google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, November 27, 2014 Matt Skozcen

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Nov 26, 2014

Wednesday, November 27, 2014 Matt Skozcen

Theme:  I'M OUTTA HERE.  But first, I have a puzzle to blog.  The second word of each two-word theme answer is a synonym for "makes an exit." But in each theme fill, the word of interest is used in a different sense.

17. Titillating passages : JUICY PARTS.  Interesting sections of salacious literature.  Feel free to make DF jokes. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

28. "You're the Top" musical : ANYTHING GOES.  A phrase meaning something like "without limits."  This is the only instance where the target word is a verb in fill context.  The others are all nouns.  On we GO.


Cole Porter Classic

 47. Indulgent desserts : BANANA SPLITS.  So many possibilities.   But we'll just go bananas with sliced bananas, ice cream scoops and assorted toppings.  SPLIT is the slangiest of these synonyms.




63. October tourist attraction : FALL LEAVES.   Those things that fall off of trees, leaving them bare.  When Fall leaves, Winter is coming.




Try as I might, I could make nothing of JUICY ANYTHING BANANA FALL.  Hi gang, JazzBumpa here, ready to go all the way with Matt's puzzle.

Across

1. Black-tie affairs : GALAS.

6. Suffragist Carrie : CATT.  Among other things, she founded the League of Women Voters

10. Antelope's playmate, in song : DEER.  Oh, give me a home . . .

14. "Show your cards" : I CALL.  Poker

15. Waikiki wingding : LUAU.  Tropical beach party.




16. Concerning : IN REIn regard to.

19. Mouselike critter : VOLE.  AKA field mouse, a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter, hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, smaller ears and eyes, and differently formed molars. [Wiki

20. Beantown hockey great : ORR.  Bobby of the Boston Bruins.



21. Missay, say : ERR.  A verbal mistake, for example.  ERR + ORR = ERROR.

22. Courtroom figure : ACCUSED.  The alleged perp.

24. Opposite of 60-Down : EAST.  Two entries consisting of exactly zero clues.  MEH!

26. Postal service : AIR MAIL.  One of the services offered by the U. S. Postal Service.

33. "A plague o' both your houses" speaker : MERCUTIO.  Romeo's moody, temper mental, and occasionally humorous chum.

36. Pianist Gilels : EMIL.  Flying fingers.

Back to Bach.

37. Mt. Hood locale : OREgon.  Idaho neighbor, potato supplier.

38. Arles approval : BON.  Good French.

39. Graffiti signature : TAG.

42. Wrath : IRE.  IRE-ish eyes are not smiling.

43. Brest friend : AMIE.  Good French, possibly bosom buddy.

45. Fixed firmly : CEMENTED.  Glued in place.

51. __ cheese : GRILLED.  Lunch sandwich.

52. Friend : CHUM.  Possibly an AMIE.

56. Words from a Latin lover : YO TE AMOI love you, if by "Latin" you mean "Spanish."

59. "Batman" sound effect : POW.  From the comics or the old, campy TV series.

61. Mil. address : A P OArmy Post Office.

62. "... a Loaf of Bread ..." poet : OMAR. Khayyám, a Sufi mystic, Persian polymath, philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, mineralogy, music, and Islamic theology.  [Wiki]

66. Make oneself heard : YELL.  Voice raising.

67. Most fit for duty : ONE-A.  Military draft status.

68. All too public spat : SCENE.  Don't make one.

69. Just : ONLY.  Here, "just" is an adverb, meaning "by a small margin."

70. "Ratatouille" rat who aspires to be a chef : REMY.  Cartoon movie.


71. Is inclined : TENDS.  We all have our tendencies.

Down

 1. Fatigued action figure? : G I JOE.  The fatigues, in which this figure might be clothed, is attire designed for non-combat duty assignments.

2. Lexus rival : ACURA. Automobiles.


3. Burrows : LAIRS.  Here, "burrows" is a plural noun, indicating the sheltered homes of some critters.

4. "__ 13.5% BY VOL": wine label phrase : ALCohol.

5. Leonard __: Roy Rogers : SLYE.  Star of a TV cowboy show. Did he have a family stone?

They're outta here

6. Bayer allergy relief brand : CLARITIN.

7. Gold: Pref. : AUR-.    From the Latin aurum.


8. Teahouse floor mat : TATAMI.

9. Native of Florence, e.g. : TUSCAN.  Resident of a city in a region of Italy.

10. Disclose : DIVULGE.

11. Grandson of Eve : ENOS.  Son of Seth, Adam and Eve's 3rd son.

12. First name in whodunits : ERLE.  Complete name: Erle Stanley Gardner, best known for appearing in crossword puzzles.  He also wrote the Perry Mason mystery novels.

13. Stalk by the swamp : REED.  I'm quite fond of this clue, which could also refer to stealthily hunting frogs, but here refers to the main stem of a plant.

18. Seek divine guidance from : PRAY TO.  Religion.

23. Oft-mooched item, briefly : CIGarette.

25. Center X, in a game : TAC.  The game is tic-tac-toe.  I cannot verify the alleged fact IN RE: the center X, nor the location of the toe. 

27. Sorority letter : RHO.  Seventeenth Greek letter, uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ϱ.

29. Well-used pencil : NUB.  Remnant of a worn out, oft-sharpened pencil.

30. Forget to put in : OMIT.  Also can be done on purpose.

31. Where the Shannon flows : EIRE.  Or Erin.  Mind your perps. Either way, the Emerald Isle.

32. "Call of the Wild" vehicle : SLED.  Pulled by dogs in Jack London's 1903 Klondike gold rush adventure story.

33. Ancient kingdom bordering Judah : MOAB.  Along the eastern shore of the Dead Sea in modern Jordan.

34. Witty Bombeck : ERMA.  Humor writer.

35. Check : REIN. Here, a verb, from the act of slowing or stopping a horse [or possibly dogs] by pulling on its reins.

39. Work for the small screen : TELEPLAY.  Here, "work" is a noun, indicating a screen play written specifically for television.

40. Photo developing compound : AMIDOL.   2,4-Diaminophenol,  C6H3(NH2)2OH, for the chemist in you. 

41. Understand : GET.  Get it?

44. With gusto : EAGERLY.

45. Lowest-ranking NCO : CPL. Army corporal.

46. Defense advisory gp. : NSCNational Security Council

48. Org. that publishes America's 1st Freedom : NRANational Rifle Association.

49. Target : AIM FOR With one's rifle, I suppose

50. Everett of "Citizen Kane" : SLOANE.  Prolific stage, screen and TV actor.


53. Safe harbor : HAVEN.  Cognate of Hafen, the German word for harbor.

54. Flip over : UPEND.  The up end ends up down.  Get it?

55. Three-time NBA MVP Malone : MOSES.  He went directly from high school to pro ranks in the ABA in 1974, and had a 21 year career playing for several ABA and NBA teams.  He was admitted to the Hall of Fame in 2001.

516. It can walk the dog : YO-YO.  Like this.



57. Comet, to some : OMEN.  Frex:  "When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt."

58. Starbucks size : TALL.  Short, TALL, Grande, and Venti coffee orders.

60. Opposite of 24-Across : WEST.  Sure.

64. Apollo vehicle, briefly : LEMLunar Excursion Module.  American space program on the moon.

65. Kiss guitarist Frehley : ACE.   Paul Daniel.  How can I resist sealing this with a Kiss?


That's it gang.  Now I am Outta here.

Cool regards and happy trails!
JzB

67 comments:

Hungry Mother said...

Nice. I used every clue.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

A little crunchy in spots, but not too bad for a Wednesday. The crossing of two complete unknowns (SLOANE, REMY) could have posed a problem, except "E" was pretty much the only letter that would fit at the crossing. AMIDOL was another complete unknown, but the perps took care of it nicely. I wanted OUI at 38A and it took awhile to discard it for BON. I also resisted the superfluous YO in YO TE AMO for awhile, but finally stuck it in.

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate, and safe travels!

Dennis said...

Good morning, gang - fun puzzle, with a couple nice DF answers thrown in. Great job with the write-up, Jazz, as always; always a learning moment for me.

I really just stopped in to wish everyone a great, happy, relaxing Thanksgiving day and weekend. Been doing some long-overdue running around the country visiting old (and I mean old) friends and former brothers-in-arms.

While you're giving thanks for all that you have, please also give thanks for our military, especially those in harm's way.

And, as always.....HAVE FUN!

Lemonade714 said...

Cool beans, great symbiosis between the puzzle and the write up. Thanks Matt, who is a true pro and a great guy and our own JzB the trombonist to the stars.

Loved the ERR OR(R) observation and the inclusion of ORR and ORE.

It is good to see you Dennis, I concur we need to thank all who serve humanity, especially the military, the police and firefighters who risk their lives for us. Also be thankful for all the dedicated teachers of the world and the hard working medical professionals.

Hungry Mther you must have been really hungry to be first today.

Again, thank you C.C. and fellow bloggers and those who comment and those who read.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Didn't get the theme. Par. Misspelled CLARATIN with that second A. Thought maybe it was a Swiss postal service: AAR MAIL. Very amusing writeup, JzB.

We're actually seeing some fall color around here. In a normal year the leaves go from green to brown to the ground. Our recent cold snap has provided some vibrant reds and yellows. By Christmas they'll all have fallen.

I've never been inside a Starbucks, though there is one about 8 miles from here. Damn, I may live further from a Starbucks than anybody else in this country!

I used to love GRILLED CHEESE and tomato soup. But even Omeprazole can't calm the heartburn resulting from that combo. No more.

HeartRx said...

Good morning everyone!

Great write-up, Jazzb. I enjoyed all your comments while listening to EMIL Gilels in the background. ERR + ORR was hilarious.

And I will never forget Leonard SLYE and his family "stone" again. (snicker, snicker...)

But you really cracked me up at UPEND.That one goes in my book as best of the year!

This was pretty much a speed run, with glances at the down clues to confirm what I wanted for some of the acrosses. I think it took me longer to enjoy all Jazzbumpa's comments than it did to finish the puzzle. Both were highly entertaining, and a nice prelude to a long relaxing weekend of food and festivity. Thank you!

TTP said...



Good morning all !

Very entertaining write up JzB. I really needed explanations today.

Within the first 2 minutes, I absolutely knew I was going to have a DNF due to a natick at the intersection of CA-T and -ATAMI. I kept thinking Carrie Nation, and tried all of the consonants to start -ATAMI, but no bells went off.

I was flustered. So flustered in fact, that with -USCA- filled in, I almost entered MUSCAT rather than TUSCAN. D'OH !

No idea on MiRCiRTaO, and not enough perp help. I always pause before guessing wrong on IRMA or ERMA for Bombeck. Then had NIB instead of NUB.

Desper-otto, I was CLARITAN free. I put that second A in the third vowel position.

Okay, I'm having a really bad solving day. Didn't get GRI-LE- either.

Nailed ACE Frehley. Figured Splynter, Manac, and Average Joe would as well. Rock And Roll All Nite (1975)

Wanted "Nothing but" for clue "Just", but only ONLY fit. At least it wasn't mere.

At 56A, I had YO and 5 blanks for "Words from a Latin lover." Adrian wouldn't fit. You know, Sly to Talia.

Time for a cup of coffee. Can't go to work like this.

See all y'all later n'at !



Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Definitely not What Marti Said. Really struggled with this one, at least by Wednesday standards. Got there eventually, fair and square, but it took effort. I blame it on too little sleep.

Avg Joe said...

Flamed out due to a natick at Sloane and Yo Te Amo. Guessed an I instead of O. Drat!

D.O., I'm in your club of never having been inside a FourBucks. And we're over 16 miles from the nearest one. I'll wear that badge proudly.

TTP, I got Ace, but certainly didn't nail it. My knowledge of Kiss ends at "Gene" and my appreciation for them is....less than that.

Saw this cartoon as I started my day. Thought it would be good for a chuckle here: Wizard of Id

kazie said...

Lots of unknowns and names (ugh!) here. I did get most of it though.

Nice to see Dennis today--welcome back, if only for a day!

D.O.
No, I'm at least 70 miles from a Starbucks, so that beats your 8 miles by far! And I've never been in one either. That's a bit far to go for a cup of anything!

Have a wonderful family gathering tomorrow everyone!

thehondohurricane said...

Morning all,

I've been in Starbucks....but only to purchase Gift cards for my other half.

I"m in the group that found today's puzzle on the difficult side thanks to the SW corner. Only parsed OMAR and EAGERLY. Had no clue about Starbuck sizes, OMAR, or Latin lovers mewlings. Wanted something like fair for Just, never considered ONLY.

Does the USPS still offer AIRMAIL service? Never see it offered in the local offices in my area.

Wanted mole before VOLE for 19A. They are both pains in my grass here, no matter what preventive I put down.

A happy Thanksgiving to all and a hearty thanks to those protecting us.

Paul in Montebello said...

This was a steady progression. Words like amidol kept me from zipping through it. But, I like better the ones with double entendres and jokes. HTE, that's Happy Thanksgiving Eve.

JD said...

Good morning all,

There were some very tough spots for me...leans>bends> tends. 24 A & 60 D really did me in. I put in easy/hard, and just noticed that I never did change easy to east. for just I put fair until I filled in yo yo... I did not mind my perps.

Thanks for the fun write up, Bumpa. Enjoyed it all, even though I did have to Google a few. Suffragist Carrie... I need to go back and research, although not at Carrie Nations, a very old watering hole in our town.

Dennis, good to see ya!
And C.C., I think you know how thankful I am for your little corner.

Lemonade714 said...

I live almost 300 feet from a Starbucks, is there a prize for the closest?

I did not know 36. Pianist Gilels : EMIL, but I guess everyone else did.

HH, very tasteful your 'pain in the grass' comment.

Rainy here in So.Fla. and may hit the 50s tonight.

Hi Paul

Lemonade714 said...

Oops, I also had no memory of any Carrie other than Nation...I agree the proper names made this more work than most Wednesdays, but JzB makes me forget it was anything but fun.

Avg Joe said...

I got bollixed up on Catt too, confidently wrote in Mott. Never mind that that's Lucretia, it fit....and it was half right while proving tatami. But it also gave me Oro instead of Aur. It took a luau to get that mess straightened out.

desper-otto said...

Totally off topic: There was an interesting quiz mentioned in an Anne Flaherty column in today's business section. She mentions that people under 30 do much better than older Internet users. Wanna take it? Here it is. It's only twelve multiple-guess questions. One of them is "How old are you." I got 75% on that one.

desper-otto said...

Forgot to mention, the quiz tests how much you know about the Internet.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Full disclosure - Unlike most of you I flamed out on this puzzle. Was definitely not on Matt's wavelength.

Dennis - always great to see you.

Everyone - have a happy. blessed and nutritious Thanksgiving.

I have so much to be thankful for, not least of which are all my Corner friends.

Cool regards!
JzB

thehondohurricane said...


Took D-O's test, got 9 out of 12 correct. There was only one answer....Megabyte.... that I was sure of. All the others were WAGS.


Husker Gary said...

I’ll chip in to get Rich a calendar so he can tell this is only Wednesday! ;-) This was a real tester for me and CA_T/_ATAMI proved to be natickish but I ERRed on ONLY one cell and loved the exercise!

Musings
-I’ll bet the pages with the JUICY PARTS of this once banned book became dog-eared
-ERR can rhyme with her or air. “I urred by putting my ahnt’s flowers in the wrong vahse” ;-)
-EAST is EAST and WEST is WEST by Leonard Slye
-My mother’s take on graffiti
-We call ‘em “grilled chizzers” around here
-I had a very soft-spoken fellow sub for PE yesterday who was 5 yrs my senior. She hugged me because I could YELL loud enough to get the 6th grade game organized.
-She was ONLY…
-Our guide from Florence said he was Florentine first, then Tuscan and THEN Italian
-There are lies of OMISSION and commission
-In WWII, Hitler was a Lance Corporal and Napoleon was known as the Little Corporal
-Starbucks only saw me using giftcards from wealthy students
-So you think you know 007 – What brand of golf ball did Goldfinger play with which James Bond cheated him?

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Found this a tad chewy in spots but, eventually, all fell into place. Nice job, Matt S., and super entertaining expo, JazB.

Snow hasn't started yet but we're expecting 10" or so. To all those who will be on the road, drive safely.

Have a great day.

Dudley said...

When Starbucks first appeared hereabouts, it was a nice boutique-y place. At that time, they trained the staff reasonably well, and the espresso based drinks were of decent quality. Then, system-wide, they got rid of the traditional Italian espresso machines and replaced them with automatic machines, same as Dunkin' Donuts. The staff are now just button pushers. The quality of the drinks has tumbled. Starbucks has failed.

Dennis said...

Gary, I think it was "Penn" something.

Because I lose them so quickly, I never have my balls around long enough to focus on the different names, and yes, I just realized how that sounded.

I took the test, got 10 right, and for some reason, thought the Twitter limit was 180. I don't tweet, so that's my excuse.

Went in a Starbucks just one time; got a hot chocolate. Left much lighter in the wallet. I'm not a coffee drinker, but is the coffee really that much better?

Ergo said...

The issue was in doubt for awhile, but a couple of Wednesday WAGS saved the day.

The level of sophistication of most of the answers nearly led me astray on BANANASPLITS. It sounded well, you know, fundamental. But the PERPS looked favorable so I indulged.

Only write-over VOLE for mOLE.

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts":

I took the "internet" quiz and got 6/12 - about what I expected - not much of a computer geek

UWMS (unlike what Marti said), this was hardly a speed run; I had to resort to Google for several amswers; too embarrassed to enumerate them today. Did I oversleep and wake up on Friday/Saturday??!!

JzB - your write-up was by far the most enjoyable feature of today's puzzle, and thanks for sharing that you, too, flamed out on this one

Today's Holiday Lim:

As I reflect on the year gone by,
And its events, those both "low" and "high";
I give thanks to my Maker,
But as well, to the baker:
'Cause tomorrow we eat Pumpkin Pie!

Thanksgiving blessings to all of my new cyber friends here on the corner!

Lucina said...

Hello, puzzlers. Very funny write-up, JZB, thank you. I had no idea about the theme since I looked only at the beginning of each and not the ending.

Matt threw us a good one today and though it took a bit longer than normal for midweek, I finished in good time. Hand way up for thinking Carrie Nation, then wanting MOTT but resisted since I knew AUR(um)TATAMI and TUSCAN. Ahh, CATT/CLARITIN.

Otherwise it was a picket fence pattern which eventually filled nicely. With YOYO & OMEN in place YO TE AMO quickly emerged.

SLOANE Everett was unknown then disappointed he was male as that is my granddaughter's name. I wonder if he's related to Chad.

Yesterday we saw novena, today PRAY TO. No Starbucks for me, either and there are two almost within walking distance and one inside the grocery store.

Nice to see you, Dennis.

I'm wishing everyone a calm, quiet cooking day, if you do. Otherwise, enjoy it!

desper-otto said...

Lucina, his name was actually Everett Sloane.

Dudley said...

Morning Dennis, good to see you. You did better on D Otto's quiz than I did. I squeaked out an 8, but at least those questions I flunked were the same ones the everybody else got wrong.

Misty said...


I found this incredibly tough for a Wednesday, and it was a miracle I actually got it after 45 minutes of agony. Some of it was due to goofs on my part--e.g. MOLE instead of VOLE, etc. But I found the clues "Opposite of 60 Down and 24 across" inexcusable, and never did get the theme until JazzB's expo. A real toughie, but hey, I actually got it, so lighten up, Misty.

There's so much to be thankful for, isn't there. Family arrived safely yesterday and wonderful to see them. Rowland feeling well again in time for the holiday, which is great. And then there is wonderful C.C. and her delightful blog, my great joy every morning. So my thanks to every one of you, as well.

Have a great day today, and especially tomorrow!

Bill G. said...

Good morning! I decided I was going to attempt this puzzle with zero help; no red letters, no Googling, etc. I was doing OK with perps getting me through some of the rough areas. But finally I got stuck on the intersection of CLARITIN and CATT. I should have known Claritin but I didn't make the association with Bayer. Oh well... I came pretty darn close.

The all-news radio station was broadcasting one of their many advertisements (more ads than news?), this ad was for BMW. The announcer who was paid to read the ad pronounced the W in BMW as dubba-you about twenty times. I guess it's typical but if I were getting paid to read an ad, I'd try harder to say the name of the product correctly.

If you enter this location in Google Earth, you will come across something interesting.
16°51′53.748″N 11°57′13.362″E

Here is the explanation about what it is: THE FULL STORY

Ol' Man Keith said...

It took a little extra chewing, but the cud came out smooth in the end.

phillyfran said...

Glad I was off today since this had some toughies. Although probably most efficient when I leave some for the train ride home. Don't know what the second look effect is called or how long is needed between the first look and second look.
Also not telling my wife of Paraguayan descent about Yo te amo. Since I'm from Philly originally, I can blame it on conditioning that I fall into Yo Tedrian.

Oddjob said...

Slazenger, Mr. Bond ?

Dennis said...

Dudley, I think the intelligence of this group rubbed off on me over the past 6 years, plus, after spending 30 years in the computer field, I sure as hell should know most of that stuff.

BTW, the other one I missed was about the I-phone. I've always had Android models.

Chairman Moe, the limericks are always 'top shelf'.

Hey, if any of you do the daily NYT puzzle, please let me know if you see the one C.C. and I did; it's been well over two years. I'm guessing 'something' happened to it, but who knows. Thanks.

Will Shortz said...

Dennis, does this help?

Will recently reported to Cruciverb-L that he was going to be spending down the pile of old accepted puzzles. I can’t help thinking that the plethora of subpar fill is a factor of that—and that there may be other thematic duplications that get purged via publication too. (Will also said that he was more selective now, so I’m hoping that we’ll see better puzzles overall within a year (… though it might take longer than that for Tuesday puzzles). Here were the numbers Will shared about what’s in the pipeline:

Here is the state of our inventory as of now:

Monday: 40 puzzles on file, 4 older than a year

Tuesday: 69 on file, 29 older than a year

Wednesday: 55 on file, 14 older than a year

Thursday: 21 on file, 5 older than a year

Friday: 57 on file, 5 older than a year

Saturday: 49 on file, 18 older than a year

Sunday: 10 on file, 1 older than a year

HeartRx said...

d-otto @ 9:25, I got 10 out of 12 right. Very interesting quiz!

Chairman Moe, loved your turkey day limerick.

Bill G., that Google Earth image is amazing. But won't it keep getting covered with blowing sand?

Reading everyone's comments, I can see why this one seemed easier for me.
-I take CLARITIN every day
-There are TATAMI mats in my third floor oriental suite
-"Ratatouille" is one of my favorite movies (I've seen it half a dozen times!)
- Being a classical music aficionado means I have several of Gilels' CDs in my collection
- I once had my own darkroom (pre-digital camera days) and used tons of AMIDOL (it stains like crazy!!)

So all of those filled easily. But crosswords with lots of sports and pop culture names? Those are the ones I flame out on!

Lime Rickey said...

Harass

Do you say "HAR-iss" or "ha-RASS"? Do you pronounce "harassment" the same way?

Click here for "New Words From The American Heritage Dictionaries" on NPR's Here and Now.

Husker Gary said...

-Yes, OddJob, Golfinger played a Slazenger 1 and this site is a nice narrative of that match, the course and that scene.
-Some Politicians can’t tell Huh rass’ from Her’ ass. ;-)

CanadianEh! said...

WBS today. Required some Google help to finish and thus some learning moments! Enjoyed the comments JzB.

Anyone else have KEN before GET?

I got 9/12 on the internet puzzle.

We have Starbucks but as a good Canadian, I prefer Tim Horton's!

Lime Rickey, I say ha-RASS and same for ha-RASSment. Recently CBC commentator was pronouncing as HAR-assment and it sounded very strange. We have been hearing the word a lot on the news with the Jian Ghomeshi case.

Chairman Moe said...

Lime Rickey @ 1:07 - interesting to see that the majority favors "huh RASS" - and also interesting that they pronounce it "huh RASS" and not "her ASS" . . . which, if we're heading toward some sophomoric humour this day before Thanksgiving, another word that gets chuckles from prepubescent boys to grown men can be found in my PG-13 rated limerick below:

When we say certain words there's some "grayness",
For example, the planet, Uranus;
But don't try to be "classy";
That orb's large and it's gassy;
And where does "gas" come from? Why, your anus!

TTP said...


Husker, I'd never heard of the "She was only the..." jokes before. I've got another. Furniture stripper's daughter, but she knew how to take it off.

Hondo, funny "...pains in my grass..." comment.

JD, that's a funny name for that watering hole. Wonder how many patrons miss the irony of it.

Desper-otto, fun quiz, although most of it is really just technology and internet trivia. Nothing especially useful. Exceptions to that might be # 2, 4 and 10. That's my position since I only scored 66.6 % here...
- I knew and answered # 2 (even though I don't twit) but apparently didn't select the answer before I hit "Next Question."
- Misread question 3 on Moore's law. Somehow read limitation into it.
- "First widely popular" on # 5 was pure miss. I picked it's successor. I used a less "widely popular" interface back then.
- No idea and guessed wrong on "Internet leader."
Those were the 4 misses. Of the others, only "Apple iPhone introduction year" was a guess.

Funny stuff Chairman Moe. You definitely have a knack.

I'm having a fun day.

Dennis said...

Hey "Will" - thanks for the information. I wonder what the 'over two years' stats look like. At this point, I don't even remember what day of the week the puzzle was accepted for.
Anyway, they did send a check, so I suppose that should be reward enough.

Lime Rickey, as you might imagine, I enoy an emphasis on 'ass'.

I hope nobody's travel plans have been messed up too badly by the weather; some areas aren't looking real good, and the flight status website I use is showing a lot of delays. Good luck and safe travels to everyone on the move.

Bill G. said...

D-O, I got nine out of twelve on your quiz also. Not bad I thought.

There are more than five Starbucks within a two-mile radius of here. If you like dark-roasted, somewhat bitter coffee, they're the place. I go to a local place where the people know me and enjoying chatting about this and that. Good macchiatos and cheaper too.

Marti, good question about the sand. Dunno...?

Our handyman just fixed our aluminum sliding door and a couple of other things. Good handymen are worth their weight in gold.

Did you see the Mark Twain award telecast honoring Jay Leno? Really enjoyable.

Anonymous said...

Yep BillG, that's why its called Char-bucks.

Jayce said...

I got 9 right on the quiz. I'm not good on dates. (That didn't sound right, somehow.)

LW and I will not patronize Starbucks. Not only do we both dislike the taste of their coffee, we both feel the company has been cruelly predatory and has demonstrated its disdain towards sustainability of the environment and of the coffee growers.

Cool puzzle today, with some answers that were unknown by me. Great writeup, Jazzb. I'll say again that I like your sense of humor as well as your earnestness.

Much to be thankful for here. Best wishes to you all.

Spitzboov said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Uneventful solve today except for the TAG/AMIDOL cross. Wasn't familiar with TAG in the sense of the clue and never heard of AMIDOL in either HS or college chem. courses and never developed my own photos. Sigh.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Spitzboov said...

Starbuck's - I am particularly fond of Starbuck's French Roast, but always look for sales. Target has them frequently, and when near a Commissary, always stop to get some. Recently discovered that Aldi's carries Brand X which tastes virtually as good at the price. Just my 2¢.

Avg Joe said...

Gary, Inre your last comment....

They Do respect her, but

Chickie said...

HOla Everyone, A DNF for me today as I didn't know some of the proper names. Doing the puzzle away from home each morning, I don't have my dictionary with me or can do it on my computer.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone, and enjoy your day with family and friends.

Our Baltimore kids left at 6:00 a.m. before the storm moved in. They are missing the first snowstorm of the season and don't seem to be too upset by that. It is 70 degrees in our backyard right now, so everyone is happy.

JD, Garlic Gal and I meet in one of the MANY Starbucks in our area when we get together for coffee about 5 or 6 times a year. Comfortable, and they don't mind if you spend an hour or more at your table. The coffee is very good, too.

TTP said...



Just checked the Butterball. Still not completely thawed, but well on its way. First year we aren't brining the bird in a quite a few years.

DW took the day off and has been prepping all day. My role was to stay out of the way. Also to make a trip to Aldi for 10 lbs. of red potatoes. There were long lines.

The guy in front of me bought 96 pounds of butter. Yes, you read that right. 24 single pound packages to a box (4 rows, 2 deep, 3 high), times 4 boxes. Unsalted. Talk about stocking up... Maybe baking ? Or buying for a restaurant ? Who knows ?

As was said so many times today, I wish that each and every one of you enjoy your Thanksgiving day.

And if so inclined, say a little prayer for those that serve to protect and provide for our liberty.

Avg Joe said...

Whoa! I just read your post to LW, TTP. She had stopped at our recently opened Aldi on her way home, and they had a specific limit of 6 on butter(pounds) and eggs ( dozens). I guess it's possible that your guy is the cause:-) at any rate, I hope he had help....and a cardiologist on speed dial.

Bill G. said...

I'm trying to do my part to end the drought around here. I just got my car washed. First, the car wash recycles water whereas my driveway doesn't. Second, a clean car should encourage the likelihood of rain clouds, don't you think?

TTP, I echo your Thanksgiving wishes.

Re. not brining your turkey. As I've said before, you should try cooking it breast down as we started doing 30 years ago. We heard a radio chef explaining that all of the juices run downhill into the breast meat during cooking ensuring moist white meat. The only small downside I find cooking the bird that way is that you have to invert a hot bird at the end to carve it and the breast skin isn't the traditional golden brown. But the moist white meat is the best!

Statistically, six out of seven dwarfs are not Happy.

Husker Gary said...

-8 out of 12. I missed some of the very esoteric questions (year of the first iPhone?) but felt I got the ones I should have known.
-Joe, I loved your Wizard of Id cartoon and didn't realize you lived that far from all the Starbucks in Lincoln.

Big Easy said...

This was a difficult but doable Wednesday puzzle because of so many proper name unknowns that I solved via perps and WAGS. CATT, MERCUTIO, YO TE AMO, REMY, AMIDOL, EMIL, TATAMI, SLOANE. I don't drink coffee but figured it had to be TALL. ACE Frehley was known because my son was a big Kiss fan way back when and I had to buy him an album ( a 33rpm LP). CLARITIN came from perps because when I sold pharmaceuticals, it was made by Schering-plough, which was bought by Merck. I guess Merck sold off all the OTC products because they only make Rx and vet products.

POW came from the old TV batman shows in the 60s. My only writeover was BON instead of OUI.

Back from a week in San Francisco. Everybody have a happy Thanksgiving.

Big Easy said...

Desper-otto & Ave Joe- I have never been to a Starbucks either; I don't drink coffee and my wife doesn't like Starbucks.

Johnson's said...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Planter's said...

Best way to cook turkey?

It really is, just read all instructions!

The other Jimmy said...

Tuneagement?

Thank You.

Snow White said...


Bill G. - they're not Grumpy, either.

So thats not too bad.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Bill G. said...

Here is a really spectacular video taken in Lucina's part of the country. View in full screen.
Time lapse video

Dudley said...

Planter's - I had no idea there was so much risk involved in putting turkeys into boiling oil. Never tried it. Probably never will, now...

Anonymous said...

Oh come on Dudley, give it a go. Most of those on the video were purposely flawed, hence the long poles and fireman in full gear. If you can solve a Monday level LAT crossword puzzle, you can surely deep fry a turkey without incident. Just do a dry run(pun intended) with the pot full of water to verify the proper fluid level*. Brine your turkey as normal and you will have the crispiest, most moist and tastiest bird possible.

*Dry the bird carefully before submerging in oil.

Anonymous said...

Hand up for deep fried turkey. We do it around here a few times a year. The most dangerous aspect is the stampede of neighbors due to the aroma it produces.

Lucina said...

BillG:
That is a stunning video of the desert. Thank you for posting it.

desper-otto:
Thank you for clarifying Everett Sloane for me. I just assumed it was the other way around.

Anonymous said...

Today's theme could have been, "see you around".

Abejo said...

Good Thursady morning, folks. Thank you Matt Skoczen for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Jazzbumpa, for a fine review.

Just finished this morning. Got tired last night and crashed. I found out Monday I have the shingles, so that explains my lack of energy and the large red splotch on my right leg and small of my back. Plus some pain to boot. My Thanksgiving will not be a happy as most.

Well, I bombed out on this puzzle. Missed on MERCUTIO and TAC. I had a G where they crossed. Also missed on SLOANE and YO TE AMO. I had an I. Foreign languages are not my thing.

CATT came with Perps.

Had MOLE before VOLE. DIVULGE fixed that.

TALL was peeped and wagged. I am not a Starbucks person. Been in one a couple times at airports for a tea.

TELEPLAY was new to me.. Made sense.

Nice to see you check in, Dennis. Happy Trails as you travel.

See you later today if I have the energy.

Abejo

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