, I really like the poem.

Dot

dodo said...

Annette, Maybe I'm thinking of someone else. It was the Newhart where he was a psychiatrist and I'm thinking of his clients. Might have been another guy. Whatever happened to Gary Sandy and some of the others. Tim Reid had a show of his own for a while and Gordon (?--the boss) was the Maytag man till he died. Oh, th e good ol' days! Jack Soo was funny, too, and he must have been getting sick then.

Bill G. said...

Frazier, WKRP, Welcome Back Kotter, Cheers, etc. had good writers. That quality level seems to be missing these days.

dodo said...

Yes, CA, Harris was the writer in his well-tailored suits and talking about his "publisher". He was great; they all were!

Dot, I would love to hear more about your teaching days. I started in a tiny town and boarded with an elderly couple but in 'town'. Used to date the school bus driver! Your son must be a really great guy! I wasn't blogging when you first told about him but I'm impressed. I so admire people who really DO things!

Annette, I'm really enjoying this conversation! This is #5, though, so I'm out. Night, all.

Robin said...

Hello all. the important question you have asked,ALL of your life is, WHO is Carly Simon singing "about" WAS the music mogul, David Geffen.