google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday March 30, 2010 Robert A. Doll

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Mar 30, 2010

Tuesday March 30, 2010 Robert A. Doll

Theme: Scenes from a Horror Movie? - First words of all the theme phrases are all synonyms of "cleaving". Pretty rough stuff for the breakfast table.

17A. Critters with powerful jaws: SNAPPING TURTLES.

27A. Program interruption: BREAKING NEWS.

46A. Spurning learning: CUTTING CLASS.

60A. Discontinuing relations of any kind: SEVERING ALL TIES.

Argyle here. An interesting theme but not very hard. More Monday than Monday was.

Across:

1A. Casey and Kildare: Abbr.: DRs. Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare were medical drama series which ran from 1961 to 1966 on ABC and NBC, respectively. Dr. Kildare goes back much farther with movies and radio shows.

4A. Clairvoyant's claim, for short: ESP. (extrasensory perception)

7A. Courses for coll. credit: APs. Advanced Placement classes to earn credits while still in high school.

10A. Ball support: TEE. (golf)

13A. Actor McKellen: IAN. Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings.

14A. Classic Jag: XKE. Sweet ride

15A. California fruit: RAISINs. Short clip.

20A. Server on skates: CARHOP. I want to see the hands of any former carhops here.

21A. Sniggler's prey: EEL.

22A. Eliel Saarinen's son: EERO. Eliel Saarinen was a Finnish architect. Eero Saarinen was also a Finnish architect and furniture designer.

23A. Normandy battleground: ST. LO. LOL A map from previous CrosswordCorner puzzle.

24A. Chinese government bigwig: PREMIER.

32A. Bedroom set piece: ARMOIRE. With the doors open

35A. Sun. speech: SER.. (Sunday sermon)

36A. Catch a few z's: NAP.

37A. "Green Eggs and Ham" author: SEUSS. Another Dr.

38A. Writer Jong: ERICA. "Fear of Flying" was her 1973 novel.

40A. USNA grad: ENS. (United States Naval Academy) (Ensign)

41A. Sephia automaker: KIA. South Korea's second largest automobile manufacturer, behind Hyundai. Sephia is a small family car(or a car for a small family).

44A. Took, as advice: ACTED ON.

49A. Caribbean isl. belonging to France: ST. BARTS. Map.

50A. "¿Cómo __ usted?": ESTÁ. Spanish for "How are you?".

54A. The Phantom of the Opera: ERIK. One name star? "Erik" was not, in fact, his birth name.

57A. River inlet: RIA.

58A. Game in which love is expressed frequently?: TENNIS.

63A. Apple-polishers: TOADIES.

64A. __ canto: singing style: BEL.

65A. Post- opposite: PRE. Pre - before, Post - after.

66A. Govt. ID: SSN.

67A. Frequently, in verse: OFT.

68A. Words in a simile: AS A.

69A. Old JFK arrival: SST. (airport/airplane)

Down

1D. 45s, e.g.: DISCs.

2D. Charged: RAN AT. Also, could be RAN UP.

3D. Watchdog's warning: SNARL.
.
4D. __ 67: Montreal World's Fair: EXPO. Short for Exposition.

5D. Ship's captain: SKIPPER. Who else but...?

6D. Proverbial sword beater: PEN. "The pen is mightier than the sword"

7D. Apollo's twin sister: ARTEMIS. The twins. Apollo was a God of Music, Artemis was Goddess of the Hunt.

8D. Movie girl with "perils": PAULINE. "The Perils of Pauline" Was she an equivalent of Indiana Jones?

9D. "To __, With Love": SIR. 1967 British drama film starring Sidney Poitier as a teacher.

10D. Mah-jongg piece: TILE.

11D. Cabinet dept. formed after the 1977 oil crisis: ENER..

12D. "Tiger in your tank" company: ESSO. Old commercial and the old name(except in Canada and overseas.)

16D. Bow's opposite: STERN. (on a boat)

18D. Greek god of fear: PHOBOS. Where we get the word phobia.

19D. Nerd: GEEK.

25D. Actress __ Dawn Chong: RAE. Tommy (Cheech&Chong) Chong's daughter.

26D. "Snowy" wading birds: EGRETS. (a small white heron)

28D. Take a chance: RISK IT.

29D. Arthurian lady: ENID. Geraint, one of King Arthur's men, married the beautiful Enid. They met while he was on a mission to defeat a cruel knight, and her family provided him with armor and food. They later had domestic difficulties.

30D. Texas city on the Brazos: WACO. The Brazos River, called the Rio de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers (translated as "The River of the Arms of God").

31D. Wing tip-to-wing tip distance: SPAN.

32D. "Just __!": A SEC.

33D. Contact lens solution brand: RENU. I got it this time.

34D. Is required to: MUST.

39D. Take offense at: RESENT.

42D. "To sum up ...": "IN BRIEF ...".

43D. Not with: AGAINST.

44D. Cockpit abbr.: ALT..

45D. Sand structures: CASTLE. Anybody watch Castle last night?

47D. Tut-tutted: TSKED.

48D. Rugged rock: CRAG.

51D. Haircut sounds: SNIPS. Much gentler than our theme.

52D. Stadium levels: TIERS.

53D. Balance sheet item: ASSET.

54D. Approximations: Abbr.: ESTS..

55D. Classic autos: REOs. But don't forget GTOs and LTDs.

56D. 58-Across star Lendl: IVAN. Former No. 1 professional tennis player in the world.

59D. Cinders of old comics: ELLA. The daily version was launched June 1, 1925, and a Sunday page followed two years later. It was discontinued in 1961. Book.

61D. __ de Janeiro: RIO.

62D. Lawyers' gp.: ABA. (American Bar Association)

Answer grid.

Happy 96th Birthday to Irv, the oldest LA Times crossword solver on our blog.

Argyle

69 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - Argyle, you nailed it: "more Monday than Monday was." No muss, no fuss, just filling in blank spaces, especially once the theme became apparent.

Nice picture of the XKE, long considered the ultimate phallic symbol in a car. I know Ella Cinders from crosswords, but don't ever remember the comic strip. Speaking of comics, I saw in the paper today that the first issue of Action Comics (1938) just sold for $1.5M. Not a bad return on investment; I think it originally sold for a dime.


A most HAPPY BIRTHDAY to that spring chicken, Irv.

Today is National Doctor's Day and Take a Walk in the Park Day.

Today's Words of Wisdom: "Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon." --Susan Ertz

And try these Fun Facts:

- The longest case of constipation ever recorded lasted 102 days.

- The longest recording sneezing fit was 978 consecutive days.

- The longest recorded bout of hiccups lasted for 65 years.

tfrank said...

Good morning, C.C., Argyle and early birds.

This was pretty routine fare this morning. My only unknown was Ella. While I am old enough to have read this strip, it was not carried in my paper, assuming it was a strip. There are lots of islands named "St.___" in the Caribbean; the perps gave me Barts. I used to go to St. Thomas in my Navy days.

Thanks for the FFs, Dennis. How could a person survive these maladies, particularly the first? How depressing.

Good job, as usual, Argyle.

Happy birthday, Irv.

Have a great day.

Mainiac said...

Good Morning Argyle, CC and All,

Spelling and dyslexia got me today. I spelled Seuss with an ue and Ens with an ns. That Snarl took some time to untangle. I also flashed back to yesterday and wrote Songs for 1D. That slowed the NW until the Aha moment when Snapping Turtles came to me. I can go along with another Monday difficulty.

There's a monster snapper at camp we've named Silas. We see him sunning himself regularly when we go cruising around the pond. You could deep fat fry a 20 pound turkey in his shell. Pretty big for these parts.

Happy, Happy Birthday Irv! Looking great!

How can you sneeze for 978 days and not bleed to death. I'll leave the constipation one alone.

Have a great day!

15 and a wake up.

Dick said...

Good morning Argyle and All, a walk in the park today. As has already been mentioned today’s puzzle was easier than Monday’s. There were no hiccups, no outside help and any I did not know filled easily from the perps.

Good blog as usual Argyle.

Happy Birthday Irv, hope you have many more and keep solving those crosswords.

Dennis, I sure am happy that I have not been inflicted with any of your fun facts.

Hope you all have a great Tuesday.

Tinbeni said...

Good morning, one and all.
Argyle a nice write-up and embeds.

Irv, Happy Birthday! 96 is impressive.

My Mr. Peabody Wayback Machine took me to Monday, 'bout a year ago.
I count 24 3-letter & 20 4-letter fills in this exercise of a hum-drum puzzle.

TFrank, like you I just went with ELLA. Don't remember the comic.

Hope to soon forget this So-So LAT offering.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, CC and All. This was definitely an easier puzzle than yesterday for me. Still, I had fun with it. I had to go back, however, and read some of the perp clues, because I had actually filled in the answers.

I've learned ST LO from doing crosswords.

Don't tease us, Argyle. What was the Phantom's birth name if it was not ERIK?

My grandfather had a very large gramophone record collection which I inherited. One record is of Poor Pauline. The words go something like: Poor Pauline, I Pity Poor Pauline, One day she drifted out to sea, A lion tied her to a tree." The original Pauline movies were filmed in the gorge in Ithaca, New York, before filming moved to Hollywood.

In honor of 26D, I've changed my avatar to an egret that I filmed near my house.

A Very, Very Happy Birthday to Irv. We are so happy to have you here doing the puzzles with us.

QOD: Stupidity often saves a man from going mad. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Spitzboov said...

Good Morning Argyle and all. Happy Birthday, Irv

Typical Tuesday level of difficulty. The few unknowns came from the perps. No searches needed.

RIO and RIA - Virtually the same word; isn't there some rule in puzzle construction about this?

Nauticals: ENS, STERN and SKIPPER. The Dutch word for ship is 'schip'. The ch has a 'k' sound with slight guttural quality. So skipper, a ship operator was borrowed into English which shares many sea faring traditions with the Dutch due to their proximity.

(2nd attempt to post - server error)

Enjoy the day

Al said...

So many three-letter answers made this easier than yesterday. I think perhaps the two should have had their days swapped.

Happy Birthday Irv. I hope someone got you a balloon.

Some QODs from my favorite philosopher, Winnie the Pooh that seem appropriate for today:

"Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon"

"It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?""

"Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering."

Argyle said...

Hahtool, I was all set to answer you when the Phantom of the Blog struck.

Even Sherlock Holmes couldn't unearth the Phantom's real name.

Erik, The Phantom

Argyle said...

It would appear Ella and Pauline may have had similar dilemmas.

Bob said...

Pretty easy puzzle, but missed one (11D Cabinet Dept) just because I didn't think about it long enough. Not knowing 22A (Eero) didn't help. 11 minutes.

Al said...

@Argyle, thanks for the Phantom link. The full story really fills in a lot of background I had never thought about, which the movies and musicals leave out, maybe to make it more mysterious. I'm going to have to find the book and read it now; it's almost a different story.

Argyle said...

You know, Al, I was thinking the same thing.

kazie said...

Dennis,
I'm afraid none of the FFs sound like fun today!
And I think Susan Ertz nailed it with her WOW. I always wonder what can be so great about heaven if nothing needs fixing or being worked on for eternity. Singing and playing harps doesn't appeal at all!

The XKE was always called an E-Type in Oz. I guessed XKE because I'd heard that here, but didn't make the connection until seeing the photo.

Have a great birthday Irv!

Egret was one of many for which I didn't notice the clues. It was an easier puzzle than yesterday, but that's no reason to trash it. Yesterday was a bit trickier because of Barry Silk, and we all agreed it was unusual for a Monday.

ARMOIRE is the French for wardrobe. But if you go through castles in Europe, you'll see many from the 16-17th century that are huge and solid with doors about 6inches or more thick. They are worth many thousands of dollars. So I was surprised to find that my German colleague (from our sister school arrangement) has one in his living room. He collects many antiques including clocks, but the armoire is used as an entertainment center, TV and audio in one side and bar in the other.

Hahtool,
Great looking egret picture!

Hahtoolah said...

Thanks for the back story of the Phantom, argyle. I agree with Al. I'll have to find a copy of the original novel to read. Seems much different from the Andrew Lloyd Webber version.

Lucina said...

Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and friends.

As has been said already, this was a snap; didn't cut any corners or break the neurons.

Yet it was filled with nostalgia: car hop (I wasn't one but I recall them) ella, and Erik from phantom. I love the movie but can't recall if his name was revealed.

Eero has long been a xwd fav of mine. And doesn't California raisins bring a smile?

Happy birthday, Irv!

I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday!

Jerome said...

Lucina- From yesterday. I was only funnin'. I was using "Carpenter's joint" as if it were a bar or a saloon.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I thought PHOBOS, ARTEMIS, ARMOIRE and ST BARTS were tough enough to make it more difficult than a usual Monday.

I liked the theme. They may have been easy to fill in, but there aren't many phrases that begin with words of mayhem. I liked the way the terms became gradually more destructive from the top to the bottom.

I've read "Le Morte d'Arthur" (modern edition) and "The Once and Future King", but 29D ENID and Geraint must have faded from memory.

I had a problem with those little guys, APS, XKE, but I did get RENU this time around.

Question, is there a difference between a DISC and a DISK?

Thanks for the ERIK link, Argyle. It does sound more interesting. I didn't like the musical or the movie, but maybe I'll go back and try the book.

Mr. Ed, Thank you for last night's compliment. I always appreciate kind words.

Neither early, nor belated, a very Happy Birthday to Irv.

Dennis, Funny WOW. One of the best ways of whiling away a rainy Sunday AND gaining some measure of immortality is passing along our genes in a time honored fashion.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hey gang -

I was going to be a birther and demand to see Erik's birth certificate, by I will bow to the eternal wisdom of Wiki.

After you finish Gaston Leroux's original ( you may find a 99 year-old novel translated from French to be a bit if a slog, though it is rather short), I highly recommend PHANTOM by Susan Kay (1991). This fills in lots of blanks about the deformed hero's early life and missing years. It's been years since I read it, but IIRC, all the extrapolations are consistent with Leroux's telling. It's R-rated fer sure, but that shouldn't bother anyone here.

My copy of TPOTO has a couple of short appendices speculating that S. Holmes might have been involved in attempting to solve the mystery some time from 1891-94, when he was presumed dead. The events of TPOTO take place in 1881, so by then it would have been a very cold case, indeed.

I'll give today's puzzle about a B-minus. Sharp theme, for the most part, but, IN BRIEF, what a collection of tired crosswordese.

But, OTOH, the six and seven letter fill was pretty sparkly. OK - B-plus.

Caused myself a bit of a problem by filling in BREAKING NING. Certainly complicated solving the east-center region. 13:16 total.

Much to do. IMBO. 2 and a w/u (I miscounted yesterday)

Cheers!
JzB the less than PREMIER trombonist

Argyle said...

The book is online if you care to read some of The Phantom of the Opera before going out and getting it.

Anonymous said...

Jazz what is IMBO and w/u that you miscounted?

carol said...

Hi Argyle, C.C. and everyone -

Had a fairly easy time with this. Had to chuckle a bit at 10A, I wasn't thinking of golf.

I had trouble with my spelling too, missed ARMOIRE and SEUSS for a while, but the contact lens solution RENU fixed it all.

I had never heard of BEL CANTO or CINDERS but the perps helped again.

It seems that I have seen the words LEI or EEL in every puzzle I have worked in the last several months (I do about 4 or 5 a day).

Dennis, yikes to the Fun (or not so much) Facts. I cannot believe the first one...seems that would actually be fatal...where would the intake of food go? (no pun intended)

Irv, I wish you a very happy birthday!! Let us know how you plan to celebrate.

Clear Ayes said...

Argyle, thank you again. This time for the link to TPOTO book. It is great to have a reminder that so many older books are now online for us to read.

Off to shop for the ravening horde. With 6'4" and 6'2" teenage grandsons, I'm not kidding. The nephews are only 6' and 6'1" (so far), but they do their share of damage to the pantry too!

Jazzbumpa said...

Anon -

Having been devoid of original thoughts my whole life, I borrowed IMBO (I must be off - interpret as you will) from Buckeye, and w/u (a wake up and travel day) from Dennis.

Also forgot to say happy birthday to Irv, my new role model.

Cheers!
JzB the what-else-did-I-forget? trombonist

Spitzboov said...

Re: 27A. "Program interruption". BREAKING wind could have been a possibility

Lucina said...

Jerome:
My first reaction to your comment from yesterday was: WTH?

But I decided to take it seriously.

Nice jest.

Actually, a bar named THE TENON would supply only hard liquor, no?

Annette said...

Happy birthday, Irv!

Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts yesterday concerning putting my cat down Sunday night. I appreciate the support from so many of you, and hearing your own pet love stories. I did have him since he was 8 weeks old, and we'd been through a lot together, especially just after Hurricane Wilma.

MamaRuth: Good luck with your new dog! I hope he settles down soon.

Dennis: Just imagining those Fun Facts wore me out!

I'm sure I'd never seen even a photo of a Jaguar when I was growing up, but when we'd race our bikes, I'd labeled mine an XKE because I knew it was cool! I can't imagine where I'd ever heard of it though.

dodo said...

Happy, happy birthday, Irv!

My husband was once hospitalized in a room with a man who had hiccups, I mean day and night over and over! Fortunately DH was only there overnight. Very annoying.

Clearayes, what is it about these young'uns? They're all giants these days, mine, too, although I don't know the actual statistics. Of course, their dads are tall, but not like that. Of course, I'm shrinking, so soon they'll have to kneel to give me a kiss!

Dennis, those poor souls referred to in your WOW must not have PCs!

'Perils of Pauline' was even before my time, but I remember hearing about it. I don't think we had Ella Cinders in our paper, but I've seen that face somewhere.


Nice work, Argyle.

Andrea said...

Happy Birthday, Irv!!! Hope you get to do all your favorite things today.

eddyB said...

Hello.

Took a look at the grid, clues and went back to bed.

Hand did go up for Castle and will go up for V if some one asks tomorrow.

It is rainimg so it is back to bed.

eddyB

Argyle said...

Did anyone else notice the grid resembles a target? In keeping with the theme, in a way.

Dennis said...

Hand up for target. I didn't mention it 'cause I thought I'd be the only one to notice it.

Carol, and just what was your answer to 10A??

ClearAyes, an excellent point in your last paragraph.

Lucina said...

CA and Dennis:
I'll say! My mother always said the reason she and my dad had so many children, seven, was those Sunday afternoon naps.

carol said...

Dennis, I was thinking of a warm hand.

CA,LOL at your comment on the rainy Sunday afternoon activity. The way in rains in western Oregon, you'd think our population would be larger :)

kazie said...

Dennis and Carol,
Hand up for having similar (I'm sure) thoughts on 10A. My first reaction before looking at the grid was jock strap.

Argyle,
I too enjoyed the back story to Phantom. Makes it a lot more interesting, and having toured the Garnier Opéra in Paris, I can see how such a story would fit right in with its intricacy.

I've always thought that calcium intake during the formative years may influence height. My boys are an example of this line of thinking. Although they both took kids' vitamins, the older one's preferred drink was always juice and he's only 5'8" like his dad. The younger one always drank milk and he's 6'2". Same genes, different builds. My dad was 5'10" and I'm only 5'4".

windhover said...

Lucina:
If I'm tuned to your thinking, a tavern named The Mortise would serve only warm soft drinks?

Annette said...

Kazie: That was my initial idea for 10A too.

Argyle: 51D. Haircut sounds: SNIPS. Much gentler than our theme. – That’s true, until you pair it with our misguided DF thoughts on 10A, then I’d guess there’s not a man (or woman, probably) on this blog that doesn’t wince at that thought…

Raising my hand for watching Castle last night.

I liked the clue for 65A. Post- opposite: PRE

ClearAyes: I always thought Disc and Disk could be used interchangeably, but when I searched it, the distinction stated was: The k-spelling refers mainly to internal magnetic storage devices, and the c-spelling now refers to removable optical media used in audio recordings (like CDs and DVDs). Another article stated: While there is nothing inherently wrong with either spelling, there are times when one is preferable to the other. A person may want to use the hard K "disk" when forming compound nouns, such as a "disk holder," in order to avoid an awkward soft C pronunciation by the reader. Some professions may prefer one spelling over another as well. A chiropractor may speak of a "herniated disc", while a mechanic may notice a worn “disk brake." The difference between a disc and a disk outside of the magnetic recording world may just be a matter of personal or cultural preference. (I saw another article that referred to brakes using the c-spelling though.)

lois said...

Good afternoon, Argyle, CC, & all, Like most, I flew thru this puzzle and enjoyed it. About fell off my chair w/10A ball support. Like Carol & Kazie, when neither jock nor strap fit, I had to 'readjust' my thinking or something to a 'tee'-totally different direction...like 'tee' ball, or golf. Actually, with the XKE's being such an expensive phallic symbol, I'm wondering if that's what they mean when they say "fit to a tee'...or maybe that's the lure of a 'Tee-bird'. I 'must' check this out.

Since I teach the 'APs' and IBs, I know the kids are not all 'geek's but mostly fun-loving, well adjusted teens who enjoy 'raisin-s'and every now and then. I 'stern'ly tell them that they 'must' come to class. If I catch them 'cutting class', they will f'eel' my wrath and their r'egrets' will multiply
'expo'nentially. 'Skippers'
are not just 'tsked' but
are 'pen'alized severely and if they don't want their 'assets'
figuratively 'span'ked, they also
'must' show up by the first
'bel'l. So far, none have chosen to 'risk it', but I'm 'pre'pared. I have a notebook full of essay questions that would make 'Phobos' quake in his sandals, if he wore any. So far, I don't think any of the kids have given skipping 'a sec'ond thought. It's all good.

Super Happy Birthday, Irv. I wish you many, many more.

Argyle: excellent job in blogging again. I did not notice the target design. Good catch.

One last thing: St. Barts is just west of Antigua where on Sun I will be meeting a 'skipper' of a sailboat...who also just happens to be single. I may give his 'stern' a whole new meaning.

5 & a w/u

Chickie said...

Hello All--The puzzle was easier today than yesteday, for sure. The unknowns were all obtainable with the perps.

I didn't know Ella, but Bel and Asa fixed that problem. I like short three letter fills, they seem to be easy for me. Sorry, CA.

Have we had Toadies a lot lately? It may become our next new Crosswordese word.

CA, I know about those pantry woes. Our five over 6 foot grandsons can do a lot of damage. Don't pass the mashed potatoes to them first if you want the rest of the family to have even a taste!! I make sure to have more in the pot on the stove.

Irv, many many happy returns of the day.

Lucina, I laughed at your comments to Jerome.

Nice job Argyle.

JimmyB said...

Some of the San Jose area folks might remember a San Jose American Musical Theatre production of "Phantom" which was more tightly based on the novel. Lyrics and music by Maury Yeston and book by Arthur Kopit. Not quite the drama or elaborate production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber version but certainly a viable alternative with beautiful music. Apparently Yeston and Kopic had secured the rights to musicalize the story in the US and Europe and had the show mostly fleshed out when they heard that Webber was planning a production in Britain where the rights where in the public domain. Talk about an "Oh, sh*t!" moment, as their investors suddenly got cold feet. It was much later when they realized their version was different enough to finalize and make the rounds in the smaller markets. I found it quite pleasant, but then I'm a musical theatre junkie, and this is probably much more than you ever wanted to know.

Dennis said...

Lois, will you be staying down below, or just visiting?

carol said...

Lois, great new picture..I like your new friend. I wish I could steal away with you to Antigua, but the poor island would never be the same.

Dennis- I believe Lois is always visiting 'down below'.

Lucina said...

WH;
Yes, but at The TENON the slogan is: only the hard stuff to studs.

Anonymous said...

I watch "Castle" any time he's on. I chuckle when he gets upset when someone says something is ironic and it isn't.

Doreen

lois said...

Dennis: I think Carol has pretty much captured the essence of what should be a great time. I expect to take full advantage of every opportunity afforded me, including but not limited to sailing, sight-seeing, snorkeling &/or diving, shopping, sun worshipping, and the goodness of the skipper. I promise I'll leave the island in one piece. Can't guarantee the same for the skipper though. Maybe he should be told ahead of time to double check his safety equipment...fire extinguishers, flares, vests, rafts, garlic, wooden crosses, wooden spikes, silver bullets and chastity belt. This should be a very memorable adventure. Can't wait! But, to answer your question, it is just a visit in all respects - to every place open for visitation.

kazie said...

I also watch Castle every week. Last night I also watched the Big Bang Theory. It was a repeat, but I'm still giggling over bits of it when I think of them today. And for me, to see it twice and still find it so funny is really a treat.

Anonymous said...

Good evening all.
Great blogging, Argyle.

I hope you are having a great and wonderful 96th birthday, Irv.

Spitzboov: the name of the dog that ClearAyes and I love, Schipperke, comes from the same root. Little captains, they guarded the barges.

Cheers

Lucina said...

Oops.
Only the hard stuff for studs!

Spitzboov said...

Sallie, I agree with you and CA. We love schipperkes, too. Never had a chance to own one.

Schiphol, Amsterdam's airport, literally means 'ship hole'. I guess when they reclaimed the land for the airport which is in the Rijn delta area, they found buried ships from centuries ago.

Bill G. said...

So tell me about Castle. I had never heard of it until it was mentioned here a couple of times. Is it something I would be likely to enjoy?

Bill G. said...

When watching television and somebody is interviewed, if they want to express the idea that something is excellent, apparently there are only two words that will do the job. One is "awesome" and the other is the equally popular "amazing."

Say, are you confident about using "comprise" correctly? It's often misused. I either have to look it up to be sure (and run the risk of it sounding wrong to people) or just opt to use a different word altogether.

Clear Ayes said...

For Sallie and Spitzboov, Charley says "Arf!".

Annette, thank you for the disc/disk information. I could have looked it up myself, but I was in a hurry to get the shopping out of the way. I appreciate that you took the time.

A lot of people must have hungry grandsons and nephews. Costco was pretty busy today. Normally the amount of money we spent would take care of GAH and me for a couple of weeks. I hope it is enough to get us through the weekend. Fortunately, their mothers are bringing extra snacks for "just in case".

Warren said...

Hi Argyle, C.C. & gang, I thought Tuesdays puzzle only slightly more difficult than Monday's was... We finished it together before my wife left for work.

For Bill G.:


Here's a link to the ABC show Castle.


I'm not certain how long this show will last but we keep it on our record list. It can be a funny show sometimes.

carol said...

CA- thanks for the heads up on what to expect for the feeding of a grandson. Mine is entering that zone, he is 13. His sister is a whole different story (she is 15). So far, neither one of them eats very much...the exception is my deviled eggs. When I know they are coming over, I make sure I fix at least 18 of them. They inhale all of them in no time. I also have to have 2 qts of lemonade on hand. Popcorn is also a big favorite.

Dot said...

Irv's secretary is extending his thanks for all the birthday wishes. He replies to everyone that there's nothing special about a birthday. He's just had more than most people. However, I know that he is pleased when people extend their good wishes. Since all the family are very involved at Easter time, they weren't able to get together this year. However, each of the offspring is coming soon. Soemtimes, that's better anyway. At least we get to finish a conversation which never happpens when you have twenty or so people together. Youngest son & daughter were here last Saturday; oldest son is coming Easter evening; other daughter is coming on Tuesday. (Spouses, too.)
We went out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner tonight. (His favorite) And Andrea, he is now doing his favorite thing - reading, a new Clive Cussler book.

Thanks again, Dot

Dot said...

Annette, You have my sympathy, too, over the loss of your cat. That is an extremely old cat.

Kazie, my son & d-i-l got a cupboard when they were living in Germany that had scenes painted on the doors. She calls it a shrunk. Am I spelling that correctly?
Just got interrupted by a phone call from the gr. grandkids to wish grandpapa a "Happy Birthday." They're four and five and great entertainment.
And CA & Dodo, I agree that there was something about their early diet that is affecting the generation of grandkids. Out of 7 grandsons, the shortest one is 5'10 & 1/2". Two are 6'4". Our sons are tall but our s-i-ls are 5'8" & 5'9".

Hahtool, Your QOD reminded me of a quote that we saw recently that Irv has been repeating, "The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits."

Dot

MJ said...

Dot and Irv--Blessings to you tonight! Happy birthday, Irv!

Spitzboov said...

Dot and Kazie - I believe Dot is referring to a schrank. The 'a' has the sound of the 'a' in 'what'

Bill G. said...

Dot and Irv, best wishes from Manhattan Beach. Chinese food, a good book and family. Sounds great!

~ Bill G.

JD said...

Dot and Irv, blessings to you both.Sounds like it was a good b'day Irv, when you can sit down and enjoy a new book.Did we miss cake?

Lois, you might include a few tees to your skipper with the bon voyage "tip."

Annette, good info. on disc/disk. I had to change the k.Wanted to fill in kiss up for "apple polishers". Didn't know Cinders, but my fixation on Cinderella stories gave me ella.

Dennis, I'm sure the people who get those maladies don't think they are funny facts; unfortunately, we laughed anyway.

Argyle, good job once more. This one took me 5 min longer. All I saw for the theme was adding an ing in each one. LOL...so that REALLY helped.not.

kazie said...

Spitzboov and Dot,
The spelling is Schrank, but the pronunciation is more like what Dot wrote--as in "Honey I shrunk the Kids", a title which BTW annoys me intensely because it should be shrank.I think possibly there is confusion about the pronunciation of German vowels because so many of their words are also Yiddish, where it gets a different sound or spelling.

Compare the word for salmon: German: Lachs (sounds like lucks with a more gutteral ch) and in Yiddish isn't it written Lox but pronounced the same way as the German? Same sound different spelling.

Contrast that with Thank you: German: Danke schön, and if you can't make an Umlaut, it becomes schoen, so people pronounce it shane like in the song, which I've always assumed was either ignorance of true German or the Yiddish pronunciation. Same spelling, changed sound.

kazie said...

Spitzboov,
On second thought, maybe you do pronounce 'what' as 'waaht', but with my accent it sounds more like 'wott'. That would make a difference in how we describe the sound of Schrank.

Again, I hope all of Irv's celebrating goes very well!

Bill G. said...

Dennis said, "Speaking of comics, I saw in the paper today that the first issue of Action Comics (1938) just sold for $1.5M. Not a bad return on investment; I think it originally sold for a dime."

If my math is correct, that amounts to 1.5 billion percent profit over a 72-year period. Of course, I would have devalued the whole deal by reading it many times, wrinkling some of the pages and spilling spaghetti on a page or two.

I think maybe I became a fast reader because of comic books. There, the text is presented in bubbles where you can take it in, in chunks, not word by word.

Annette said...

Clear Ayes: That dog photo was adorable! I feed off of many others research here so often, and thought it was my turn since nobody had answered you yet. Honestly, I was confident they were just alternate spellings, and usage didn't matter, but luckily decided to check on it before putting my foot in my mouth! :-)

Dot: That sounds like an ideal birthday to me! And thank you for the kind words.

Bill G.: Castle is about an adorable mystery writer that started by sitting in with a group of real police detectives as research for his next series. The lead detective is a woman he happens to have great chemistry with - lots of sexual tension! His skills at writing homocides often provides insight into the "real life" crimes the detectives are investigating. His mother and daughter steal the show in any seen they're in too.

Bill G. said...

Thanks for the info about Castle, Annette. I have it set to record next Monday.

Shows that I have enjoyed in the past were Picket Fences, WKRP and Boston Legal. These days, I like NCIS, The Good Wife, 24, Undercover Boss, Life... I don't always watch all of them but when I do, I like them.

Clear Ayes said...

Annette, LOL...Charley does love to be adored. We caught the Schipperke bug from my sister and her husband who also have their second Schip.

Col_Gopinath said...

Belated Happy Birthday Irv from the other side of the world

Lemonade714 said...

nobody wants you?

Annette said...

Windhover and the Irish: I hope you had a wonderful anniversary. Congratulations, and best wishes for many, many more!