google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday March 4, 2010 Dan Naddor

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Mar 4, 2010

Thursday March 4, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: WORD CHAIN - The end of each theme answer and the start of the next consecutive one forms a common word/phrase. The whole chain series is completed by the last word of the last theme answer & the first word of the first theme answer, as indicated by the color codes.

18A. *Place to keep supplies: STOREROOM

20A. *Target at the start of a point, in tennis: SERVICE COURT

30. *Patient record: CASE HISTORY

43A. *Jump around on the sofa?: CHANNEL SURF

52A. *Flying need: BOARDING PASS

57A.*The answers to the starred clues (including this one) form a continuous one -its connections are created by the end of one answer and the start of the next: WORD CHAIN

The words/phrases formed from the word chains are: ROOM SERVICE; COURT CASE; HISTORY CHANNEL; SURFBOARDING, PASSWORD & CHAIN STORE.

Hey gang, it's Dennis. I'm honored to have been asked to blog this puzzle, as it's from our late friend Dan. Very much a fun puzzle, with clever cluing and a theme that should bring back some memories for us.

Back in September last year we were playing a Sausage Sentence Link game on the blog. In our game, the starting letter of your sentence had to be the same as the ending letter of the prior poster's. Dan enjoyed our game so much that he made a special comment on a non-Dan Naddor puzzle day. Here is what he said:

"Hi everyone. I couldn't help but notice the fun you folks are having with your Sausage Link sentences. Especially the "spicy" links. Anyway, I thought you'd like knowing Rich N. recently approved a puzzle of mine that will remind you very much of your SL game. File this message under "coming attractions" (and I'm sure that phrase will get play, too, right?)"

I feel like this one's just for us. Hard to believe it's been over two months since Dan passed away. Still think about him every time I do a puzzle.

Across:

1. Ricochet: CAROM. This guy is either incredibly lucky or incredibly unlucky.

6. 1040EZ issuer: IRS. I love the IRS. No finer organization in the world. Yep, they're the best.

9. Bump off: WHACK. Right on the heels of 'thwack' this week.

14. Single-handed: ALONE

16. Controversially, Jane Fonda visited it in 1972: HANOI. And unfortunately, they let the bitch leave.

17. Check, as a bill: RE-ADD

22. Nickelodeon explorer: DORA.

23. Start of a basic piano lesson scale: CDE. Do, re, mi. I'm sure the musicians here can explain this one better than I.

24. Head, slangily: NOB. Nope. Not gonna go there. But you know.

27. Asia's __ Darya river: AMU. Here.

33. Ore-Ida morsel: TATER TOT. Ah yes, a fine epicurean meal, with melted cheese and sour cream. And check these out!

35. Golden __: AGER. Defined as "an elderly and often retired person usually engaging in club activities."

36. Exchange: TRADE. I do it all the time with sports cards. Just like being a kid again.

37. Hide-hair connector: NOR. Hide nor hair (a trace).

39. Old way to get a number: DIAL O. Pre-buttons, pre-411.

40. "I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments" speaker: ASHE. One of my favorite Ashe quotes: "True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. "

41. At 41, Kipling was the youngest one ever in his field: NOBELIST. He also turned down knighthood. Another Kipling reference is KIM (13D. Kipling's young spy). In the novel of the same name.

47. Society-page word: NEE.

48. Kal __: pet food: KAN. Been around since 1936; they initially operated as a horse-kill enterprise, owned by a Californian who bred thoroughbreds and promoted race horses.

49. Actress Longoria: EVA. Nothing desperate about her.

50. New Mexico art colony: TAOS. Is Taos the only art colony in New Mexico?

60. Order-restoring tool: GAVEL. And Harry Anderson used it well.

61. São __, Brazil: PAULO. Largest city in Brazil.

62. Homer's bartender: MOE.

63. Twin Cities suburb: EDINA. Just southwest of Minneapolis.

64. When some nightly news shows begin: AT TEN.

65. Next yr.'s alums: SRS.

66. Prepared: READY.

Down:

1. Traffic causes?: CARS. Great clue.

2. Sheltered, at sea: ALEE.

3. Pride warning: ROAR.

4. Like Netflix flicks: ON DVD. Or streaming right to your computer. Anyone doing this?

5. So-so: MEDIOCRE. Not a good way to be.

6. Available and fresh: IN SEASON. Some melons are always in season.

7. Coll. drillers: ROTC

8. Kiss: SMOOCH. Pucker up!

9. "__ the beef?": WHERE'S. Right here, Clara.

10. Stag: HART.

11. "Is that __?": A NO.

12. Loving murmur: COO.

19. Designer Gernreich: RUDI. Famous for inventing both the topless swimsuit and the thong swimsuit. And no Nobel Prize for him??

21. Demo ending?: CRAT. Ending of the word Democrat. I can hear the groaning already.

24. Result of an unsuccessful football play, perhaps: NO GAIN.

25. End of a threat: OR ELSE.

26. One way to learn: BY ROTE.

27. Go after: ATTACK.

28. Actress Mason: MARSHA. What's your favorite performance of hers? I thought she was great in "The Goodbye Girl", and in a multi-episode arc in "Frasier" as John Mahoney's girlfriend.

29. Jazz fan?: UTAHAN. Utah Jazz (NBA).

31. Stiff collars: ETONS.

32. Shadow: TAIL.

34. Paradise: EDEN. This will have to do for me, for the next week or so, anyway. Assuming I won't need a freaking parka.

38. Stand-up acts: ROUTINES.

39. Windshield-clearing aid: DEFOGGER.

42. __ muffin: BRAN.

44. Many an ex-lib: NEOCON. Neoconservative. Ex-lib = Ex-liberal.

45. Cole Porter's "Well, Did You __?": EVAH. From "High Society".

46. St. Louis NFLers, previously: LA RAMS. Never understood why they didn't make it in LA.

51. Black card: SPADE. Deck of cards.

52. Roof shingles unit: Abbr.: BDLE. Short for "bundle', of course, which is how they're packaged and sold.

53. Christian name?: DIOR. Christian Dior. The fashion designer.

54. Sports shoe brand: AVIA. Latin for "fly". An underrated brand - they make an excellent sneaker.

55. iPhone command: SEND.

56. More than amuse: SLAY. We saw this not too long ago, remember?

57. FDR program: WPA. The Works Progress (or Projects) Administration - it employed millions to work on Public Works projects.

59. Dirt road feature: RUT.

Hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did.

Answer grid.

Dennis

81 comments:

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

Dennis,
Neither WPA nor BDLE was a familiar abbreviation to me. Had a barrel of fun with this puzzle. It felt easier than a normal Naddor. Thanks for the great write-up. Let's have a Sausage Links day in honor of Dan. Here is mine: Dan Naddor rocked!

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

For those who are not familiar with Sausage Links. Below are the rules. You don't have to play to post today.

Rule #1: The starting letter of your sentence has to be the same as the ending letter of the prior poster's.

Rule #2: Your whole sentence has to be a sausage link, ie, the starting letter of your second word has to be the same of the ending letter of the first word, and the starting letter of the third word has to be the same as the ending of the second word, etc, etc.

Rule #3: You may not follow yourself in posting.

Lemonade714 said...

Dan Naddor is so much fun, even when his puzzles are not impossible. (Following C.C.'s first).

Good morning soon to be traveling to lukewarm South Florida, Dennis, and bright eyed C.C., and the rest of our cast of characters (yes Buckeye and Lois and Carol and Jeannie etc.) it is Thursday in the CW arena, and I had fun in a fairly quick Naddor.

I think it would be great to have a puzzle that used the full name RUDI GERNREICH, but the reference today reminded me of an old BRAD WILBER NYTimes puzzle, Old Blog where the blogger mentioned the measure of beauty being a MILLIHELEN, which we had lots of fun with on this blog last year. Something old for all of you newbies. Also, I agree an out the lurker day would be fun.

Well I must prepare for work, hope you all enjoy the day, we are headed to the 30's, a place we do not go.

It always amazes me how may coincidences there are in the puzzle world, such as ROTC following NROTC, or ETON popping up daily, or the inevitable reference to the Utah Jazz.

Anonymous said...

61 across is PaUlo, not PaOlo

Dennis said...

C.C., I think we only used Rules #1 and #3 last time.

fermatprime said...

Fine puzzle! Easier than usual Naddor.

Great write-up, Dennis!

C. C. Thanks for validating comment on "et al." the other day. Also, how about an example of Sausage Links from previous puzzles?

Slept from about 3 AM to 5 PM. Great to catch up but tomorrow will be obliterated, I fear!

Mainiac said...

Good Morning Dennis, CC and All,

When I saw Dan at the top of the page I thought this will be an interesting Thursday. I worked it from the top down and couldn't get my mind off of kids rampaging on the sofa and the need for wings or some sort of aerodynamics. Finally the perps showed me Channel Surf and my brain shifted gears and Boarding Pass came to me. Very much fun.

Excellent write up Dennis. Some nice, fresh desktop pics to warm my soul for the day.

We have a police officer in town who we've nicknamed Bull after the character in Nigh Court. He looks a lot like him. A really good guy who works out with us. We were sparring last night and I gave him a pretty good right hook, which made him snort. I'd share it with his fellow officers but I don't want anymore speeding tickets. Ah, what the hell!

Back at it. Have a great Thursday!

Jeanne said...

Morning all,
Another reminder how much we will miss Dan’s puzzles. Very creative. Many times his Friday puzzles were beyond me but this one was perfect. I also enjoy the actress Marsha Mason-such a natural at her craft. It is such a shame we lost Arthur Ashe at such a young age; love his quote. One of the “old” TV shows I loved was “Night Court” with Harry Anderson; very enjoyable and amusing cast.

@Dennis, we do stream Netflix movies on a media PC we have hooked up to our TV. We also watch some shows on Hulu.com that stream right to our TV. We may ultimately use the Internet for much of our TV watching.

Have a great time in Florida, Dennis and send some warmth our way. The snow is melting incredibly fast the last couple of days and we can actually see a fair amount of bare ground. There is hope. Have a great day all.

Hahtoolah said...

Morning CC. Nice to see another Dan Naddor puzzle. I'm running late, so will comment more later.

Argyle said...

Take your pick of "Chain Songs".

Unchained Melody Righteous Brothers

Chain Gang Sam Cooke

Chain Of Fools Aretha Franklin

The Chain Fleetwood Mac

Hahtoolah said...

Channel Surf. Does anyone remember the Seinfeld episode where he commented on the males' habit of channel surfing. Men don't care what's on TV - they want to know what else is on TV.

Spitzboov said...

Cheers solvers!.

Great write-up, Dennis. Agree with C. C.'s comments. BDLE was a new one, but perps reminded me of the term 'bundle'. Not difficult for a Thursday, but had the 'Dan' flavor. Much appreciated.

AMU Darya. Believe this is the Oxus river of old which Alexander crossed in his conquests.

CHANNEL SURF - Favorite clue. Also liked DIAL O

ROTC - Had NROTC yesterday

Enjoy the day.

Al said...

Good write-up Dennis.

Here's the simple piano lesson CDE (Doe, a deer, the first three white notes in the C scale), immediately made complicated, because that's what I do. I think this is what Dennis was asking, but perhaps not really wanting to know...

The C (Ionian) scale is the "simplest" on a piano because it doesn't use any of the black notes, which form repeated groupings of two, then three, up and down the keyboard. C is the white note immediately to the left of the first black key of any of the groups of "two". The rest of the white notes follow alphabetically up to G where they then start over with A:

C^D^EF^G^A^B then back to C again.

The Sound of music is probably responsible for most everyone knowing Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do, the "Doe a Deer" song where the words follow the notes of the scale.

What may be confusing is that Do is the name for the first note of any scale, so if you play in C, then yes, Do = C. But if you play in a different key, Do is still the first note of that scale too, so Do does not always equate to C; it can be any of 12 different notes.

Music theory can be very tedious to understand, but you get a whole bunch of AHA reactions along the way as you learn it. I sometimes wish that they would come closer together during the learning process, though.

John Lampkin said...

Good write up, Dennis. The color-coding was an elegant touch.

Speaking as a constructor, this puzzle is a tour de force, with six entries, all running across for a total of 64 theme letters. Usually a constructor has the option of shifting entries around in order to get friendly letter combos for fill. Dan couldn't do that because the chain mandates the layout. Not knowing that Dan had this one queued, I've been toying with constructing a word chain myself with a great deal of frustration. Thankfully, Dan uncorked this one to put me out of my misery!

Word chains have been used in crosswords before. Harvey Estes and Nancy Salomon did one on May 20, 2002 for the NYT. In theirs, the link words are repeated in the grid: CHAINMAIL MAILCALL CALLHOME HOMELOAN LOANWORD WORDCHAIN = 50 letters. I recall seeing other NYT chains before as well, but can't lay my hands on them. Does anyone have a link? It would be fun to lay out those chains as well.

Bottom line--hats off again to Dan, RIP, and warmest regards to all you solvers.

kazie said...

Dennis,
Thanks for a great writeup. When is it you leave?

Al,
Thanks for the musical explanation, though it still is a foreign language to me.

This was perhaps my most successful stab at one of Dan's puzzles. I didn't expect it to be. My aversion to using Google meant that I ended up not having AMU correct, as I also didn't latch onto UTAHAN due to sports ignorance. But other than that, no problems.

SLS (sausage link sentence carrying on from CC @5:34):
Don't the editors savor reactions?

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

John Lampkin,
Thanks for the insightful analysis. Here is the NY Times word chain you pointed out earlier. Maybe Jerome remembered the other chain puzzles.

As for Dan's grid today, Rich Norris said this is "among my all-time Dan favorites. The theme isn't new--similar ones have been done before--but I think Dan elevated this particular theme type to its highest level in this puzzle."

Carl said...

Some of the art galleries in Santa Fe.

http://www.collectorsguide.com/sf/sfall.html

Good morning, great puzzle this morning. Did fairly well, I'm pleased with myself, ha.

Taos is an art colony but Santa Fe, my home town is (IMHO) "THE" art capitol of New Mexico.

Have you ever been to the southwest?

Stay warm, kindest regards,

Carl

We are going to Phoenix this month for base ball spring training, I'll send you a few pics.

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

To continue Kazie's sausage link:

Dan Naddor rocked!
Don't the editors savor reactions?
Sure! Every yokel laughs!

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Nice job, Dennis. As soon as I saw Dan Naddor's name, I knew I had a chance of getting the theme right. I wasn't disappointed.

This puzzle is packed with terrific fill like MEDIOCRE. I'm glad I didn't try to spell that one as "mediochre". I also liked BY ROTE, DEFOGGER, ROUTINES, DIAL O and TATER TOT. The last one made me think of Dennis right away.

No time this morning for Sausage Sentence, but I'll be back later. Keep it going.

Buckeye said...

Some educators seem more eloquent than non-educators.

I must be off!

MJ said...

Good morning, Dennis, C.C., and all,
Such a delightful Thursday treat to have a Dan Naddor puzzle! Fewer proper nouns than Dan's usual style made this puzzle easier for me than many of his other wonderful creations. Favorite clues were "Traffic causes" and "Old way to get a number." I didn't get the theme until the unifying clue at 57A, and yet still missed the the wrap-around "CHAINSTORE" until coming here.

Dennis-Thank you for a great write-up, with lots of fun links.

Enjoy the day!

Tinbeni said...

This puzzle was fun. Not too much crap fill. Like the SMOOCH. Hope it evokes a COO. OR ELSE I'm kissing the wrong lady. Yesterday that happened. Don't want to repeat that experience again. Nadder puzzles are the best. That's JMHO.

Only Tinbeni

carol said...

Hi all -

Great job Dennis!!
After a WHACK on my head with the ol GAVEL (my V-8 can is too dented to use), I had fun with this one. I solved most all of it before running into an area that stopped me only because I did not know any across or down answers, so no perp help for me there: (44D,45D,46D,49A & 57A) sigh. Guess my brain needs a DEFOGGER this morning.

I'll be back later.

Lucina said...

Good morning, Dennis, C.C. and fellow bloggers:
Great job, Dennis, thank you.

I always look forward to Thursday's and weekend puzzles and this did not disappoint. What fun. The top half skipped along fairly easily and I chuckled when I realized the theme, tried to connect it all together, but fell apart at the end because I had automatically written CCC on 57D only because my Dad had worked there as a youth.

Fun new words seem marvelous.

Jeanne:
Do you think portabello muschrooms would be a good substitue in the meatloaf since I couldn't find shiitake? Thanks.

Adios and have a great day! Spring training has begun here in the Valley of the Sun.

Jayce said...

A hard puzzle I thought. I got four wrong. And UTAHAN got me good! I can't get "OO TAH HAN" out of my brain.

The word chain thingy is darn clever! I went for PASSPORT instead of PASSWORD, which got me screwed up, and not knowing BDLE prevented me from fixing it.

Good puzzle!

Lemonade714 said...

Dan Naddor rocked!

Don't the editors savor reactions?

Sure! Every yokel laughs!

Some educators seem more eloquent than non-educators.

Several solvers do not know the Utah Jazz.

eddyB said...

Hello all.

The first race of the IRL season
will be in Sao Paulo on March 14th.
Five drivers are from Brazil.

Third race is from the deep south -
Birminham,Alabama.

Last rain is now over the Rockies.
Don't know if it will go North or South. Better take your umbrella to Florida. Next rain starts tomorrow.

BTW, I loved this Naddor puzzle.

eddyB

Lucina said...

I was in a hurry earlier so my sentence didn't link. Here's mine:

Some educators seem more eloquent than non-educators.


some eager readers seem mischievous.

Dcannon said...

Worked it online today. Fairly easy, IMO, although I did have to red-letter for "Rudi" because I had "cee" for the musical clue. I was going for the note that begins it, I guess. Perps solved all other little problems. Surprisingly easy for a Thursday puzzle.

I'm sorry Dan is no longer with us because he had some of the most balanced puzzles. Balanced between easy and hard clues in the same one, that is.

Hope everyone is well and having a good day.

eddyB said...

Hi again.

Tinbeni. Thought of you when I read the Close to Home comic strip this morning. Ouch!

CC. got an error message (bX-zc2iqx) when I first posted this messsage.

eddyB

Bob said...

Missed one (19D) by not checking it against 23A. At first I had CEE (starting with middle C) and forgot to recheck what that yielded for 19D. A dumb oversight. Didn't much care for the WORDCHAIN theme today. 27 minutes.

Lucina said...

Oops, Lemonade, I missed yours.

Zowie! Eager readers seem mischivous.

Carlos del Oeste said...

Morning CC and y'all. Great write-up, Dennis. Thanks for the link to the pix of some of my favorite melons ;<) I haven't posted for a while. Been busy. Fun puzzle today. I didn't notice that it was a Dan Naddor at first. Should have been obvious, eh? I had a fairly easy go of it in spite of a couple of total unknowns and some goofy spelling mistakes.

I think that when I was learning to spell in grammar school, they tried a new technique for a couple of years 'til they figured out that it wasn't working. It's a double challenge doing a x-wd puzzle when you can't spell worth a diddle!

Carl- another Santa Fean. Howdy neighbor. I don't think Taos is still considered an art colony like it was in the early 1900s. And, regarding Santa Fe's status as an art center, I seem to remember reading some time ago that Santa Fe was/is the second largest art market in the US after NYC. Not bad for a city of approximately 75,000 souls.

Finally getting Spring-like weather here in the high desert. The snow is melting into a muddy mess. That's part of the charm of Santa Fe—all the dirt roads.

Carlos del Oeste

Annette said...

SL: Winter rain nixes snow white, enchanting, glasslike environments.

Jeannie said...

What a fun puzzle, and what a fun theme. I caught on right after service court and case history. I have never heard of “nob” as a slang term for head. Had to scratch my nob on that one. I hardly ever re-add my bill, perhaps I should start.

Lucina, if anything I would use crimini’s or “baby bellas” I think the portabellas would be too meaty.

Nice write up Dennis, I always knew you liked “hot dishes”. Enjoy your vacation. You’ve had a long winter.

SL: Surely you understand diamonds send dames soaring.

Buckeye said...

Great job Dennis. Keep your stones warm in sunny Fla.

After Annette 12:53 - Surely you understand, domestic canines should defend domiciles.

IMBO

Mainiac said...

SL: Snow white except tis spring, gorgeous snow, why yellow?

Buckeye said...

OK Jeannie! You beat me by a minute with a better SL.

So_ Girls should demand diamonds since everyone expects something good.

IMBO

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

What a great fun puzzle.

Dennis - terrific job, and excellent links. But none for Rudi Gernriech? His topless swimsuit so was dubbed the
monokini, possibly my all time favorite back formation.

Loved the HIGH SOCIETY link. I've never seen the movie, nor heard that song before.

Brilliant puzzle from Dan. I was totally baffled by the theme until I got to 57A. Working one of his puzzles always makes me both happy and sad.

My last fill was "Jazz fan?" which frustrated the hell out of me. (Ergo, I have no hell left.) With _TAHAN staring at me, I went letter-by-letter through the alphabet. TWICE! (head WHACK!)

Gotta run!

Cheers!
JzB the MEDIOCRE trombonist

eddyB said...

Hello again.

What ever happened to Martin?
Taiwan just had a 6.4. Our turn next?

We have a Roku black box that connects the TV to the web so We can stream the Netflex DVDs right to the TV. No need to wait for snail mail.

eddyB

Annette said...

Buckeye: I think that's what frustrated me the last time we did the sausage links. By the time I found the last link posted, and wrote my own based on it, several others had posted before me!

I was definitely scrambling to get one out there today, otherwise I'd have taken more time to spiff it up a bit!

Warren said...

SL: dumb bomb babbling Gaelic

dodo said...

After Buckeye 12;15

Single epicures savor rutabaga after radishes.

Better late than never, I guess.

Annette said...

Today’s puzzle has to have been my favorite! It gave my brain such a fun workout. I did have to go online and google 2 clues to complete the last 2 squares, but I still feel like I conquered it. I think my first pass had left it a little more than half full, and I was pretty discouraged. I just kept working it section by section until all that remained were the U in 27A and correcting the E in 19D to a D. I got the theme early enough to really help me over the hurdles. I feel like doing a happy dance! Sorry, I got carried away...

Clear Ayes said...

The sausage link sentences got all jumbled up. I don't know which link to follow. Annette and Buckeye are right. I had two sentences ready and got aced out. Now I have to start over again. In the meantime, today's Golden AGER (35A) reminded me of this Billy Collins poem.


The Golden Years  

All I do these drawn-out days
is sit in my kitchen at Pheasant Ridge
where there are no pheasants to be seen
and last time I looked, no ridge.

I could drive over to Quail Falls
and spend the day there playing bridge,
but the lack of a falls and the absence of quail
would only remind me of Pheasant Ridge.

I know a widow at Fox Run
and another with a condo at Smokey Ledge.
One of them smokes, and neither can run,
so I’ll stick to the pledge I made to Midge.

Who frightened the fox and bulldozed the ledge?
I ask in my kitchen at Pheasant Ridge.

dodo said...

CA. Loved the poem. I 'm catching on to the sausage link much too slowly. Sorry I blew it thereby messing you up! Obviously my contribution is waaaaay out of sequence. I did try to delete the post after the fact. I'm with Buckeye, you're all too fast for me.

Good puzzle,though. My big hangup was missing the abbr. in the 52D clue and misspelling Sao Pa(o)ulo so I never got the SW corner cleaned up. Pure carelessness!

Clear Ayes said...

No problem Dodo, first come first serve.

Following Dodo @3:20, "Single epicures savor rutabaga after radishes.

SL - Sincere efforts simply yielded dysfunctional lifeless sentences.

Clear Ayes said...

I don't think I have much talent for Sausage Links. The only one that came to me easily was the one I posted and it was the truth!. BTW, The "dysfunctional lifeless sentences" were the dopey ones I was coming up with, not anybody else.

Warren said...

A Little Poem About Computer Spell Checkersfrom this link


"Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew."

Not entirely correct though, my PC thinks 'chequer' to be misspelled because it underlines it in wavy red underscore...

I agree that SL links are difficult to think up if you follow all of C.C.'s rules.

Mainiac said...

I struggled to get my Link in after Annette, then Jeannie and then Buckeye. My brain is heading the other direction than you left coasters and I agree totally with Buckeye's last response, but I'm heading towards a PBR!

Bill G. said...

Following CA:

Silly you, unless some elephant tis sillier!

Warren said...

SL: rudely yonder roaming goats subconsciously yearn near Rickshaws

Carlos del Oeste said...

Warren- You must have directed that spell check piece at me. However, my spelling is not quiet thad bat. It's mostly the dyslexia thingy.

Carlos del Oeste

Dennis said...

Hey gang -- thanks for the kind words - had a lot of fun with this one. You should see the links I didn't use.

John Lampkin, great of you to check in; it's a rare treat. And the color-coding was C.C.'s idea, not mine.

Kaz, we leave around 8 to drive to the AutoTrain; we get into Orlando around 9 Saturday morning, then drive down to Boca. Thanks to all who sent wishes for a good vacation; I really need to see some sun again.

Sorry I don't have time to play the SL game, as I love that stuff, but I'm squeezed for time, trying to get everything wrapped up at home and with the stores. I'll check in later.

carol said...

CA - Loved the Golden Years poem! :) I also thought your SL link was very clever.

Dennis - sorry I 'spoiled your lunch' today, LOL... Have a wonderful vacation and please check in with us now and then, also send pictures!

I was going to play the SL game, but couldn't figure out where to start and I don't think I would be fast enough.

A.R.E. said...

C.C.,

I haven't been looking at your blog for the last couple of days, and with the number of sharp people writing here, you probably already had a message about this, but just in case......

Our old friend, Wyane Williams has launched a blog of his own, and is starting a You-Tube channel. Visit A Daily Crossword. His puzzle is available online now.

Have a great evening.

A.R.E.

A.R.E. said...

C.C.

Let me try that link again.

A Daily Crossword

A.R.E.

lois said...

Good evening Dennis, CC, et al., Cute puzzle but not as cute as you all. Some funny stuff today. The puzzle was a slog for me but your poems are hilarious! Great job on posting, Dennis, and love your comment on Hanoi Jane. No lie! Those senitments will never die. Thought about you on 33A tater tot and chuckled. Love the links but think a 'nob' link was in order to counter the melons in season.

Dennis: Safe travels. Hope you can check in periodically.

After Warren's:
SL: Seniors say youngsters stay young getting good dates, so oldsters stay young getting greater rates.

Annette said...

CA: I thought your SL came out great! It must be from all the poetry you read. Do you write poetry too, other than your SL?

I wasn't too crazy about mine, but if I'd taken the time to massage it like I normally do when I write, it never would have made it here.

It's been such fun reading everybody's SLs! Lots of people seem to be missing though. Hopefully we'll hear more from them later tonight.

Chickie said...

Hello All--I managed to finish the puzzle today with only two look ups. I've never watched the Simpsons so I don't have any of the sitcom's names filed away. I had to look up LA Rams also which crossed Moe.

I truly enjoyed the whole puzzle and managed to catch on to the theme and the answers to the clues. It was tremendous fun as the "chain" started to emerge.

My duh momenet came when I couldn't understand Utahan. I was thinking music, not sport's team!

CA and Warren, I loved both pomes today.

SL Following Lois: Some bloggers have the best comeback.

Chickie said...

OOps! Moment should have been corrected, but I was in a hurry to get my SL in before I had to revise it again. Two were entered before I had my comment Finished!!!

Anonymous said...

This was my favorite puzzle in a long time! I love "Dial O."
I was just in the store and bought my mom some "Tater Tots" last night, really!
To Me #41 was a statement not a clue. But then I got the answer!
Had a lot of fun! Dan was awesome.
Bring on Friday!!!!

gmony

Warren said...

#5 Last comment for today,

I just finished that Wayne Williams puzzle and it was very predictable and boring compared to the LAT puzzle IMHO.

SL: Soaring Goblins Say Yogurt Tastes Savory

Argyle said...

A word of warning about the Wayne Williams site. Everytime I go there, my anti-virus program says it intercepts a Trojan program and deletes it. The rest of the site loads ok.

Anybody else have this trouble?

Dot said...

SL following chickie: Kindly you upstarts should do only your real life examples.



Dot

Dot said...

After missing out on posting an SL a couple of times, I rushed to get mine in. Even then, it was too late!

Both the puzzle and the SL's were a lot of fun.

C.C. Be glad that WPA is nothing with which you are familiar. The days of WPL, NYA, CCC and Mother's Relief make our current recession seem very mild. In our small town in So. Ill., 60% of the men were on WPL. I don't know how many of the other 40% were working at all.

Dot

Spitzboov said...

Warren. A.R.E., C.C. While in Florida last month, I received the St. Petersburg Times, which printed both the LAT and the Wayne Williams puzzles each day. Compared to the LAT, I felt the WW puzzles were not more than medium difficulty and had a kind of sameness to them - good to keep skills sharp, but not as much fun as the LAT.

JMHO

MH said...

Wow! Just couldn't get past BDLE and didn't know HART.

@Dennis: doing Netflix streaming through Sanyo Blu-Ray player. It required a higher bandwidth internet connection so we abandoned AT&T DSL for ComCast. It's faster, yes, but much less reliable. Streamed movies are great though.

Bill G. said...

Following Dot:

So only young girls seem malleable, eh?

ARBAON (a rose by any other name) said...

The St. Pete Times prints three...count `em, THREE puzzles everyday...one of them is the LAT, thankfully.

Dennis, pack your flannel speedo, it`s cold here!

Lemonade714 said...

So only young girls seem malleable, eh?

Having known my share of young girls, I learned to appreciate maturity.

Bill G. said...

Yeah, what you said. What's the big attraction for terrorists with 40 virgins? I would trade 40 virgins for one really sexy, mature and experienced non-virgin any day.

hahtool said...

Forty virgins? Imagine their surprise when they find 40 Virginians awaiting them!

Bill G. said...

I didn't care much for Jane Fonda's political positions in her younger days. (I think she regrets some of them too.) But she sure looked good in one early movie I vaguely remember called "The Circle Game" or something like that. "Barbarella" too.

I've heard so much about Wayne Williams that I thought I ought to try one of his crosswords. Where can I find one to do online or download as Across Lite?

Jeannie said...

I just got in from all things one of those "adult" enhance your sexlife parties. I didn't know what half that $&*% was. Lois? What did strike me funny Argyle was interrupt a trojan and delete it....No, thank you. Hear, hear to you nice looking fellas Lemonade and Bill G. Following Lemonades SL:

Hero only yearning gals seeking good dudes.

Lo-li-ta

Bill G. said...

Jeannie said: "Hear, hear to you nice looking fellas Lemonade and Bill G."

Huh? Maybe Lemonade but the good-looking one in MY picture is Sammy, on the left-hand side, our late sheepdog.

Do tell more about what goes on at an "Enhance your sex-life party." Machines with batteries? Inquiring minds want to know.

Jeannie said...

BillG, mostly snickering women drinking wine. It was hosted by a gal from work so we were all pretty much comfortable with one another. For Dennis' and Windhover's benefit...no we weren't THAT comfortable. I'll try to follow up with my previous SL even though one shouldn't follow themselves.

"Some enticing goodies seemingly yearning gals seek."

Dennis said...

Finally packed and ready to go.

So Jeannie, did you max out your credit card?

Arbaon, I'll have to make do with my fur-lined speedo.

MH, thanks for the info; the blue-ray looks like the way to go now that we have fiber optic here.

Jeannie said...

Dennis, like I said I didn't know what half the #%^* was. Am I getting old? Okay, I admit...I did make a purchase or two. Here in MN I wear one of these a time or two.

Dennis said...

Hell, who doesn't?

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