theme: DIRTY WORDS (12) - Click here to see the full effect. Each theme answer can be preceded by dirty to form a common phrase. All the dirty words are placed symmetrically.
5A. *Stand-up's delivery : (dirty) JOKE. classic (not dirty).
12A. *Bygone magazine known for its photography : (dirty) LOOK. fashion magazine, final issue october 1971.
14A. *2012 presidential campaign issue : (dirty) JOBS
17A. *Office betting group : (dirty) POOL. dirty pool is a phrase meaning unfair or unsportsmanlike conduct. also a great stevie ray tune.
61A. *Failure : (dirty) BOMB
65A. *Pay attention to : (dirty) MIND. i always pay attention to a dirty mind.
67A. *Function as promised : (dirty) WORK
69A. *Give everyone a hand : (dirty) DEAL. tried clap first.
1D. *Hemingway title character : the (dirty) OLD MAN and the sea.
19D. *Most famous Hogwarts pupil : (dirty) HARRY potter.
42D. *Documents often stored in a safe : (dirty) DEEDS
50D. *Bamboozles : (dirty) TRICKS
and the unifier, right in the middle:
39. 1967 war film, and an apt description for this puzzle's starred answers : THE DIRTY DOZEN
melissa here.
melissa here.
wow! 13 theme entries, what's not to love about that? clever theme, and interesting grid pattern, with the blocks in the northeast and southwest corners. a few obscure unknowns, but doable.
across:
1. Nobel Institute site : OSLO.
9. Stat for Randy Johnson : ERA. baseball pitching statistic, earned run average.
13. Dip __ in: test : A TOE
16. Early eighth-century year : DCCI. 701.
18. Novelist Wharton : EDITH
20. Folk singer Miriam known as "Mama Africa" : MAKEBA
22. __-Man : PAC
24. Narc's agcy. : DEA. drug enforcement administration.
25. Darth, at one time : ANI. too obscure for me, perps to the rescue. i found this from wikipedia: A character named "Anikin Starkiller" also appears in an early draft of Star Wars, playing a role similar to Luke Skywalker's. is there a better explanation?
26. Final : END MOST
29. __ Lingus : AER. Irish airline.
30. Front and back, at Pebble Beach : NINES, and and 42. Starts a hole, at Pebble Beach : DRIVES
32. Pop flies, usually : OUTS
33. "Car Talk" airer : NPR. click and clack recently announced their retirement. no new episodes as of september of this year.
34. Preferences : LIKES
36. Ullman of comedy : TRACEY. go home!
43. "__ Teenage Werewolf" : I WAS A. 1957 teenage horror film, starring the late michael landon.
44. __ in echo : EAS. maybe i'll understand this in the morning ....
45. Project particular : SPEC. specification.
47. Hardly suitable : INAPT. inappropriate.
51. Cog attachment? : ENT. cogent. i hear groaning.
52. Contest in the sky : AIR RACE
54. Peace, to Pasternak : MIR. boris pasternak was the russian, nobel prize-winning author of dr. zhivago. mir was the name given to the russian space station, meaning both peace and world.
55. Brit. medal : DSO. distinguished service order.
56. Yucatán year : ANO. spanish.
57. Powerful Roman Church family name : ORSINI. had no idea.
59. It's seen around leftovers : SARAN. cute.
64. 20 fins : ONE C. fin is slang for a five dollar bill, and a c-note is slang for $100 - c being the roman numeral for 100.
66. Pamplona pronoun : ESTO. spanish for this.
68. Limit : CAP
70. Slow-leak sound : SSSS
down:
2. Boaster's reply to a boast : SO CAN I. so there.
3. Finalize, as a Final Jeopardy! wager : LOCK IN
4. Dust Bowl migrant : OKIE
5. Mount Fuji's nation : JAPAN. pretty.
6. Missouri River people : OTO. native american tribe.
7. Kitchy-__ : KOO. baby talk, more often gitchy-goo.
8. Sniggler's trap : EEL POT
9. DVD button : EJECT
10. Thing to spare, in an adage : ROD. spare the rod and spoil the child. i'll disagree.
11. Conformity : ABIDANCE. perfectly valid word, though not often heard.
15. Go uphill fast? : STEEPEN. ditto.
21. Next to : BESIDE
23. Subordinate in the prosecutor's off. : ASST DA. assistant district attorney.
27. Hardly a couch potato : DOER
28. More attic-like : MUSTIER. nailed it.
31. Map abbr. : ELEV. elevation.
35. "__ Cousins": 1964 Presley film : KISSIN'. have not seen it.
37. Not as gloomy : ROSIER
38. Islamic call to prayer : AZAN. did not know this either.
39. "Knight Rider" car : TRANS AM
40. Like one for the books : HISTORIC
41. Girls' rec. center : YWCA. young women's christian association.
46. Looked into deeply : PROBED
48. Essential acids : AMINOS
49. Sad souls : PINERS. interesting sculpture, called pining.
52. U.S. food retailer that reached its peak in the mid-1900s : A AND P
53. Early computer language : COBOL
58. Plants : SOWS. anyone growing a garden this summer?
60. Prefix with baptist : ANA. anabaptist.
62. Sweet ending : OSE. as in dextrose, sucrose, fructose, glucose.
63. NYC subway overseer : MTA. metropolitan transportation authority.
Answer grid.
melissa
Answer grid.
melissa
59 comments:
Morning, all (and Happy 4th of July)!
Made it through this one all right, but it felt rather ungainly to me. The theme was perfectly fine (although I didn't have a clue as to what the starred answers had in common until I got to the theme reveal). Some of the other clues and answers, though...
MAKEBA and ORSINI were complete unknowns to me. MAKEBA in particular looked like one big typo even after getting all the letters via the perps.
ABIDANCE and STEEPEN just seemed awkward, even though (as Melissa pointed out) they are perfectly valid words.
The clue for SARAN was cute all right, except that I've only seen it called SARAN WRAP and not just SARAN before, so I hesitated.
Had DUSTIER instead of MUSTIER, which slowed things down a bit for me.
COBOL is/was an "early" computer language? Man, I feel old...
44A. __ in echo : EAS
"E as in echo"
News to me that Anikan Skywalker (Luke's father) was in early drafts Anakin Starkiller and not related to Luke. It's a long Wiki article that I'll read later.
Anyway, in the prequels, Anakin, as a small boy, was called Ani.
This one had unknowns to me. Makeba, Orsini. 9 down clue should have been 'DVD Player', not DVD button. A DVD has no buttons. It's just a disk.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Mike Peluso, for a great puzzle. Thank you, as well, Melissa B., for a great write-up.
This puzzle was amazing. 12 theme words, all arranged symmetrically. Wow! I did not catch the theme right away and did not catch the placement of the words until Melissa pointed it out.
Got the first three Across answers easily, OSLO, JOKE, and ERA. Then i slowed down.
Put in ERASE for 9D. That messed up the NE corner until almost the end. Finally plugged in EJECT. I remembered EDITH Wharton.
Did not know MAKEBA, but with six perps you cannot miss.
ABIDANCE came slowly, but finally got it.
Did not know ORSINI. I am not an expert on the Roman Church. Of course I could have been had it not been for Martin Luther.
A AND P was a snap. We just had the the other day.
We use EEL, and all similar words, so often in crosswords, that I may have to eat some sometime. I have never eaten EEL. Maybe Jeannie can pop in and give us a recipe. We miss you, Jeannie.
Happy fourth of July everyone. I put my flag out at 6:00 AM. Might work in the garden before it hits 95 again.
Fireworks tonight in our town.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
I thought this was tougher than your average Wednesday fare. Melissa, thanks for pointing out all the dirty words and the symmetry. It's quite a work of art.
Hand up for DUSTIER before MUSTIER. In the SW I was slowed down by HEED/MIND and TOP/CAP, and in the SE my HISS became SSSS. The end result was that it took longer than the allotted minutes to solve. Boo-SSSS.
Melissa, I never thought of LOOK as a fashion magazine. I thought it was more like a newsreel in stills.
Happy Fourth, all. Hope you have a blast!
Trying my old Avatar
Abejo
Again.
Abejo
Good Morning, MelissaBee and friends. Interesting puzzle. I loved all those DIRTY Words. The unifier helped me connect some of the other 12 dirty clues.
I will miss Car Talk, when it goes off live broadcasts in the fall.
I, too, initially tried Clap before DEAL for Give Everyone a Hand.
I think the former LOOK magazine was more of a competitor to Life magazine than a fashion magazine. The Brits had a fashion magazine called Look.
The Nobel Peace Prize is given out in OSLO, but all the others are distributed in Stockholm.
Have a happy 4th. We will brave the heat and crowds to see the fireworks on the River this evening.
QOD: I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone. ~ Edith Cavell
Happy Fourth of July, everyone!
Great write-up, melissa. For 44A, “EAS” means “e”, as in “echo”. It must have been very late when you did the blog, LOL!
Hand up for needing perps at MAKEBA and ANI, and having dUSTIER before MUSTIER .
I thought the theme was terrific, and when I realized that Hemingway’s title character was part of it, I laughed out loud. “Dirty old man”, indeed.
Not bad for WEdnesday, but I missed COBOL and BOMB because I have no idea about all things early computer and NY, thus MTA was a mystery too. Also had no idea what sport pop flies referred to so had PUTS and no idea how to make sense of its perps. I even thought it might actually have something to do with insects.
I also didn't know ABIDANCE or ORSINI although I got them. I do know MAKEBA, ANI.
Enjoy the 4th, if it's cool enough to be outside where you are. Here I think we'll stay in the house.
Hello Puzzlers -
Had to work at this one, but luckily THE DIRTY DOZEN filled in early. The theme helped me see the light on a few clues.
I didn't notice the world-class grid symmetry, however. Thanks for pointing it out, M.B.!
Just yesterday I was telling a seasoned traveller that I had flown on AER Lingus, to which he replied "Ah yes, Aer Lingus, the lickable airline." I'm just sayin'.
I'm with Barry. Dustier refers to attics, not mustier. Cellars are musty, attics are dusty. I have never been in a musty attic. Also, SPEC and INAPT should have had an indication that they were abbreviations.
Terrific theme and write up, although this one took longer than it should have.
I agree. I have never been in a MUSTY attic, just dusty.
New word of the day- ABIDANCE. I tried and tried to avoid it, but had to let it stand.
I missed so much on the blog last night. Yes, I am fascinated by the book, Aztec. Like some of you I have read all the Michener novels, some 2 or 3 times. Chesapeake was one of my favorites.
I also enjoy James Clavell's novels and read Tai Pei, Shogun, Noble House, and Gai JIn all twice. Jayce I think you would like these.
I will try Edward Rutherford next.
Argyle, great Butchart Garden link. Jayce, I like your tatse in classical music.
Happy 4th of July.
Yellowrocks (hugs) from Kathy
Anon@8:41 -- INAPT is not an abbreviation, and SPEC is used so often (build to spec, spec it out, etc.) that it's a word by itself.
Wonderful Wednesday and a Fabulous Fourth for you all. I loved the puzzle and appreciate how much effort was required to create this spread out grid.
MAKEBA was an unknown, but the ORSINI FAMILY was one of the five main families of the Italian Medieval era along with the Borgia family, the Colonna family, the Medici family, and the Sforza family. Some speculate the structure of the Mafia was based on these five powerful and often ruthless people. The five centuries they ruled also included the growth of artists like Michaelangelo. All fun stuff to read about.
m as in melissa, always a pleasure; likewise mr.peluso. be careful with your fireworks.
Happy Independence Day, Melissa and all!
WBS. While this was very doable, it seemed contrived but I can't argue with the theme, a DOZEN DIRTY words!
57A had to be MEDICI or ORSINI and I tried the latter first but ROSIER intervened.
WEES about ABIDANCE except that I wrote NEA instead of DEA. No wonder it didn't make sense.
COBOL was another error and since there was no indication whether ESTO was fem. or masc. I went with feminine, ESTA.
Obviously I was not cogENT this morning so I'm going back to bed.
Later.
Have a fabulous Fourth, everyone!
Happy Fourth of July, everyone!
Thanks, Melissa, for showing the grid pattern that I did not see until reading the blog this morning. I finished the puzzle but there were a lot of answers I didn't get without perps.
It is only supposed to get into the low 80s where I live, so I will enjoy the day.
Montana
for # 44 across ____ in echo:
that means E as in echo
Could barely get through this last night, but I figured out much more this morning.
My trouble spots were ORSINI, PINERS, and ABIDANCE (insert DIRTY pun about that last one).
To paraphrase George Carlin: We have lots of words to describe these seven; lewd, dirty, adult, vulgar, crude, rude, inappropriate, offensive, demeaning, etc. but when it comes to words you can't say, all I can think is [CENSORED].
Happy 4th, Everyone!
What an enjoyable puzzle! When I realized how many starred clues there were, I started writing them down and I was able to figure out the theme before peeking at the unifier. I didn't realize there were a DOZEN, though ... great work, Mike Peluso!
Thanks for your write-up, Melissa. You explained those things that I wasn't quite sure of. I learned about ANI, ANAbaptist and AZAN. My "huh" moments occurred with STEEPEN, ABIDANCE and CogENT. I had the same thoughts as others with AANDP, 'Clap' before DEAL and 'Dustier' / MUSTIER. I really liked 'Like one for the books' - HISTORIC.
We'll be going to a family cook-out today, also my "baby" brother's birthday - he's 55. :-)
Enjoy the holiday!
Triumph has same amount of letters as TransAm. Heeds instead of Minds and Spoon instead of Saran; which had crossed my mind. So I never had a chance at cog or in echo.
Good morning:
Kudos to Mr. Peluso for a clever and challenging puzzle and to Melissa for a super expo. That said, I agree with Lucina that it seemed contrived. Didn't like abidance, steepen, onec, anabaptist, Azan, ani, etc. Oh well, variety is the spice of life!
Have a safe, Happy Fourth everyone. Happy Birthday, America!
Very nice 4th of July puzzle Mike as I agree with Melissa B’s assessment. Like yesterday my naticks (MAKEBA, ORSINI, ANI and AZAN) had very nice escape hatches. How ya gonna learn?
Musings
-Jokes that are funny from WIT beat those that attempt humor by saying something inappropriate or filthy.
-The show Dirty Jobs was fascinating. I particularly liked the one where Mike Rowe had to grease the drive mechanism of the shuttle crawler/transporter
-When Omaha’s Bob Gibson’s had an ERA of 1.12 in 1968, MLB lowered the mound 5” to try to help the batters
-There was a 3% chance that the MIR space station would hit land when it fell back to Earth. What didn’t burn up hit the ocean unlike America’s Skylab that landed in parts of western Australia in 1979.
-Haven’t we all seen stupid Final Jeopardy bets?
-What fabulous hit song has the lyric KOO, KOO, ka choo?
-Jack McCoy was aces as the ADA.
-Elvis made a lot of bad movies like that to keep Col. Tom happy.
-More famous Trans Am with earworm theme song
-The SOWer high atop Nebraska’s capital
Since today's theme is DIRTY, and since the State of Michigan is using these "cakes" as a DWI/DUI prevention campaign, here is a legitimate news report. Warning: if you don't like bathroom humor, don't watch. Maybe our Michigan contingent can confirm this report.
Stupid observation of the day – As I watched our city’s nice half hour fireworks display last night, this question occurred to me – How is a huge fireworks display like a bakery?
Answer later.
Husker, how 'bout Mrs. Robinson?
Bill G (from yesterday), how 'bout 7 * (4 - 4/7)
HG, "I am the Walrus".
Fun puzzle. With the holiday I was rushing to get done so my bride could read that section, so I didn't remember to check out the theme. But it was all filled correctly, so justice triumphed once again.
Was hoping for a Patriotic, Independence Day, July 4th puzzle.
(I guess that would be too difficult to anticipate which day that would be ...)
Oh well, more like a Thursday level.
Cheers to all at Sunset.
Hahtoolah@11:00
I have actually seen that bit played on the news. It certainly is a memorable way to send the message!
Seems like every puzzle has something that's very obscure to some, but obvious to others. Today, that seems to be MAKEBA. I guess if you are over 60 and every had an interest in folk music, this was a gimme. I'm surprised that so many never heard of her. She died Nov. 2008.
On the other hand, give me a clue about a rock group later than 1980, or some recent comedian, and I'm completely lost.
That's what perps are for, I guess. My pet peeve is when two "obscure" names cross and it becomes pure guess.
I agree that COG-ENT was a stretch. I managed to guess that since little else made sense, but didn't really believe it would be correct.
SSSS wasn't hard (HISS was my first guess), but I don't think SSSS is a legit word, so I didn't care for that one.
The theme helped a lot, once I corrected THELONGESTDAY to THEDIRTYDOZEN, and figured out what was dirty. Amazing that the 12 starred answers are symmetric. Wow, that's gotta be tough to construct.
Clever, clever, but tough, puzzle--many thanks, Mike. And great write-up, as always, Melissa.
"The House of Mirth" is one of my favorite novels, so EDITH Wharton got me started. It also helped that I've heard of Miriam MAKEBA although I wasn't sure about the spelling. But I had a lot of trouble with the SE corner, putting 'Medici' instead of 'Orsini,' for one.
Was thankful that we had A & P recently, but also put 'esta' instead of ESTO and so messed up on COBOL, which of course I would not have known (late to computers).
But a great way to start the Fourth of July! Have a wonderful day, everybody!
-Yup, Joe, here is the KOO lyric I was thinking of. Walrus seems to have the words - I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob, Joe.
Bakery/Fireworks connection – you experience sensory overload with both experiences and then after a while, not so much. You become so accustomed to the delightful odors of the bakery (best we ever saw was in Oberammergau, Germany) and the majesty of the fireworks (Disney’s are the best night after night) that you are not as amazed as you were initially. A fickle lot, we humans.
100°+F today and cooling off a lot next week with rain.
argyle, et. al., thanks for the 'e as in' clarification. marti, i did get a late start - i'll blame it on that.
thank c.c. for the visual, which shows how impressive the construction is. i would agree with 'contrived,' the definition of which is 'to plan with cleverness or ingenuity.'
george, i had no problem with 9d as i was solving, but you're quite right.
desper-otto and hahtoolah, you are right about look magazine. there is a uk fashion weekly called look. the american magazine with the same name was more like life magazine, but with an emphasis on pictures.
thanks lemon.
happy fourth all.
26 ACROSS ANSWER IS NOT LISTED
I was doing OK with this puzzle until I got to the bottom. I didn't know ABIDANCE and still don't. I will be surprised if I ever see it again.
Gary, I really enjoy Dirty Jobs. Mike Roe is smart and funny. He's a guy I would enjoy sitting down and talking with. I guess his show's on hiatus.
Koo koo ka choo Mrs. Robinson...
desper-otto wrote: (from yesterday), how 'bout 7 * (4 - 4/7)
Very excellent! I'm guessing it took you a while. What lead to your insight? I got mine driving down the freeway at night coming home from Palm Springs.
Hello everybody, and happy independence day. What Freond said about Miriam MAKEBA, rock groups, and crossings that can only be filled by pure guess. Agree about the contrivedness of this puzzle, but also about how well-constructed it is. Hand up for entering MEDICI. COBOL was a gimme, too. IWASA looks like a Japanese word.
Yellowrocks, I have read all of the James Clavell novels, a couple of them twice, and liked them all.
HeartRx, holy wow and thank you your link to Mt. WTF last night. I never knew there really is such a place.
And now I'm off to go STEEPEN my learning curve, steep a teabag, steeple my fingers, and dive steeply back into the novel I have been steeping myself in. As the little birdies cry out from their nest. "Steep! Steep!" Or was that the Roadrunner's cry?
Best wishes to you all.
Earlier I didn't take the time to look at the grid and now that I have am really impressed! I can see that it had to be contrived to achieve that symmetry. It's pure genius. Congatulations, Mike Peluso, it's an opus magnum.
Happy Independence Day all!
Well, I said a few DIRTY WORDs trying to figure out this puzzle. I gave birth in 1967 and remembering movie names was not a priority. I made every error WEES. Also had an S___N at 59A so wrote in Scorn--some people turn up their noses at leftovers.
Dudley, makes me wonder what Lingus translates to in Gaelic. I know lingual has to do with tongue. But?
Hahtoolah, maybe they could include alcohol testing devices in those urinal cakes that shout "DO NOT DRIVE! You're legally drunk!"
Jayce: re Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliett: As a college freshman, I would study an hour then put on R&J and dance for ten minutes. Then with the blood stirred up in my brain, I'd hit the books again. Purely loved that Prokofiev.
Where is 26 ACROSS? It's not listed. There is no 69 DOWN should be 69 ACROSS (DEAL)
69D instead of 69A is not a big deal, a small typo.
Since the answer grid is linked twice, at the begining and at the end, you can see 26A. Do you have a question about the answer?
I was out watering my front yard last evening and met my new neighbor for the first time. They are planning a fireworks party on their back patio this evening. Never mind they have a big dried brush pile beside the patio from cutting down all the little trees and shrubs. I "mentioned" the possibility of fires. She too seemed to think I'm an alarmist old bat.
Our houses are about 20 feet apart. Think I should load all my valuables in the car and prepare to run for it?
With the wildfires in Oklahoma a couple years ago, my daughter-in-law drove out with her four boys and the dog. 37 houses in her neighborhood destroyed. Her house had minimal damage. It was a military family neighborhood and the arsonists were never identified.
PK, cool that you would get up and dance to R&J. I would get up and wildly wave my arms around like a crazed wannabe conductor. Wait, I was a wannabe conductor. I was also a wannabe pianist, visions of women swooning around my Franz Liszt persona as I dazzled everyone with my keyboard virtuosity. Of course, as an elderly adult now, I no longer harbor such fantasies...
PK, grab your garden hose(s) and water your house down. Maybe "accidentally" wet down their little pile of brush, too. Then load all your valuables in the car and prepare to run for it!
How combustible is vinyl siding? That doesn't hose down and hold moisture too good. The water pressure in my hose last night doesn't hold much promise of reaching either the roof or their brush pile on the far side of their house. So I'll just sign off...
PKK (Potential Krispy Kritter)
Paranoia will destroy ya...
Just relax and enjoy all the pretty colors. Your house will not catch fire and the kids will all have a very fun time!
We used to have a cedar shake roof. I really liked it but my wife was always nervous around July 4th. Nothing bad ever happened. Maybe her worrying kept the bottle rockets away. When we finally decided on a new roof, recent building codes required that we have a composition roof. Now she doesn't worry so much, at least about the roof.
Bill G, we had a shake shingle roof too, which worried me a little during hot dry summers. Our year-old new roof is gorgeous, and it's made out of fire-resistance composite materials, so we're happy.
Lucina, would more than one magnum opus be magni opera? LOL
I propose an experiment. Ask any native Hindi speaker how fakir is pronounced.
Jayce, glad you liked the Mount WTF link last night. I watched those marines hike all the way up and then run down again!
Husker G, I thought of "I am the Walrus" for Koo-koo-kachoo, but agree that it fits "Mrs Robinson" better...although online lyrics spell it a s "coo". Who knew?
Probably my best bet is to lurk behind the big gum tree at the fence line with a loaded hose and spray hell out of the box of fireworks if they bring them out.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Most of the towns west of here have banned fireworks entirely.
PPKK (Paranoid Potential Krispy Kritter)
Maybe you could join the party and enjoy yourself. Leave your garden hose out and have a couple of buckets filled and ready. Get to know your new neighbours and have fun at the party. Keep an eye on the fireworks. Most likely they are harmless fountains and bottlerockets. If any accident should occur at least you will see it happen. Better than sitting inside with a frown on your face.
And remember what we are celebrating today!
Marti, this is what I found
"I Am the Walrus" is a 1967 song by The Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon/McCartney. Lennon claimed he wrote the first two lines on separate acid trips. The song was in the Beatles' 1967 television film and album Magical Mystery Tour, and was the B-side to the #1 hit "Hello, Goodbye".
The song also contains the exclamation goo goo g'joob with "koo koo g'joob" heard clearly in the second. Various hypotheses exist regarding the origin and meaning. One is that the phrase was derived from the similar "koo koo ka choo" in Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson", written in 1967. However, the film The Graduate, where "Mrs. Robinson" debuted, did not appear until December 1967, a month after "I Am the Walrus", and The Graduate Original Soundtrack (which contained only fragments of the final version of "Mrs Robinson") was not issued until January 1968.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Did_the_Beatles_sing_the_song_Mrs_Robinson#ixzz1zha9l100
I have a scar on my ring finger from a 4th of July incident. My mother has let us buy some under-the-counter firecrackers from a little country store on the way to my grandmother's house. I was outside at dusk and decided my brother's big sparkler would be a good way to light my cherry bomb. The trouble was, the bright sparkles kept me from being able to tell when it was lit. As a result, it went off in my hand. The flash temporarily blinded me, the bang temporarily deafened me and my hand was numb from the shock. I couldn't tell if I still had any fingers. I slowly felt down my arm with my other hand and was delighted to find some fingers. I began crying with relief and went inside. My father bundled me up and we headed off to the emergency room where I got stitched up right beside another guy with the same injury caused when his cherry bomb went off while he was lighting it in a fountain.
Greetings!
I hope you are all having a great Fourth!
Quite a puzzle, Mike. Nice expo, mb.
I thought this one was more of a Thursday level also. I think I thought through all 26^2 possibilities for the first 2 letters of ABIDANCE. Became all flustered. But had no trouble with the other answers complained about herein. As I recall, COBOL is notorious for relationship to millennium bug.
I have a veggie garden. I sowed the seeds in a Burpee greenhouse early. My ersatz gardener then put them in prepared rows. Have squash coming out my ears. Big green tomatoes which are certainly taking their time ripening.
Cheers!
When I used to have a community garden plot, I planted Early Girl tomatoes which ripened fairly quickly and Better Boy which were larger and took longer to ripen. Boy, they sure tasted good. They even smelled good.
I sliced one, bigger than a softball sized, dead ripe, luscious tomato today and it enhanced 8 hamburgers!
(Plus the brats with sauteed peppers and onions, potato salad, baked beans and deviled eggs! Then home made ice cream. I can hardly wiggle)
Fire Marshall Burns: I was joking about lurking with my hose. I'm past 70. The party next door are all well built young men and voluptuous young women in their 20's. For the past hour they have been sliding down the hill on their bellies on a plastic water slide, then pulling their strapless bikini tops back up. One guy lost his trunks almost entirely. Hilarious. So I am enjoying the party, but believe me, these are not people who will be gracious if I crash their party. They are pretty drunk already with tiki lights blazing very close to the dry high hedge. No children at this party. Just big people who haven't matured. I don't have my nose pressed on the glass. I just peek at them occasionally.
I watched the PBS Capital 4th musical TV show in my air conditioned home. A very comfortable celebration.
At present there is a major aerial fireworks display above the tree tops at the country club golf course a block from here. Luckily, the wind is blowing away from my home so I'm not worried about sparks for now. I can't help but wonder how many hungry people that display would feed at our homeless shelter that is now being enlarged out of necessity.
Anybody else jealous of PK's situation?
PK, just let me know and I'll volunteer to stop by to keep an eye on your rowdy neighbors. They clearly need some mature supervision.
My fault for the wrong 69D & missing 26 Across.
We experienced some technical difficulties yesterday morning. We still do, with Wednesday's post. The Edit mode is acting up.
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