google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, March 1, 2012 Jack McInturff

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Mar 1, 2012

Thursday, March 1, 2012 Jack McInturff

Theme: Ole !!  Five phrases beginning with words that could follow the word "bull":

17A. *Competitive business concern: MARKET SHARE. I would love to see a bull market once more...

22A. *Done with one's stint, maybe: HEADED FOR HOME. I am not bull-headed.  I'm just sure that I'm always right...

35A. *Arctic racer: DOG SLED. I think a bull dog makes an adorable pet!

38A. *Lewis Carrol, for one: PEN NAME. Uh-oh...I'm treading on unfamiliar territory when I talk about the baseball bull pen!

47A. *Make fit: WHIP INTO SHAPE. Modern "sport" bull-whip crackers claim that the original bull whips never touched the livestock.

And the unifier:

53A. Informal chat, and based on the starts of the starred answers, this puzzle's title: BULL SESSION

MartRx here, just shooting the bull on another Thursday puzzle. By the time you read this it will be the first of the month, so "rabbit, rabbit!!"

Across:

1. Huge: JUMBO. Gi-normous wouldn't fit.

6. Capital of India: RUPEE. New Dehli wouldn't fit...

11. Source of some Genesis attire?: FIG. "I don't give a fig, Adam!"

14. ___ flu: ASIAN. "Swine" fit, but it was wrong...(Are you starting to get the picture, of how this one started out for me???)

15. Aromatic compound: ESTER. Was Ester Williams aromatic? (Just kidding - I know it's "Esther". But, it's tough to make a joke about aromatic compounds...)

16. Wash. neighbor: ORE. Ore, a type of mineral.

19. Farm butter?: RAM. HaHa. Funny punny clue. A ram often is a "butt-er".

20. Big wheel's wheels: LIMO. Can you picture a CEO on one of these?



21. Crunchy candy components: NUTS. Sometimes you feel like a ...

(...sometimes you don't!)

28. Woody: SYLVAN

29. Fancy cases: ETUIS. Fancy crosswordese. In the plural, yet.

30. Circumnavigating, perhaps: ASEA

31. Deep chasm: ABYSS

32. Bit of horseplay: GAG

40. Whatever: ANY

41. Isolated: ALONE

43. Ken of "thirty something": OLIN. Third from the right.

44. Leonardo's love: AMORE. Da Vinci left his serving woman "a black cloak of good stuff, with a fur edge"... I don't think he loved her very much.

45. Notable 2007 communications release: iPHONE

50. Raised: BRED

51. Sigh of relief: ALAS

52. Striking scarf: BOA

60. Part of a yr.: QTR

61. Licorice-flavored seed: ANISE. You either love licorice, or you hate it. DH gags every time he smells it...

62. Horror film locale: ELM ST. Does anyone in this corner live on Elm St.?

63. Part of a match: SET. Not "tip"...tennis match.

64. Storage areas: HOLDS. On boats.

65. Emotional substance: DEPTH

Down:

1. Pickle: JAM

2. "Psych" airer: USA

3. Fallen orbiter: MIR. Russian space station which was de-orbited on March 23, 2001.

4. Layered Turkish pastries: BAKLAVAS. Nut and honey-soaked phyllo. Yumm!



5. Five Nations tribe: ONEIDA

6. Patch, as a lawn: RE-SOD

7. Show to a seat, slangily: USH. Ugh.

8. Class-conscious org.?: PTA. Parent Teacher Association.

9. Musket end: EER. "Musket-eer"

10. Poetic preposition: ERE. "I was young ere I became a musketeer..."

11. Discussion venue: FORUM.  They had lots of discussions at the Roman one.

12. Really mad: IRATE

13. Masterpieces: GEMS

18. "Untouchable" feds: T-MEN. I'm pretty sure this means "Treasury Men", but feel free to correct me!

21. Signs of resistance: NOs. Also, signs of the "Terrible Twos". Why is "no" the first word they always learn?

22. Chinese green tea: HYSON. Also known as "Lucky Dragon" tea.  It is made of tightly rolled young leaves that unfurl when brewed.

23. Ode's counterpart: ELEGY. Odes are written with enthusiasm and praise, while an elegy is written in a sad tone, mourning for the deceased.

24. Only mo. that can begin and end on the same day: FEB. Interesting clue. This year, February ended (yesterday) on a Wednesday, and began on a Wednesday - and it's possible only in a leap year!

25. Like universal blood donors: O TYPE.  I wanted "O Negs", as they are the only truly "universal" blood donors.

26. Bait-and-switch, e.g.: RUSE. I chuckled at this clue, as it brought back memories of my first puzzle, with the theme answer BAIT SWITCH ("Worm change?")

27. Word on a boondocks towel?: HIS'N.

28. Tony winner Thompson: SADA. She won it for her role in "Twigs", a play in four vignettes.

31. Decorate: ADORN

32. Double-time dance: GALOP. A forerunner of the polka.

33. Nitrogen compound: AMINE

34. Heredity unit: GENE

36. Dorm room accessory: LAMP. Bunk, desk, cell, 'frig, iPod...

37. Morlock prey: ELOI

39. "Piece of cake": NO HASSLE. I'm not sure why the clue is in quotes here. "No hassle" sounds like an adjective to me, not a declarative sentence...

42. Green table divider: NET. Ping pong table.

44. First or financial follower: AID

45. Barbados, e.g.: ISLE

46. Stopped gradually, with "out": PHASED. I wasn't stopped gradually by this answer (out).

47. Kept in touch: WROTE. ...or, texted.

48. Core: HEART.

49. Havens: OASES

50: Patio parties, briefly: BBQs. I thought we were approaching BBQ season, but today's snowstorm has put that idea on hold for a while...

53. Word of annoyance: BAH. Humbug!

54. Game with Reverse cards: UNO.

55. "Her name was Magill, and she called herself___": Beatles lyric: LIL...But everyone knew her as Nancy...

56. It's illegal to drop it: LSD

57. Sitter's handful: IMP

58. Dusseldorf direction: OST. "East", in English. But in Dusseldorf, they speak German.

59. High degree: NTH. Did you think "PhD"? It's always a toss-up, but the perps had already given me this one.


Thanks for stopping by this bull moose party today!

Hugs,
Marti

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71 comments:

Dudley said...

Rabbit rabbit

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

My solving today was influenced by influenza. Tried SWINE first, then AVIAN before figuring it had to be ASIAN. I feel better now, thanks.

I keep thinking of PTO rather than PTA, which I gather is more common. MARKET SHORE just didn't have the right ring to it.

Otherwise a straightforward solve.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Never did understand the whole "rabbit, rabbit" thing, sorry...

Fun puzzle today, although it took a bit more work than usual. I'm not familiar with HYSON tea and misspelled 28A as SILVAN instead of SYLVAN. That gave me HISON as a result, which looked perfectly fine to me until I didn't get the "tada" at the end and had to go look for my mistake.

Didn't know/remember AMINE, so that section took a little while as well.

I initially put in FUR at 11A for no good reason and was terribly afraid (and a bit IRATE) that 13D would end up being REMS (short for "Rembrandts"). I was all set to come here and complain until I realized it was actually FIG and GEMS. Never mind...

The preview function on this blog is still totally messed up for me, btw.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jack, for a really good Thursday puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for the equally good write-up.

Got started easily today. Worked my way through the top two thirds of the puzzle. The bottom was a little tougher. Did not think of BBQS off the bat, so that corner languished. Forgot about ELM ST and did not know the German direction, OST. Forgot about the card game, UNO. Did not know LIL. Eventually got them with some deep thinking.

Had no write-overs for a change. Hurray!

Did not know HYSON or SADA. Fortunately the crosswords appeared and perps fixed that area.

My blood type is O TYPE, and I just gave last week.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

desper-otto said...

Good morning, all!

This puzzle felt more like Tuesday level -- quite a bit easier than yesterday's. And that's no BULL.

Learning moment: HYSON Never heard of it before.

Marching right along...

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

Clever puzzle today that gave me fits, but I managed to get it done without any look-ups. I do have a seriously used eraser however.

Until I wrote in the unifier, the theme was my ABYSS. HYSON & GALOP new to me. Really wanted "ourn" instead of HISN for 27D. I'll bet Ma & Pa Kettle used the same towel.

Farm Butter/RAM was favorite although it took a while to figure it out.

Marti, thanks for the enlightening write up today.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Good theme today, and NO HASSEL with BAKLAVAS.

GALOP was a learning moment. Looks like a cross between the Virginia Reel and a Ceili (pronounced Kaylee.)

Other than that - BAH!

USH, PTA, EER, ERE - a cluster of low quality fill. Plus OST and NTH.

After ETUIS and ASEA I wondered what strike three would be. HIS'N, of course.

An ESTER is a fragrant compound. In chemistry speak, "aromatic" means something quite different. A modifier for "compound" needs to be in the language - of chemistry.

ALAS. I'm not IRATE, but there is just too much wrong with this puzzle to give it a high mark.

I suspect I'm ALONE in this assessment.

Happy rabbit, rabbit Thursday, everyone.

Cheers!
JzB

Middletown Bomber said...

good puzzle today great write up.
Started with Dehli for indian capital then recalled that CAPITAL refers to money and rupee fell into place. got the theme on the perps but missed the stars for dog sled and pen name the write up keyed me in to those as theme answers as well. The south east quarter of the puzzle gave me fits, but I slogged through and solved the puzzle. well its thursday and I am on dad duty as my son is off from school for the next 2 days.

Catch 22 said...

Combine yest.'s DUMMKOPF with today's theme, and you'd get: scheissfopf.

Caught 22 said...

*scheisskopf

Darn you, autocorrect!

Anonymous said...

Galop--new word for me--sounds like something that dropped on the floor that you have to clean up.

Too much knowledge is a dangerous thing: I also had O negs as they are the only universal donors, and avian.

Yellowrocks said...

Cyberspace ate my blog. AARGH.
It can't edit here.
Marti. a fine write up for a fun, but easier than usual Thursday.

I took the quotes in 39D to mean that "NO HASSLE" and "PIECE OF CAKE" were replies to a request for help.

I remember how to spell SYLVAN because I had a friend Sylvia and I was born in Pennsylvanis.

In my college days I worked at a resort and USHed at a summer theater where I saw the plays for free. I still remember the fine "Uncle Vanya" performance. We served very hot coffee in little glasses. OUCH!

My extended family plays UNO when we get together, fun for young and old.

Being an avid NPR classical radio fan i have enjoyed hearing many GaALOPs.

Lemonade714 said...

Always good to see Jack's puzzles, perhaps he will stop by again today. In any event, WEES for me, I drink lots of teas and shop at Teavana, but HYSON was new, and GALOP looked like it needed a an extra L, but Marti entertained and we are in March, so rabbit or bunny, just beware the Ides

Mari said...

Nice Puzzle, good way to start the day and WHIP me INTO SHAPE.

Some great clues today. I really liked:

19A Farm Butter: RAM
20A Big Wheel's Wheels: LIMO
52A Strinking Scarf: BOA

It's strange to see a Q not followed by a U in a puzzle (60A)

I tried HYSOP instead of HYSON and also went with ASIAN FLU.

I hope you all enjoy this new month.

Mari said...

Also liked Capital of India :)

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning Marti and our BULLish 'Sure Happy It's Thursday' gang. Fun puzzle, Jack, although it was mostly on the easy side for a Thursday.

I temporarily messed myself up with GALOP, a total unknown. I put in 'bebop', that lead to 'bug' which led to 'urine' for the nitrogen compound and a nonsensical 'PENNerE. Fortunately, I remembered Ken OLIN and finally was able to see PEN NAME. GALOP still didn't look right, but everything else was solid so it stayed.

Never thought ov Swine, but was undecided between ASIAN or AvIAN. I left out the second letter and let the perps take care of it. I'm glad it wasn't swine. HYSON was a somewhat known and only needed a couple of perps to fill it in.

I tried to put in ELM ST last week when the entry was 'crypt'. I was just a little ahead of my time.

OK, that's enough BULL for now...

Irish Miss said...

Good morning all:

Nice write-up, Marti and fun puzzle, Jack. I finished w/o help but had a couple of write-overs. I had polka before galop which Is new to me and I had est before ost. Perps took care of both areas. Didn't get the theme until the unifier. Overall, a good Thursday workout.

I'm looking out my window and seeing a winter wonderland. We got several inches of snow and it is snowing now but very lightly.

Happy March 1. Can Spring be far behind?

lois said...

Good morning Marti, CC, et al., This was a typical Thurs for me but almost GAGed on my coffee when I saw RAM NUTS GEMS all in the same corner. Then LOL'd when FIG for attire was atop it all. What a no HOLDS barred BULL SESSION that GENE pool brought to mind . I can just hear HISN comments now. "FIG? Yeah only if it's a JUMBO FIG tree! U-NO, my BOA and ADORNments ain't LIL! How do you think I WHIP INTO SHAPE my DOG SLED huskies or get my ship HEADED FOR HOME when I'm ASEA?" Yep, bless HISN HEART, he'll give PEN NAME a whole new dimension. Now that's a BULL SESSION with DEPTH! It's all good!

Enjoy your day.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning. Thanks for the commentary, Marti.

Got the N and NW easily and then bogged down. But a couple "breaks" cleared my mind and was able to complete the solve. I live in ONEIDA County, so that was a gimme. From Düsseldorf, the only 3 letter options where Ost and Süd. Ost seemed more likely. WAGS included SADA, HYSON, and OLIN. IMP is one translation for my handle.

Off to play some bridge. Still snowing here.

kazie said...

March 1st means spring is on the way for me too! In Oz they change over officially at the beginning of the month anyway, so it's the beginning of autumn there now.

Glad you're OK Windhover!

Nice blogging Marti. For me the CW was about a normal Thursday today. I struggled with the unifier because I couldn't connect the dots to get BULL as the theme, and WHIP took me forever to suss out.

For AMORE I was thinking of Leonardo as a particular person--Da Vinci or De Caprio, and didn't know the name of either one's true love. But that got me going on Il Volo and I just looked them up online and listened again.

Then I found this even more impressive voice. Does anyone know any more about this little girl?

CrossEyedDave said...

I must have been on the Constructors wavelength today, just a couple of write-overs. Actually, i take that back, i came here to find out what a market headed dog pen whip had to do with talking?

Catch22@7:49 Not knowing the word, i looked it up, (now i feel like i stepped in it!) Oh Well...

Middletown Bomber@7:16
Capital= money, thanks, i never saw that at all. (i actually thought Rupee was a Capital!)

For some reason i cannot get the image of a striking scarf out of my mind...

Steve 2/29@1:07am
Cognoscenti??? Sir, you obviously do not know me, i fall on my "Bum" all the time...
:)

kazie said...

I just looked further and found this: Jackie Evancho bio

Tinbeni said...

Marti: Nice write-up & Rocky Raccoon earworm.

What Jazz Said. You are not ALONE in your assessment. Especially the 3-letter fill.

Not being a Tea drinker, How-the-hell I filled in HYSON is beyond comprehension.
SYLVAN & ELEGY also got the "HTH did I know that" reaction.

GALOP was the learning moment (with a solid, WTF?).

HIS'N is just condescending.

Cheers to all at Sunset.

Sfingi said...

Agree with blogmaster - Does anyone really say USH? And does everyone want a hit of O+ ?

Had some dumb starts:
divot for RESOD
Delhi for RUPPEE
and waLtz for GALOP

Virginia C said...

Good Morning. I enjoyed the write-up. The puzzle? Not so much. Just couldn't seem to get onto the right wave length, then I hit USH and thought I'd lost my mind. I didn't get the theme until I came here.

But, the good thing is it is a Thursday and I finished! Yippee!

Husker Gary said...

An obscure dance, a B list actor and an unknown N compound got me my first DNF in a long time but waddaya gonna do? If I knew it all, I’d call Jeopardy. Thanks for the learning Jack.

Musings
-Apple’s MARKET SHARE is small but fiercely loyal
-That snap of the bull whip is when the end tip breaks the sound barrier
-Put me down for DELHI
-Farm butter? Cool!
-Magellan’s circumnavigation did not turn out well
-I was out yesterday when I realized I had forgotten my iPhone. Panic!
-My tummy doesn’t like ANISE or FRITOS. Dang!
-I’ve had one BAKLAVA and it was too everything for me
-USH? Liza silencing ‘iggins?
-Do you remember a cinematic PTA meeting where a book banner was called a Nazi cow by Amy Madigan?
-Did our Deliverance banjo player have HIS’N on his towel or even use one?

Qli said...

I was finished with this, but still puzzled by ETUIS until I googled it. The perps didn't help much, since I am used to seeing "type O" instead of O type, which I got when PENNAME fell.

Great puzzle, since it sure had me puzzled for a while!

Thanks for the Lord's Prayer link. That girl sure can sing. I read somewhere that they had to verify that she wasn't lip synching when they first saw the You Tube video.

I had the same Big Wheel in mind as you, Marti. My son wore one of those out when he was little. But what is the significance of "rabbit, rabbit"?

Lucina said...

Good morning, Marti and fellow puzzlers. It beats me how you can be so sharp at that hour, Marti.

Yowza! I was on Jack McInturff's wave length today and that's something. He usually WHIPS me.

Not for a second did I fall for his misdirection. RUPEE, ASIAN, LIMO all fell in place. And I learned SADA from crosswords. She died not too long ago.

Totally unknown to me: GALOP and HYSON but they emerged naturally.

Like Abejo, I did some deep thinking at the bottom but it didn't take long.

Great clues:
farm butter, RAM
class conscious org., PTO

I love licorice and ouzo!
Have a NO HASSLE Thursday, Everyone!

HeartRx said...

Holy Cow!! Kazie @ 9:10 and 9:18, what a voice on that youngster! I didn't know anything about her, so thanks for linking more info.

Qli @ 10:11, The saying "rabbit, rabbit" is an old British superstition, and seems to be a very regional thing, being more common on Cape Cod, other MA towns, and Vermont. It is supposed to bring you good luck, if it is the first thing you say when arising on the first of the month.

Vairnut said...

I thought it was pretty easy for a Thursday, but there were a few tense moments. I bounced around, trying to find a strong toehold. Finally got going in the south. I stupidly put an S at the end of Big Wheels wheels, thinking it would be RIMS. Oops. Took care of that, and finished the NW. Last to fall was SYLVAN and HYSON. No lookups, no red letters, just solid WAGging.

Misty said...

This was a rare Thursday speed run for me, thanks to finally learning never to trust the clues late in the week. So I knew right away that Indian capital would be money, the farm butter would be a RAM, the big wheel's wheels would be a LIMO--although I had a second when I considered 'semi' there. So thank you, Jack, for a delightful way to start the new month. Have never heard "Rabbit, rabbit" before, even on this blog and first thought it had to have something to do with the March hare and Lewis Carroll.

Marti, your write-up made me hungry for Mound and Almond Joy bars with Baklava. And you bloggers kept me in stitches! What a hoot this morning!

Have a great March, everybody!

Vairnut said...

I hope nobody was involved in those nasty tornadoes yesterday. Mom nature can be quite powerful.

thehondohurricane said...

Kazie,

What a voice on that young lady. Thanks for the link. I'm sure going to try to follow her career.

Jerome said...

ELEGY- Fitzgerald's name after marrying Kenny

"Quit needling me, Caesar! What do you really want for your birthday?"
"ETUIS, Brute"

"Senor, that really isn't a beef tongue sandwich is it"
"SI. BULL'S NOSE"

LAMP, as in- "John, a chandelier is a LAMP kin"

Elia said...

Isn't there a chapter in the "Dictionary of Crosswordese" that lists all the 4-letter words that include 3 vowels? Today's pair, ELOI and ETUI(s) are two that I actually learned from CW, albeit decades ago.

Rube said...

Like others, never heard of HYSON or GALOP -- was thinking HYSOp and another L. Didn't know OLIN or SADA either, but that's normal for me. I give the constructors their pop culture... just don't cross them.

Had a writeover at AMORE/AdORE, but that D gave me LAD_ for Dorm room accessory, which got me to thinking that I wish I had had a LADy as an accessory in my dorm room.

Tx @HeartRx for the explanation of "rabbit, rabbit". Actually, I think I'd heard this when I lived on the East coast, some 40+ years ago, but had forgotten it.

Except for those unknowns, a quick and easy DNG puzzle.

Anonymous said...

misty, 'Rabbit rabbit' was discussed here, on this blog, on February 1st.

Before your comment that day.

lois said...

Marti, meant to say 'excellent job' to you earlier but got interrupted before I really finished. Love your comments and humor. Well done.

Catch 22: 7:something.scheisskopf? LOL'd.

Kazie: thank you for that link to Jackie. I saw her a year or so ago on America's Got Talent and also thought she had to be lip synching. Can't remember if she won. Recently saw her on a Christmas special. Must be an angel and with such composure! Amazing!

Misty: great catch on the rabbit rabbit and the March Hare/Carroll connection. Also have never heard the saying-either in OK or VA but it's cute. Learned about it here.

Jerome: very creative and very funny. cute cute cute.

Misty said...

@Anonymous 12:29 Thanks for the reminder--although I must have totally missed it on February 1--even though I read everybody's comments every day. I'll try to keep better track in future.

On another topic, my husband and I watched the DVD of the Martin Scorcese film "Hugo" last night. It was an utter delight and should have done better on Oscar night. We highly recommend it!

Yellowrocks said...

Here is a GALOP I am sure you all have heard.
Link Rossini's GALOP

Link Listen

When I write BAKLAVA I always have to be sure I am not talking thourgh my hat (Balaclava).LOL Seriously, I always think of both words together and have to choose.

For the summer theater we really did say, "Time to go USH," and USH is found in slang dictionaries. Isn't it amazing that we all have had so many different experiences in life and with words.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Had much the same experiences as you all did. Having gotten MIR (a gimme) right off the bat, I got the "I" in 16A, so held off on flipping my 3-sided coin for AVIAN, ASIAN, or SWINE.

Similarly, having gotten PEN NAME and OLIN (another gimme), I had the "AL" in 32D, and wrote in SALSA. One of about four erasures I had to make.

CrossEyedDave @ 9:16 AM, your comment made me smile, because I too wondered what market headed dog pen whip had to do with an informal chat. Didn't get it until reading Marti's writeup. I really appreciate your sense of humor, Marti.

I too wanted O NEGS and mumbled "Sheesh" under my breath when it turned out to be O TYPE.

I think I'm up to nearly 20 lines, but I can't really tell.

Jayce said...

My mother, who taught us "rabbit rabbit" (who taught us many many things, actually), had a slightly more pessimistic explanation. Rather than ensuring good luck that month, it at least was supposed to prevent any occurrence of particularly bad luck throughout the month :)

Oh, another erasure I had to make was blithely entering EMMA for Tony winner Thompson, then wondering for far to long what a MOG SLED is.

I believe there was an Elm Street in the little town where I grew up, but I don't think I knew anybody who lived on it. This was long before Freddy Krueger was born. The town also had a real live Main Street, where most of the businesses were located.

Here our streets all have names like El Camino Real, Arastradero, and the Alameda.

Best wishes to you all.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Fun puzzle, Jack! Superb write-up, Marti!

Favorites: RAM and LIMO. (Got the first immediately.)

This was not done speedily.

The weather has been awful for awhile. I have so many plants to worry about. So far only down to 33º. Euphorbias do not tend to survive much below this. (Have been collecting succulents since 1960.) Friend Harvey won't work on his car in colder weather. It is going on 7 weeks since he borrowed my Silverado and has been putting lots of miles on it.

The rabbit thing is cute!

Cheers!

Mari said...

According to Wikipedia: "If you say ‘Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit’—three times, just like that—first thing in the morning on the first of the month, even before you say your prayers, you’ll get a present before the end of the month.”

Hmmmm....I like presents!

Avg Joe said...

I'm not overly pleased with the inclusion of FLU in this puzzle. I came down with it late yesterday and feel very much like fecal material today.

But I won't hold that against the constructor. I doubt he was trying to do that. :-)

Lucina said...

Jerome:
So funny! ELEGY!

I just remembered that when I lived in Denver in the 60s I lived at 810 ELM st.

Kazie:
Thanks for the link. What a marvelous voice!

CrossEyedDave said...

Mari@2:17

I too read that Wiki article, and i notice that it doesn't say what kind of present.

I hate it when my Cat gives me a present!

(and i don't mean mice!!)

P.S. Marti, that CTRL+ thing is excellent, i can see again...

desper-otto said...

Just got back home....

Grumpy1@8:35 -- I think your URINE entry would have fit for a Boondocks Guest Towel.

Lois@857 -- You crack me up!

Husker@9:48 -- Loved the USH mister 'iggins.

Jerome@11L59 -- ELEGY and ETUIS were very cute. We have a Brutus street in our town. I always thought it would be neat to live in Apartment A2 on Brutus.

PK said...

Hi Y'all,

This puzzle PHASED me! Big HASSLE, despite having all the long ones except 53A. Thought of "big I" for Indian capital. Had all the W half, but crucial empty spaces in the E. I thought GALOP but figured it was wrong. Just mental hiccups. No patience.

Thanks, Marti! Galop looks fun! Wish I could...

My local son got called out the other night to bring his excavating machines to a tornado site near his home to dig out some trapped people. Talked to him as he headed out the door but not since.

Pretty scary here for a few minutes. I sat on the edge of my bathtub for a while, ready to dive in. Passed us over.

Spitzboov said...

Here is a galop by Johann Strauss

Bill G. said...

Do you get a lot of unwanted phone calls? I have a land line and once or twice a day on average I get solicitations from charities or often home remodeling and repair services. I am listed with the Don't Call registry but it doesn't seem to do any good. I try to stay polite but it's getting harder and harder.

I enjoyed the galop.

Marti, you mentioned wishing for a bull market (joking?). The trouble with the darned things is that it's hard to recognize them until they've been going on for a while. By then, you've missed much of the opportunity.

Does spell check work on our blog posts anymore?

I was going for a bike ride but it looks pretty windy outside. For me, that's an unpleasant combination.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, Had a whiz bang puzzle up until I ran into Hyson and Sylvan. I had the name of a Woody Wagon in mind and wouldn't give it up!! I had VAN in and it made sense! So, I had a DNF today. Thanks Marti for your usual funny writeup. I always enjoy your blogging of the puzzle.

Marti, your question about No and two year olds. The word No is easy to pronounce and they probably have heard it enough by the time they are two and like to repeat it back!

My daughter's MIL from Egypt made a wicked Baklava. One pan went a long way! It is soooo rich.

We've watched the young Jackie sing on a PBS special. She really has an amazing voice. I hope she doesn't ruin her voice by doing such difficult songs at such a young age.

Our pastor always sang and never recited the "Lord's Prayer" at weddings. I wish we had been married at a time when there were video recorders as I would loved to have heard our wedding service again with his rendition of "The Lord's Prayer".

Yellowrocks said...

Avg Joe, feel better soon. The flu is dreadful.

Spitzboov, I have been wondering about your screen name for months. Boova is boys to me. We called pillow shapeed dumplings "boova schenkel", boy's thighs. I thought spitz meant point. Did you imply that Spitzboov means imp?

Marge said...

Hi all,
Puzzle harder today,only got part of it. One I did get was Baklava, but I thought it was a Greek pastry.

Great-grandson,Logan,now in his terrible twos.

Marti, I enjoyed that Galop dance. Never heard of it before.

For 25D I had Type O instead of O-Type.

Well It's time to get supper, good evening to all.
Marge

Spitzboov said...

Yellowrocks. Thanks for asking. Spitzboov is Low German. It means imp, rogue, or bandit. Within families it used as a sort of a funny sign of endearment.
The equivalent German word, Spitzbube, means thief and has a harsher connotation. IMHO.

Misty said...

When I was growing up in Austria, "Spitzbube" referred to an impish, mischievous, fun-loving boy and had endearing rather than censorious inflections. So I think of "Spitzboov" as a cute name!

Jayce said...

It's good to know the significance of your nickname, Spitzboov.

Jerome, those were funny.

Yellowrocks said...

spitzboov, I love your screen name. It fits you. I see you like sea shanties. The Robet Shaw Chorale has the best I've heard. Here you can click on many of them.
Link sea shanties

Susan said...

Hi All,

Didn't know sada or hyson so never got any. Still for a Thursday that's good for me.

WH, glad you didn't get hit. When we lived in Topeka, I would have loved your storm shelter. We used to go to the basement and be ready to get under the pool table. We didn't need to listen to the news, our dog always let us know it was time to go downstairs.

Thanks, Kazie, for the link for Jackie. She's amazing not only for her mature sound, range, and pose; her control is amazing. She sings that entire song at such a slow tempo without a waiver or a misplaced breath!

Remember Anna Marie Alberghetti?

Susan said...

Hi All,

Didn't know sada or hyson so never got any. Still for a Thursday that's good for me.

WH, glad you didn't get hit. When we lived in Topeka, I would have loved your storm shelter. We used to go to the basement and be ready to get under the pool table. We didn't need to listen to the news, our dog always let us know it was time to go downstairs.

Thanks, Kazie, for the link for Jackie. She's amazing not only for her mature sound, range, and pose; her control is amazing. She sings that entire song at such a slow tempo without a waiver or a misplaced breath!

Remember Anna Marie Alberghetti?

CrazyCat said...

Thanks for the recap Marti, especially the BAKLAVA and the Almond Joy. Every time you say Rabbit, rabbit, it reminds me that when we were kids, my mother would make us take a deep breath and say bunny, bunny, bunny until we had passed a cemetery. I never asked her why. I wonder if there's a connection?

Slow going today. Hand up for a blank on GALOP and HYSON. Had WALTZ for the longest time. Like, Chickie, I was fixated on that WOODY being some kind of VAN. I blanked on SADA and wrote in ADDA. So DNF for me.

Kazie 9:10 I love Il Volo and Jackie E.

Lois 8:57 LOL You forgot to include WOODY!

Avg Joe 2:23 feel better.

Bill G - same problem here. I just don't answer if I don't recognize the number on caller ID

Jayce said...

Susan, I very well remember Alberghetti. She was amazing too.

Yellowrocks, Burl Ives sang sea chanties wonderfully also. Folk songs and ballads, too. He had a very distinctive sound.

Bill G, I think it still does do spell checking. It just got me for misspelling "folk."

Grumpy 1 said...

Bill G @ 3:17

charities and political organizations are allowed to ignore the Do Not Call list. I've found that telling them to remove my number from their list usually works. With businesses, I tell them to remove my number and remind them that the number is listed on the Do Not Call. that usually does the trick.

HeartRx said...

CrossEyedDave @ 2:40, it was C.C. who suggested the "ctrl" "+" thingy.. I have used it for quite a while, and with these old "ish" eyes, it is really a helper!!

Jerome, @ 11:50, I now have a reason to keep "etuis" in my word list !! Too funny...


Avg Joe @ 2:23, feel better. "Feed a cold, starve a fever"? I always feed both, because I can never remember which is which...

PK @ 3:04, I can't imagine sitting in a bathtub, wondering if my house were going to come toppling down on top of me...so glad to hear you're safe!!

Chickie, now I know how to handle my grand-nieces and -nephews. Just say "YES"!!

Spitz"bube", I think you need to change your handle, LOL!!

Spitzboov said...

Yellowrocks, Jayce et al: Thanks for the links. Here's one of my favorites sung in English by the Hamburger Lotsenchor (pilot's chorus) Baltimore;

And then many versions of Rolling Home. Interesting stormy sea video in this one. Guess I'm partial to those with accordion accompaniment.

Bill G. said...

I wonder if any constructor has tried, just for fun, to make a crossword puzzle chock full of words we all dislike. Imagine a puzzle filled with USH, ETUI, ELHI, TSE, ABOIL, AROAR, EBON, OMOO, ACERB, ETE, ETO, ADIT, INRI, OLEO, OLIO, EIRE/ERIN, ERNE

JD said...

Hi all,

Late again...computer problems. Good e-mail buddies were getting thrown into my spam folder(it seems it's different than the junk mail folder and it's somewhere else!!!). Couldn't get them out of there, so we gave up and said no more spam folder.Guess what kind of mail I will be getting now? That's OK, I'll just forward the doozies to Lois.

Lois, another great blog. Keep those coming.

What was not to like about today's puzzle? So many clever clues:
farm butter, source of Genesis attire and part of a match. Loved it all.

and , of course, Marti, your write up was as fun as ever.

kazie said...

Spitz,
I think of Spitzbuben more in the sense of the rascals Max und Moritz, created by Wilhelm Busch. They were pretty wicked, but in a humorous sort of way too.

I actually spent quite a bit of time today listening to various links for Jackie and Il Volo. Youthful talents, all of them pretty amazing. Glad so many enjoyed Jackie.

Yellowrocks said...

Spitzboov and Jayce, thanks for the sea shanties. Funny, I usually think Irish or British, but the German ones are fun, too.


Here's a square dance call for AVG Joe/

The Flu Do-Si-Do

Choose your partners, one and all,
Aspirin, Advil or Tylenol!
Now fling those covers with all you've got.
One minute cold, the next minute hot.

Circle right to the side of the bed,
Grab the tissues and Sudafed.
Back to the middle and don't goof off,
Hold your stomach and cough, cough, cough.

Forget about slippers, dash down the hall.
Toss your cookies in the shower stall
Remember others on the brink
Wash your hands, wash the sink.

Wipe the doorknob, the light switch too,
Now you've got it, you're doing the flu.
Some like it cold, some like it hot,
If you like neither, then get the shot.

Lemonade714 said...

Props to Fermatprime who first brought Jackie Evancho to the Corner on June 10, 2011

Anonymous said...

Always thought baklava was a Greek pastry, but now know it is Mediterranean,which of course includes Turkey.