When I was in college and we read Shakespeare, our professor would drag out an old volume which was printed in old English where the "s" in the beginning and middle of the words looked like the letter "f." So in this wonderfully witty offering from Dr. Ed Sessa, the "s" sound in words are replaced with F where the they sound like S. The 'sounds like' aspect is really well done, but the added bonus of the long S versus the minuscule S made it great for me. Also, working "Lilliputian" and "Brobdingnagian" into the clues in same puzzle is awesome (with a hidden bonus); only 9 three letter words and nice non-theme fill like FLURRIED, GUFFAWED, SCOUT OUT, SCREW TOP make this a really nice Friday. I believe this is our 17th from Ed, and the last one I blogged was a double ZZ puzzle back in February. Let's start our day with a song from a Z who died too young.
20A. Dog aficionados?: GREYHOUND BUFFS.(BUS). (14). Buffs being a slang for someone interested in something big time, and a Greyhound bus is, well a bus. I had hound from the perps, but this fell after I got
34A. Lilliputian ocean formations?: PEE WEE REEFS. (REESE). (11). The old Dodger shortstop becomes a little reef, excellent.
40A. Fodder for the British tabloids?: NOBLE GAFFES. (GASES).(11). They love their royalty, and they love skewering them in the press. I still do not know why a GAS would want to be Noble, maybe Barnes knows.
54A. Reason for many December returns?: CHRISTMAS GOOFS.(GOOSE).(14). Back in GB where the goose rather than the turkey is the fowl of choice.
on with the show.
Across:
Across:
1 "Apostrophe (')" rocker: ZAPPA. My friend Edgar Riley played keyboards for him; Frank died of prostate cancer.
6 Decide not to run: KILL. I had the hardest time convincing myself to put the K in but KAPUT was solid, and I guess if you do not go forward with a project you kill it.
10 Artist van __: GOGH. Earie clue.
14 Works about the country: IDYLS. Damn variant spelling slowed me down wanting two Ls.
15 It may involve pi: AREA..
16 Bone used in pronation: ULNA.. This is our bone of the month apparently.
17 Multiple Grammy winner Jones: NORAH. A fabulous VOICE (2:34) for the daughter of sitar master Ravi Shankar.
18 Party animal?: PONY. rent a pony or a clown.
19 Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a __”: FAUN. Very soothing MUSIC(.5:12), very tough clue.
23 Word seen annually on a November People magazine cover: SEXIEST.
24 Grisham’s gp.: ABA. America Bar Association. In the real world, not an important organization to lawyers.
25 Bit of needlework: TAT. Funny, I read articles by young people who seem to think tattoos and piercings are new.
26 Common soft drink feature: SCREW TOP. I had the top, but it took a while to get to SCREW. I am getting old.
31 Current type: EBB. Maybe my enthusiasm ebbed.
36 “__ the opinion ...”: I'M OF. Initially, did not see the 'the' so I had IN MY, that was bad.
38 Conan Doyle title: SIR. Not one of his books, but himself.
39 Artist who wrote “Diary of a Genius”: DALI. He makes sense of the term twisted genius; I love how he was portrayed in Midnight in Paris.
45 May honorees: MAS. Moms would not fit, I almost gave up in Spanish like Roberto Duran.
46 Search for: SCOUT OUT. This took work and perps, but I like it.
47 Bygone flier: TWA. Not a bird, and airline.
49 McClanahan of “The Golden Girls”: RUE. Only Betty White lives, they almost switched. LINK.(2:55).
50 Classic Stutz: BEARCAT. I heard so much about this car as a child.
58 Kapalua Airport site: MAUI.
59 Father of Phobos: ARES. here we go again with more war.
60 Rhymes of rap: BUSTA. I cannot censor, so WATCH (3:21) at your own risk.
61 Hunger: URGE. This Corner was tough for me.
62 Buzz cut’s lack: PART. So simple, in retrospect.
63 Starlike flower: ASTER. The names comes from the Latin, ASTRUM, and should remind you of asteroids or astral projection.
64 Horse show: MR ED. I am embarrassed to say, I had an M RED moment, before I remembered he was a horse of course. We have had one of our own at the corner. I should have recalled Dr. Sessa' s wonderful Mr. Ed puzzle.
65 Sport with a wired weapon: EPEE.
66 Park and drive: GEARS. My first thought was lots, but my brain awoke, and came out of neutral.
Down:
1 Sharp put-downs: ZINGS. Of course for us it is THIS.(1:28).
2 Esteem to the max: ADORE.
3 Lab glass: PYREX. All you want to know about borosilicate GLASS.
4 Start of an oft misquoted 1942 film line: PLAY IT. Again Sam, is the misquote; oddly the words said start the same, but go on "Sam, you played it for her..."
5 Valueless pile: ASH HEAP. Diabolical to have two Hs next to each other in a word.
6 Down the tubes: KAPUT.
7 Element abundant in liver: IRON.
8 __ a hand: LEND.
9 Expose: LAY BARE. More nice non-theme words requiring thought. Almost enough of an excuse to link Ygritte naked.
10 Didn’t just chuckle: GUFFAWED. At first, I was thinking with the FF, this might be part of the theme, but it is just a nice word.
11 Norway’s patron saint: OLAF. I think our Norwegian readers get more shout outs than anyone else.
12 African bovines: GNUS. I am sure this was not new to you and you knew the GNU.
13 Dynasty after the Qin: HAN. No relation to Solo or ukkah.
21 Bone: Pref.: OSTE.oporosis for example.
22 Over, to Ulrich: UBER.
26 Fleet: SWIFT. This for me is the subtle highlight of the work, as the clue was tricky, not dealing with lots of cars or trucks, but also is the surname of Jonathan Swift who wrote about the Lilliputians and the Brobdingnagians.
27 Co-panelist with Francis and Kilgallen: CERF.
27 Co-panelist with Francis and Kilgallen: CERF.
28 Group with lineups: TEAM. And no I.
29 “Man __Mancha”: OF LA. (OLAF anagram?) My inspiration, Don Quixote.
30 Three-pronged letters: PSIS. Ψ, ψ, he sighed.
31 A tenth of zehn: EINS. German Ten and One.
32 UCLA VIP, e.g.: BMOC. Big Man On Campus.
33 Former wrestling star __ Brazil: BOBO. I used to sit and watch the wrestling, Killer Kowalski, Bruno Sammartino with my grandfather; great bonding moments. WATCH. (2:00).
35 Genesis twin: ESAU.
37 Came down without sticking, usually: FLURRIED. I was snowed by this clue for the longest time.
41 Case for some small, sharp items: ETUI. Sewing stuff.
42 Blows one’s stack: GOES APE.
43 Hot times in the cité: ETES. Summer which starts this year at 1:00 AM EDT. Apparently now we must see this fill everyday until fall.
44 Party parting gift: SWAG BAG. Nice rhyme and to me more related to events than parties.
48 Motivate: AROUSE. Yes, I do recall trying to motivate a young lady recently, when... oh, never mind.
50 Tend to a duck: BASTE. Don't feed it, cook it.
51 __ del Sol: COSTA.
52 Hunting: AFTER. Not my first choice, but the perps led the way and it does work.
53 Alexander et al.: TSARS. Making a clue comeback this week.
54 “The Alienist” author: CARR. Caleb, a wonderful book.
55 Brobdingnagian: HUGE. We had the little, now the big.
56 Crab pot, e.g.: TRAP.
57 Not much more than: MERE. Just one clue away from the end, it should take a mere minute.
58 Fall bloom: MUM. is the word.
So it is time to pack my needles and and my barbs into my etui and go off into the night. Thanks Ed for a really challenging Friday, and thank you all for being here and checking in. Lemonade out.
Note from C.C.:
1) Below are a few beautiful photos from Marti's Italy trip. Please click here for more. Notice the name of that store (#4)?
The view from our balcony in Rapallo, Italy (on the "Italian Riviera")
Wine and pizza for lunch - how cliched!!
Joe cool! (Marti's husband Allen)
2) Lucina is visiting CA at the moment. The California coven gathered at Dodo's place yesterday.
Left to right: Lucina, Chickie, Dodo, Garlic Gal & JD
3) Belated Happy Anniversary to Chickie and her husband Bill!
54 comments:
Morning, all!
Rocky start this morning. Had no idea what "Apostrophe(') Rocker" referred to, tried SLAMS for "Sharp put-downs", thought "Decide not to run" was referring to political office, couldn't come up with ASH HEAP to save my life, and was pretty confident about PETITE REEFs at 34A until I figured out the theme.
Once I figured out the theme, however, things picked up. Got CHRISTMAS GOOFS off of just the OOFS at the end (although getting BEARCAT and COSTA was a bit of a challenge in that corner).
When I revisted the NW, I was finally able to guess PLAY IT and PYREX, which gave me ZAPPA and opened the whole section up.
At the end, I almost turfed it at the crossing of EBB and EINS. I originally thought 33D was going to be LOBO, which gave me _BL for 31A. And I was thinking electrical current and not water current. I was also thinking that "zehn" bust be some strange currency I've never heard of. I finally decided that _BL wasn't too likely and tried BOBO instead. With _BB in place, I reluctantly went with EBB (it's a tide, it's a flow, but is it a current?) and then the light bulb went off with INS.
*TADA*
[heorgo]
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. This was a challenge with lots of misdirections.
I wanted Mom instead of MAS. I would never call my mother Ma.
I initially tried SST in lieu of TWA.
I though a Buzz Cut's lack was Hair instead of a PART.
I also wanted Haigs instead of TSARS for the Alexander, et al.
My first thought was Petri instead of PYREX for the lab glass. PYREX is not limited to the lab, unless my kitchen is considered a lab.
I liked the Party Animal = PONY, but I was thinking of a Pony Keg instead of an actual animal.
Nice photos, Marti. Looks like you had a good time in Europe.
QOD: Every age has a keyhole to which its eye is pasted. ~ Mary McCarthy (June 21, 1912 ~ Oct. 25, 1989)
[otnuffe]
I liked this puzzle. Realizing that Friday usually has a letter substitution theme helped. It was even easier than yesterday's, except for the R in MR. ED. I put the puzzle down had another cup of coffee and the R popped into my head.
SST before TWA, ETES corrected that.
I didn't question the one L in IDYLS, although two Ls are customary, as Lemon pointed out.
My mother used to make delicious roast duck. I have never tried to make it. I love Peking duck at a good Chinese restaurant.
We frequently have some reference to APE. GOES APE reminds me of yesterday, APISH for inane. I thought of my students pretending to be apes and acting inane. They weren't GOING APE, just being silly.
My dictionary defines EBB current ( eb krnt ) ( oceanography ) The tidal current associated with the decrease in the height of a tide.
ED, great puzzle. Lemonade, always witty and informative.
Great pix, Marti, the Coven, and Chickie and Bill. Happy Anniversary Chickie and Bill. Have a wonderful day.
Great Friday puzzle. None of it came easily, but the worst was the SW corner. I had IT IS instead of IM OF the opinion. Finally got MR ED (a show I loved to watch), then MAUI, and that led to filling in the whole bottom corner, but I was still left with the west central. I knew EINS was right... but that stupid IT IS threw it all off. Finally looked up BOBO, and that blew the thing wide open.
It took a while but I got er done!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Ed Sessa, for a fine, but difficult, puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for the fine review.
Could not get started where I like to, so I bounced around all over until I was able to get a word here and there.
First theme answer was PEE WEE REEFS.
Thought BASTE was clever for 50D Tend to a duck.
Tried SLIDE for 3D. Became obvious that was wrong. After GREYHOUND BUFFS I put in PYREX.
Wanted SWAP BAG for 44D. SWAG BAG appeared after the long horizontal answer.
EPEE was confusing to me. I thought that was the weapon, not the sport. I thought the sport was fencing. Maybe someone can help?
I had trouble in the West central. Needed some help to figure that area out.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(atescos)
Whew, hot and sticky on this solstice day. Just finished my 3-mile march. DW should be getting home this evening, so tomorrow I won't have to march alone. Her dad wound up in the hospital in D.C., so she spent this week there. Turned out to be nothing serious, though at 95 **anything** can be serious.
Nice puzzle, Ed! But for me it was no purfuit of happineff (ala Jefferson). I floundered at the Golden Gate. Like Barry, I thought a zehn was some unit of insane currency. And I'd never heard of that wrestling star, but I guessed that BO_O must be BOYO. So I never got NOBLE, instead I got a dreaded DNF.
Like Hahtoolah, I had SST before TWA, and I also thought the PONY would be a keg. Lemon, the gases are called NOBLE because they aren't very reactive, in fact, for a long time they were thought to be inert. There are also NOBLE metals -- gold, silver, platinum, etc.
Great photos, folks. Looks like the coven had a fine cackle.
Got fooled (again!) by MRED. Other than that it was a very enjoyable start to the morning.
A nurse is coming to the house this morning to do an insurance physical ...I'm a little worried about getting on a scale after the croissants, foie gras and cheeses of France. So tell me again why the French aren't fat?
Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
Lemony, your enthusiasm never EBBs!!
Well, I am finally back in the swing of things, and this puzzle was a fun way to get there! Loved the letter substitution, and I also thought of those old manuscripts. All you ever wanted to know about s/f substitutions in old writing.
I didn't have any problem with "zehn" or Ulrich's UBER, since we just spent a week in Austria. But the hardest part for me was transitioning from speaking Italian to speaking German again - I kept saying "Grazie" instead of "Danke"!! Thanks for posting my pics, C.C. It was really difficult to choose only a few.
Great pics of the CA Coven, too! And happy anniversary, Chickie & Bill. I hope it was a wonderful one.
Now I'm off to tackle that pile on my desk...
Happy Friday Everybody! This was a nice puzzle, but it took me a moment to catch the theme. CHRISTMAS GOOFS opened up some doors in my mind.
I liked 64A: Horse Show. I never saw MR. ED coming. I figured this had to do with breeds, as in a dog show, etc.
My brother enjoys Frank ZAPPA's music. I never could get into it though.
Have a great Friday and a super weekend everybody!
(I'm usually pretty good at the captcha's, but that last one didn't even look like it was composed of letters.)
Happy anniversary, Chickie. You look like a happy couple.
Hi Y'all! Fun one, Ed! I must have been on your wave length although when I first started I had no clues in the north. Kept filling down then back up & done.
ZAPPA music sounds like his name. Still don't understand what the apostrophe is about.
KILL is a term used often in journalism. If the story is not run, the editor did KILL it for one or more reason.
Brobdinagian? Never heard of that one.
Doing genealogy one reads a lot of old documents with the "ss" like "ff's". Always interesting. We had a marriage certificate and baptismal certificate in old German that stumped a learned professor who had been born in Germany. He passed it to a German genealogist for translation finally.
My MA (only my dad called her that) was the world's worst gift giver. Her CHRISTMAS GOOFS were legendary.
I am surprised you all perceive this as a letter substitution puzzle, as I saw so much more (BUFFS adds two Fs, inside BUS) (GOOFS adds an F and removes an E) to do with the sound and the visual effect.
Happy Anniversary Chickie, and thanks for the pictures marti. Nice to see the CA Coven still going strong.
PYREX certainly is used for home cooking, but was a big help in the lab over simple glass.
Apostrophe(') is the name of an album.
The 4D clue, "Start of an oft-misquoted 1942 film line" (emphasis added), is simply incorrect. "PLAY IT," the answer, is the entire line (from Casablanca). The frequent misquotations are "Play it again, Sam," and "Play it, Sam." The clue should have been simply "Oft-misquoted 1942 film line" – or, ponderously, "Start of a frequent misquotation of a 1942 film line."
A real joy from MR ED! Theme did AROUSE laughter, esp. PEE WEE REEF! I was sorry when it was UBER.
Musings
-Days will not now start getting longer after this solstice. To everything turn, turn, turn…
-If you’ve never been in a BUS terminal, you have missed something
-Gift certificates have become de rigueur to avoid CHRISTMAS GOOFS
-The deaths of artists like ZAPPA and Gandolfini are sad but not more so than any other middle aged people
-The NEA meant as little to me as the ABA to you, Lemon.
-SCREW TOPS obviate (how ‘bout that word?) the need for a church key
-BUSTA, et al continue to fill young minds full of crap and then retire to their mansions
-Try putting heated non-PYREX lab glass into an ice bath
-There’ll never be enough benefits to liver to make me eat it
-The small bag for my new camera was called an ETUI in the French info
-Granddaughter, “Hudson, what party favors did you get at the party?” Grandson, “Uh, boys don’t do that.” She was stunned.
-We planted our MUMs yesterday
-Wonderful pix all!
Hi gang -
Lemonade - you saw so much more in this theme than I ever would have. Truly, you've made me appreciate this construction much more in retrospect than I did while working it - which was a real slog.
What this puzzle laid bare is that I am extremely sluggish today, both physically and (especially) mentally.
FAUN was easy for me, TAT hard, BUSTA all perps
The LW and I have decided to give ourselves a down day.
Have a wonderful Friday, everyone.
Cool Regards!
JzB [wondering who would LAY BARE the BEARCAT?]
Lemonade, you outdid yourself, with your wit. Very interesting and enjoyable reading.
I too, had PETRI, rather than PYREX. Pyrex, a trademark of a copied product, originally from Germany, is much more known as kitchenware. But I've long since realized that constructors are often more concerned with 'fit and fill', and clever, esoteric clues rather than getting bogged down with mere fact and reality.
I personally prefer Corningware ceramics - which I believe is a miracle product, both as kitchen cookware, and for serving and dishes. BTW, the Corning Glass museum, in Corning NY, is an absolutely fabulous place to visit and look around.
Hah, your kithen could be your lab as well - depends on how innovative you are with your cooking, and how 'creative' your dishes tend to be. (lol)
Nice pictures, Marti. Very beautiful. Also a very nice picture of the CA coven.
D-Otto, I laughed over, your description of the Noble gases (which I was familiar with - ), over their supposedly, non-reactive nature. Noblemen, over the centuries, and even, especially today, - have been the most 'reactive', what their 'affaires' and their prolific, numerous, 'goings-on'. Well, they've always had the money, they've always had the surplus of idle time and further, they've always had the opportunity ....
Since most scientists, especially in France, were noblemen, they painted the word 'Noble', through a prism of their own concoction.
Have a nice day, you all.
Hi All ~~
What a great puzzle ~ thanks, Ed Sessa! I caught on to the theme after getting GREYHOUND BUFFS and PEEWEE REEFS - fun to say!
The SE corner was my last to fill - BEARCAT, and AROUSE just weren't coming easily. I really liked a lot of the fill - FLURRIED, KAPUT, GUFFAWED to name a few.
At 35D - I thank my two younger brothers who as kids, "wrestled" in the house as Dick the Bruiser and BOBO Brazil. MA (what we all called her) wasn't usually too thrilled about it.
Thanks, Lemonade, for a wonderful write-up ~ I always enjoy your work but this one was exceptional!
Great pictures, Marti it all looks so relaxing!
Lovely photo, too, of the California group - how nice that you could join them, Lucina.
Happy Anniversary, Chickie and Bill - hope it was a special day.
Happy Summer, everyone!
What Lemonade said. I thought the theme was adding “f” or “f” sounds. BUFFS / BUS, REEFS / REESE, GAFFES/GAS, GOOFS/GOOSE. Missed the “f” / “s” substation. But that’s why I read here.
Loved PEEWEEREEFS!
Remembered Brobdingnagian, but backwards, as “tiny”. D’oh!
Like Hahtoolah, Yellowrocks, and Desper-otto, wanted SST before TWA. Also wanted HAIR before PART, COCO before BOBO. Perps fixed all them.
What Abejo said: “EPEE was confusing to me. I thought that was the weapon, not the sport. I thought the sport was fencing. Maybe someone can help?”
All in all, a challenging puzzle for me. Had to Google 4 clues, unusual. But good mental exercise, part of why I do crosswords. Excellent puzzle Ed Sessa! Good write-up, Lemonade!
Good morning, everyone! Terrific Friday puzzle, Ed. Really liked the letter/sound switch theme, very creative. Swell write-up, Lemon – thanks for the ZAPPA and NORAH Jones musical links (though I took a pass on BUSTA Rhymes).
Spent many Saturday afternoons in my youth watching the “Big Time Wrestling” antics of BOBO Brazil, The Sheik and King Kong Brody. Got BEARCAT right away, so I knew 53D was TSARS instead of Czars. (BTW, my hometown University of Cincinnati's sports teams are known as the Bearcats.) Misread the clue for 51D as “____ de Soleil”, so trying to squeeze in CIRQUE made a mess of that corner for a while. But my DNF was handed to me by the MR ED / CARR crossing – one head slap, coming up!
Lovely pictures of your Italy trip, Marti. Happy belated anniversary wishes to Chickie and Bill. Looks like the California Coven had a very nice time.
Have a great Friday, all!
EPEE is both the sword and the sport.
Bing Dictionary
1.fencing sword: a fencing sword that has a narrow triangular blade with a blunted end and a large guard for the hand, heavier than a foil.
2.fencing with épées: the sport of fencing using épées
Good Morning:
Well, this was certainly a challenging Friday offering. I finished w/o help but it took some time. Very clever theme with exceptional fill. Hats off to Mr. Sessa and bravo to Lemony for a sparkling expo.
Marti, your photos are beautiful; what an exciting time you must have had! The Coven ladies look very relaxed and happy; I'm sure Lucina enjoyed being with the "regulars." Happy Anniversary to Chickie and Bill. Nice picture of you both.
Have a fabulous Friday.
Lemonade, I forgot to thank you for your witty expo.
Also thx for answering my question about the Apostrophe.
Chickie & Bill, may you celebrate many more happy anniversaries!
My brother & his wife finally wrenched themselves away from their 3 yr old granddaughter & new baby boy. We went out to lunch and caught up with all the news. Hadn't seen them for a year. So good to have even an hour together.
The Sheik calls up a local sports talk radio show; he is unintelligibly funny.
Caleb CARR has written some other books including a Sherlock Holmes novel and worked on screenplays. I really enjoy his writing.
BTW Ed Sessa is not only a crossword constructor, but he is a practicing pediatrician. His Dr. was not academic but medical. C.C. did a great interview with him, which can be found in the archives.
Easy-Peasy.
Happy Summer Everyone!
Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
This seemingly tough Friday tumbled into my lap. Not so many gimmes here, but my first guesses all turned out right. The only (slight) hitch was my initial misspelling of FAUN as FAWN. But that was quickly corrected.
The "F" theme was fun. This time I caught onto it early enough to find it of real help.
I slowed down a bit in the SW corner, not because the answers wouldn't come but because I was mis-reading the answer for "Horse show." I had MRES at first, thinking it had something to do with those modern meal rations. That made no sense, so happily I did not commit. I had to re-think the case before switching FLURRIES to FLURRIED, changing "S" to "D," to finally arrive at MR ED. No big deal, but the process illustrates how interconnected crosswording is.
Great pictures of all!
Thanks, Lemonade for the clip of "What's my Line?"
Remember that show as a kid, always thought it was "fixed" They flounder a bit and then come up with some "out-of-nowhere" question that nails it.
UCLA VIP: Alum
Choose not to run: Walk
Party animal: (Rep.)Elephant?(Dem.)Donkey? Pin the tail on?
Knew FAUN right off, spelled it wrong.Corrected it.
Actually did better than most Fridays.
DH had to explain FLURRIED. V-8 can to the head. Thought it had to do w/hockey.
When I was in high school, we played hockey outside and it often flurried, so....
Funny one Lemonade! I meant the "sticking" part. I know nothing about hockey, but thought of it anyway.
Funny how crossword clues can mean just the opposite of where my mind goes and I steadfastly refuse to change my direction.
Like choose not to run WALK!!!!
Darn it, WALK!!
I must play the role of Thumper today...
But must ask Barry G. to explain "almost turfed it." I am not familiar with the expression, & need to clear up some mental images...
happy anniversary Chickie & Bill!
Would you believe I am in the doghouse! Yesterday was DW's birthday, & I forgot to get a cake!
(Oh, the irony...!)
(i hope she never sees this Blog, or I am in deep doodoo...)
I remember pull tabs, but instead of screwcap, all I could think of was pop top. (somebody cue margaritaville) ( anyone remember these? )
But must ask Barry G. to explain "almost turfed it." I am not familiar with the expression, & need to clear up some mental images...
Think running across a field and tripping on an uneven spot on the turf, thereby falling flat on your face.
Hi, all!
Not the best puzzle for me. Had little patience last night. Mostly WDOS (what desper-otto said). The ZAPPA clue was totally inscrutable. What a contrast to Thursday's puzzle! Really liked Brobdingandian and Lilliputian!
Thanks Ed and Lemonade!
Nice pix Marti! Also, coven! Belated Happy Anniversary, Chickie!
It is quite cool (73 deg F) for summer!
Cheers!
Tough but enjoyable puzzle for me today.
Happy anniversary Chickie!
I'd have been tempted to drive north all day just to visit a while with those ladies...
I like the cool summer weather. (74 degrees, 55 percent relative humidity)
Hahtoolah, I would never call my mother 'ma' either, or mamá as they do in Downton Abbey. It was Mommy when I was younger. Then I struggled with giving up Mommy and replacing it with something a little more suitable for a teenage boy.
Hola Everyone, I'll try again. The webpage said it had expired and everything went blank!!
I just finished yesterday's puzzle, but I knew that our Coven picture would be on the blog today so I will comment first and read later. We did have a lovely day with the Coven yesterday. It was so nice to see Lucina again. It has been two years since she was able to be with us at Dodo's. Someone actually did come to our table and ask us to keep the "Cackle" down!! It was in jest, but we did become a bit raucous.
Dodo looks great, though she is still having trouble with her computer.
Thank you everyone for all the kind anniversary wishes. We plan to have a nice dinner out this coming weekend. We celebrate big time next year. It will be number 60.
CED, Thanks for the beautiful cake. Chocolate--our favorite.
Happy 59th Anniversary Chickie!
Our very good friends just celebrated their 60th yesterday.
Wow!
have to put my captcha (sp?) in.
talksolo
Pas de Chat (from last night): No, I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. But I am someone who is deathly allergic to bee/hornet/ant stings. I have to keep an epipen at the ready, and plenty of benadryl in the medicine cabinet.
CED, I still keep one of those church keys in the kitchen drawer. I use it for opening cans of broth, among other things.
Hello, old friends,
And I'm sure you all know that 'old' was meant in only the kindest way. Anyway, I'm back at least for now and who knows maybe I'll get back to my old routine.
Lemonade, you still have that touch! I do enjoy your blogs! Thanks much,friend.
Nice puzzle today, I feel very brave, starting back on a Friday! I did finish it but not without a couple of mistakes in the NE and ' SE corners. I read the clue for 'mum' as 'full bloom' so I hit a snag. As far as'Zappa' goes, it's definitely a generational thing.
Yesterday was a wonderful day. What a joy to be with the Coven again. I have to add to Chickie's report: the real joke about our being asked to quiet down was made by a fellow who's stone deaf!
;I loved the picture,taken by one of Lucy's sisters ,or may three of them, I don't remember. Chickie as usual arrived with a bag full of surprises for everyone:bags of home-dried apple slices and a little jar of blueberry jam, also home-made of course! And the cute bag, home sewn, as well, was for me! And with the bottle of Pinot Grigio that JD brought, I made out really big! Well we all did. Just wanted to tell you what Chickie does in her 'spare' time.
Anyway, it's nice to be back Haven't read all the comments yet,but it 's great to see all the familiar names again and hear what you have to say. Just like old times!
Love to all of you, dodo
Dodo: so nice to see you. You have been missed.
Dodo, sounds like your SWAG BAG was full to the brim!! (I am sooooo jealous!)
Hahtoolah, I always called my mother, "Mummy" and my father "Daddy." Can't imagine calling them anything else!
Heart RX, I didn't comment on your pictures today. I'm so jealous of your sojourn to Italy and Austria. What a wonderful trip.
I'm so glad Dodo was able to get her computer up and running again. It was good to see her on the blog.
Dodo, let me add my two-cents worth: It's great to see you back on the Corner.
Hahtoolah, I'm sure the older-timers already know but I don't. If you please, where does your screen name come from? Spitzboov?
Dodo: good to see you again!
Dodo, great to see you. What a way to start summer, another Miami Heat title, my granddaughter back in SoFla and now you post. Thanks
I don't think 25 across, bit of needlework, = tat, has anything to do with tattoos. Tatting is very fine crocheting, to make lace.
In some Danish technical literature, a sleeve for a compact disc is called an etui....
Anon@ 7:39
I for one am glad to see TAT used as needlework and NOT short for tattoo.
Bill G, I think I asked Hatoolah about her name a few months ago.
I think Hatool is cat in Hebrew and I (think) she said Hatoolah was female cat.
Now, I too want to know about Spitzboov and Dodo!
Where do your blog names come from?
Now I always pronounce Abejo's name and Mari's name to myself so I won't forget.
Hey! How about a "name" day???
We all explain what our blog names mean!
When you sign in, you give a brief explanation, how 'bout it?
eHarmony I love Cats Girl
TTP @8:03
I love cats too!
But in the interest of full disclosure,,, the very next video in the lineup...
Mr. Fowler: always enjoy your comments.You are much more handsome, but you remind me of the Wizard of Oz, in your pic.
My blog name is a weird portmanteau of Lemmon 714 and lemonade.
Bill G and pas de chat - Spitzboov (L German) means:rogue, rascal, bandit, scamp, or imp. It was selected as a screen name long ago when, signing up for a messaging service, my original requests were only available with a numeral suffix. So I changed languages; and voilà!.
My mother used to TAT without a needle; only a shuttle. I think today's clue implies TATtoo.
CED @8:56
Yea, I know. If you link to her channel, you'll find 11 or so of her other videos. She had me going. WGN played a short section of it this morning.
Enjoyed your puzzle Ed Sessa. Couldn't complete it without red-letter help.
Great write up as always Lemonade. No EOS for you today. I did though.
Nice pics Marti. Welcome back.
You gals in the California Coven seem to have so much fun when you get together, and then a visit from Lucina on top of that. How nice is that ?
Pas, TTP is from Third Time Poster, but it became Took The Plunge at Marti's suggestion.
http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/TTP
Thanks a LOT, Lemony:
A portmanteau word is a combination of two (or more) words or morphemes, and their definitions, into one new word.
Huh?If you say so.
What's 714?
Thank you Spitzboov. Grandpa was from Hamburg, but never spoke German again after arriving here, as I remember. Hated the Kaiser.Too bad for me, I could have learned a little German.
Thanks TTP, I remember "Took the Plunge", but didn't know about 3rd time poster. Thanks for going BLUE!
And TTP, what CED said, and maybe she keeps wiping her eyes 'cause she has too many darn CATS! LOL
5 and out!!!! Love you guys and gals!
Pas wants to know about our blog names. I first tried to sign up and 'go blue' with the screen name as my first name. Taken. Then I tried a couple more easy variations. Taken. It was then I realized I was going to have to work harder. So I tried to pick out a name that would reflect my personality, my character, my Scottish heritage, my love of puzzles, my enjoyment of math and science, something witty and creative, etc. Therefore, my final choice became clearer and clearer. Eureka! Bill G. it was!
The pharmaceutical Quaalude manufactured by Lemmon had the number 714 imprinted.
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