google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday May 23, 2021 Gary Larson

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May 23, 2021

Sunday May 23, 2021 Gary Larson

Theme:  "Food for Thought" - Food with country name in is punnily clued as if it's not a food item.

23A. Easy-to-hit pitch in Stockholm?: SWEDISH MEATBALL.

45A. Minor matter in Manchester?: ENGLISH TRIFLE.

96A. Argument in Ulaanbaatar?: MONGOLIAN BEEF.

123A. Rent money in Mumbai?: INDIAN FLATBREAD.

17D. Medal recipient in Milan?: ITALIAN HERO.

33D. Worried state in Dublin?: IRISH STEW.

60D. Dance move in Dijon?: FRENCH DIP.

71D Inferior items in Zurich?: SWISS CHEESE.

We've seen similar puzzles before, though most with straightforward clue approach. Playing with fun clues is Gary Larson's forte.

Don G and I made one for the MN crossword tournament a few years ago. We used the language approach. For example, our SWEDISH MEATBALL is clued "Köttbullar?" FRENCH BREAD is clued as "Pain?"


Across:

1. Sitcom character originally called Kessler in the pilot episode: KRAMER. Cosmo Kramer on "Seinfeld". I did not know this trivia.
 

7. Impounds, maybe: TOWS AWAY.

15. Very silly: APISH. Is this a word you actually use?

20. Charge: IONIZE.

21. Asthma sufferers' aids: INHALERS.

22. Not a sparkling finish: MATTE.

25. Apple tablets: IPADS.

26. Home and nickname of The University of the South: SEWANEE. Unfamiliar with Sewanee: The University of the South. It's in Sewanee, Tennessee.



27. Pet __: PEEVE.

28. Touch: FEEL.

29. Anna __, 18th-/19th-century poet called the Swan of Lichfield: SEWARD. Also unknown to me.



32. 1973 Judy Blume novel: DEENIE. Another unknown.


34. Swell: RISE.

37. Johannesburg's land: Abbr.: RSA. Republic of South Africa

40. Precisely: TO A T.

42. Classical and Romantic: ERAS.

44. Grass bristle: AWN.

52. Steamed state: IRE.

53. "Just kidding!": NOT.

54. Shakespearean title city: VERONA.

55. Caulking materials: SEALANTS. I hear annoying noise in our bedroom. It think it comes from our floor register. It sounds like a drop of water falling on an empty bucket. Happens every few minutes. I don't know what caused it. Has this happened to you before? Maybe we should call those Clean Sweep guys and have all the vents cleaned. Sometimes I also hear the same noise in our bathroom wall. Nothing is leaking though. Just annoying noise.

57. More than dislike: ABHOR.

59. London classic, with "The": SEA-WOLF. Jack London.

61. Gung-ho: RAH RAH.

62. "Big Little Lies" co-star with Nicole, Shailene, Laura and Zoë: REESE. Here they're.



63. How dividends might be paid: PRO RATA.

66. Dustin's "Midnight Cowboy" role: RATSO.

68. Toledo's lake: ERIE.

69. __ facto: IPSO.

72. PC storage stats: MEGS.

73. Colombian cat: GATO.

74. Agile deer: ROES.

75. Fuzzy fruit: KIWI.

76. Online memo: E NOTE.

78. Flips, in a way: RESELLS.

80. __ Isle: Ireland nickname: ERIN'S.

82. Lindsay's Broadway writing partner: CROUSE. One more stranger: Russel Crouse. Howard Lindsay.



84. Brothers of old Hollywood: WARNERS. The Warner Brothers.

88. Stitch temporarily: BASTE.

89. Being a nuisance to: HARRYING.

92. Research: LOOK UP.

93. @@@@: ATS.

94. Fish often fried: COD.

98. IBM competitor: NEC.

99. Chicago daily, familiarly: TRIB.

101. Nair rival, once: NEET.

102. Radical '60s org.: SDS. Students for a Democratic Society.

103. Tennis immortal: ASHE. Arthur Ashe. Boomer has this in his stamp books.

105. Times to remember: EPOCHS.

109. Pioneer 35mm cameras: LEICAS.

113. Outback birds: EMUS.

115. Realizes: REAPS.

117. 121-Across maker: NABISCO. 121. Sandwich cookies: OREOS.

126. Tomato __: PASTE.

127. Devotions: FEALTIES. Spell check does not like the plural form.

128. Honduras hundred: CIENTO.

129. Rough suit fabric: TWEED.

130. In a bind?: CORSETED.

131. Dave of "Storage Wars": HESTER. Also a stranger.



Down:

1. Contact between two billiard balls: KISS.

2. Investment firm T. __ Price: ROWE.

3. From square one: ANEW.

4. King with a gilt complex?: MIDAS.

5. Web mag: E-ZINE.

6. Alter, in a way: RESEW.

7. "Mystic River" Oscar winner Robbins: TIM.


8. Indivisible: ONE.

9. Sound of a hit: WHAP.

10. Totally full: SATED.

11. "Tiny Alice" playwright: ALBEE (Edward)

12. Emulate Silas Marner: WEAVE.

13. Garfield's gal pal: ARLENE.

14. Fashion initials: YSL.

15. Gallic girlfriend: AMIE.

16. Staples supply: PAPER.

18. Typical: Abbr.: STD.

19. Fellows: HES.

24. "The Return of the Native" setting: HEATH.

28. Sweat: FEAR.

30. Goes bad: ROTS.

31. Challenge: DARE.

35. Two-time Tony winner Kurtz: SWOOSIE.



36. Menu heading: ENTREES.

37. Guns: REVS.

38. Old-time knife: SNEE.

39. Uttar Pradesh tourist city: AGRA.

41. Princess topper: TIARA.

43. Scorch: SEAR.

46. Starting place for a comeback: LOW POINT.

47. "Are we going __ not?": IN OR.

48. Strauss opera: SALOME.

49. Where St. Pete is: FLA.

50. First actor who sang "If I Were King of the Forest": LAHR (Bert) . The Cowardly Lion.


51. Tick off: ENRAGE.

56. Byes: TATAS.

58. Brewpub bragger, often: BEER SNOB.

64. Greek marketplace: AGORA.

65. Weather forecast shorthand: T STORM.

67. "Fan-cee!": OO LA LA.

69. Japanese floral art: IKEBANA. Love this fill.

70. Hook and Silver: PIRATES.

77. German capital: EURO.

78. Have the throne: REIGN.

79. Scientology founder Hubbard: L RON.

81. Religious offshoot: SECT.

83. Prefix with fuel: SYN.

85. Squeezes (out): EKES.

86. Wished undone: RUED.

87. Sunscreen nos.: SPFS.

90. Caroling standard: NOEL.

91. __ club: GLEE.

95. Metal-yielding minerals: ORES.

97. Book that spawned the film "What's Love Got to Do With It": I TINA. Now a Swiss. She had to give up her US citizenship.


100. Island administered by three countries: BORNEO.

104. Play too broadly: EMOTE.

106. Moth-repellent wood: CEDAR.

107. Flags down: HAILS.

108. Sudden outpouring: SPATE.

110. Trick: CATCH.

111. Yippie Hoffman: ABBIE.

112. Stud farm residents: SIRES.

114. Likely to be discounted: USED.

116. Foul mood: SNIT.

118. Posted: SENT.

119. Blanchett of "Elizabeth": CATE. Such a talented actress.


120. You may get a whiff of one: ODOR.

121. Select: OPT.

122. __ bar: RAW.

123. "Portlandia" network: IFC.

124. Tax prep charge: FEE.

125. Trippy '60s drug: LSD.

34 comments:

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Lotsa unknowns in this one, but the perps were kind...until they weren't. Just couldn't suss the final CH in CATCH -- didn't know CIENTO or HESTER. So d-o did it again. DNF. Thanx, Gary and C.C.

CROUSE: I'm familiar with the actress Lindsay Crouse, but not the Broadway team of Lindsay and Crouse.

PAPER: Learning moment of the week -- eight reams of printer paper is heavy. Had to open the package in the front hall and move them to the office a few reams at a time.

I TINA: I don't think Tina was "forced to give up" her citizenship. She preferred to become a Swiss citizen. She went through the voluntary process of Relinquishment as opposed to Denaturalization.

OwenKL said...

FIWrong. It might be more accurate to say I Did Not Finish, since four entries were all WAGs, and were all wrong S?OO?IE + A?N + REE?E, IT?NA + LE?CAS, & IF? + ?ORSETED.

Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Eating SWEDISH MEATBALLS on a lark
Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Be sure to feed the meter where you park!

Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Eating ITALIAN HEROES to survive,
Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Don't park your car where it blocks a drive!

Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Eating ENGLISH TRIFLES as a light desert,
Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Do not park where paving crews will work!

Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Eating FRENCH DIP on potato chips
Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Honor reserved parking for the Vips!

Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Eating IRISH STEW for a hearty meal
Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
A boot on your tire is a nasty deal!

Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Eating MONGOLIAN BEEF as a steak,
Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Parking at a red curb is a mistake!

Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Eating SWISS CHEESE with ham on rye,
Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Parking in a loading zone? Oh my!

Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
Eating INDIAN FLATBREAD as a pizza pie,
Way, ho, TOW AWAY Joe
If the repos get it, wave your car bye-bye!

Lucina said...

Hola!

Owen, that was fun to read!

Greetings my friends! I had a whirlwind visit with my two friends from NY whom I met on a trip in Turkey 20 years ago. We bonded then and have been steadfast friends ever since. They arrived Wednesday and on Thursday we drove to Palm Springs for the day. There we met my sister who lives in Highland and visited then drove home. Whew! It was all great fun.

Today's puzzle was infinitely easier than Thursday's or Friday's both of which I attempted before going to bed and was too tired to persevere.

I liked the play on countries today. Gary Larson always provides amusement in his puzzles.

My pet PEEVE is sports clues and there were none today. RAY! RAH!! All the fill was actual words or expressions which I appreciate. Yesterday, which I haven't finished, seemed like it was in a foreign language. I liked the clue for King MIDAS.

I know so many people who use INHALERS and have known of one person who died of an asthma attack.

I don't know of Dave HESTER but would have known HESTER Prynne of The Scarlet Letter. However, it perped nicely. CATE Blanchett was easy; she is a brilliant actress.

Thank you, C.C. and Gary Larson.

I hope you have all been well these past few days. I have a lot of catching up to do but today I have to go to a graduation party for my niece who earned a Master's degree. She teaches special ed. You've all seen me talk about her when she adopted five of her nieces and nephews.

Enjoy a sensational Sunday, everyone! It's sizzling here in the lower 100s.

Lemonade714 said...

WDOS

I mentioned it seemed Gary is trying to take over the construction world, and here he is again.

Thank you for exposition C.C., and Gary, keep em coming.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Not so hard today, and themes about food get the drool going. Had 'spurt' before SPATE. Was familiar with GATO because of a cheap good Chilean wine I favor; GATO Negro. No problems with the solve.
COD - I love COD as a fish dish.
VERONA is a Town in Oneida County; just to our West. It is named after the one in Italy.

Yesterday evening we went to church, had dinner out, and then ice cream for dessert at Kookies; all without the need for vaxxed people to wear masks. It felt great.

Bob Lee said...

I loved the theme, and it helped me in a few spots.

A bit too many names for my liking (SWOOSIE??) and after I was done I kept trying to figure out what "TOAT" meant until I finally saw it was "To a T"

My favorite answer was Indian Flat Bread - very inventive!

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-The double pun of INDIAN FLAT BREAD was a great finish for this fun puzzle
-APISH –I loved it! NOT!!!. Any port in a storm.
-A player has to have a good FEEL to skillfully KISS one billiard ball off another
-The Spanish phrase for a car jack is GATO de coche
-@@@@ - AT’S? Cool!
-HESTER Prynne gets Sunday off for a very obscure TV character
-I know some constructors here have to start ANEW to work out a section
-Are spanx modern day CORSETS?
-We are meeting daughter and her family at a sushi restaurant in Lincoln today. Will I get SATED?
-My car dealer told me 10% ethanol SYNFUEL is the max I should use
-Baseball has had a SPATE of no-hitters this year.
-Some people in a SNIT want to keep interacting and some just want to be left alone

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I loved the theme and thought it was executed quite well. The fill was fine but, like many Sundays, loaded with proper names, many unknown: Setard, Deenie, Crouse, Hester, and Ikebana. I suppose this is unavoidable in an over-sized grid, but it detracts from enjoying a smooth solve. My mixed emotions about solving Sunday puzzles remain intact, but I did enjoy this one a lot more than many others.

Thanks, Gary, for a cute take on food and geography and thanks, CC, for guiding us along. You weren’t alone not knowing many of the featured people, as I stated above.

Have a great day.

Big Easy said...

Good morning all. It's NEW WORD Sunday for me today. APISH, DEENIE,SWOOSIE, CROUSE, HARRYING, ERINS Isle, Anna SEWARD, HESTER, SEA WOLF, IKEBANA. It was a DNF at the intersection of CROUSE, HARRYING, & SYN. Though maybe it was 'HARROWING' without the 'W'; never heard of HARRY being used other than somebody's name. I didn't know CIENTO but it was filled by perps without reading the clue.

After SWEDISH MEATBALL the rest of the theme answers were easy WAGS.
I think the SDS people had a wee bit too much LSD. Add ABBIE Hoffman to that list.
L RON- the power of advertising. I remember that he ran ads on TV for his book; sell the book and get people to send you money. What a con job.

Spitzboov- one night we went to a play at a small theater with the name of Le Chat Noir and then went to eat at a Mexican restaurant named El Gato Negro. Strictly coincidence. And we ran over a black cat while driving there (just kidding).

Hungry Mother said...

A bit miffed, since Digital Equipment Corporation was also a competitor of IBM. How about more words and less trivia?

NaomiZ said...

Oof! Two squares away from a RAH RAH ending. DNF! I was missing the S in CROUSE and SYN, and my WAG for AhN/ShOOSIE was Wrong.

I enjoyed the puzzle, especially INDIAN FLAT BREAD -- thank you, Gary! C.C., if SWEDISH MEATBALL were clued "Köttbullar," there would be more PEEVEs expressed by the solvers, if not pure IRE! Thanks for explaining everything to us.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Away, tow away, we'll tow away, Joe !!

This was an enjoyable Sunday outing with the international foods theme being right in Valerie's sweet spot. Worked it, initially, NW to SE due to initial brain freezes in the NE. Upon returning there, however, things fell quickly into place. Crossword puzzles - gotta love 'em.

Thanks C.C. and Gary.

Lucina said...

SWOOZIE Kurtz was on TV for many years, in Sisters, I believe. It was Sela Ward, however, who usually won the award.

I forgot to say that APISH is not in my vocabulary.

And a CSO to my friend in San Rafael who is a master of IKEBANE flower arrangement.

Anon said...

Enjoyable Sunday Crossword despite some of the unknowns such as Seward, Deenie and Crouse.

ATLGranny said...

Continuing in my series of FIW today, I WAGged wrong in the cross of AWN and SWOOSIE. I put a "k" and could see her face, recently on TV, but forgot the spelling of her name. AWN didn't help, a totally new word to me. I got the fun theme and enjoyed the puzzle, with its challenging fill. Perps generally helped. Thanks, Gary. Thanks C.C. for explaining and parsing TO A T for me.

SEWANEE was easy since our daughter went there. And old favorites OREOS and ERIE were used today.

Hope you all are doing well this Sunday!

NaomiZ said...

By the Way, ho, OwenKL ... {A+} !

Picard said...

That whole area around the utterly unknown and un-guessable SWOOSIE nearly did me in. But WAGs and crosses seemed to force it. A Google search revealed that her father was a decorated bomber pilot in WWII. The B17-D bomber he piloted was called SWOOSE which combined "swan" and "goose". He named his daughter and only child for this. Learning moment.

All of our family photos that I share were taken on my father's LEICAS that my mother gave him as a gift.

Here are some of my VERONA photos.

From Yesterday:
Wilbur Charles, PK, NaomiZ Thank you for the UKE and other comments! Everyone has a different definition of FIR for them and that is OK by me. But I am in the camp that it only counts for me if I do it with no help of any kind. And, if there is a theme, I understand the theme. The latter can be the biggest challenge!

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Thanks, Gary, for a fun but challenging puzzle. Thank you, C.C., wish we saw more of your puzzles.

Saw the theme early & found it amusing. As long as I get a few laughs, I can tolerate a hard puzzle.

DNK: WEES. I did fill it with persistence and perps. Got hung up in the south central & southeast & had to red-letter. Last to fill was the "C" in Swiss _HEESE which had perped in and surprised me. Had to be a "C" for NEC.

But hey, I did know IPSO, RATSO, & GATO. So there.

We've sure been SATED a lot lately.

PK said...

Picard, I'm not so hard on myself. I'm too old to take tests and require a grade even if it is just FIR. If I can fill it with red-letter help, I indulge myself. Life is frustrating enough in other areas.

Misty said...

Clever, complicated Sunday puzzle--many thanks, Gary. And always love reading your commentaries and seeing your pictures, C.C.--thanks for those too.

My biggest help this morning came from the A names. I had no trouble getting ASHE--who seems to pop up in every other puzzle these days--and ALBEE (I know my playwrights--well, some of them), and ABBIE (a Yippie? I thought he was just a Hippy). Oh, yes, I also remembered that Dustin Hoffman played RATSO Rizzo on "Midnight Cowboy."

Owen, amazing, amazing, the way Joe managed to survive all those parking hassles until the repos came along. Clever and delightful, many thanks.

Lucina, how nice that you had a chance to get together with two long-time friends.

Have a great Sunday, everybody.

Kelly Clark said...

FIW -- in the TSTORM/CROUSE/SYN/HARRYING area -- but enjoyed it a lot...especially the cluing on INDIAN FLAT BREAD. Thanks, Gary and CC!

TTP said...


HA !

Failed in three places for three different reasons.

1) dEC instead of NEC. - A good guess that was wrong. No clue on IKEBANA and never thought of NEC.
2) DNK the F in IFC / FEALTIES - No clue with either clue. Left it blank and never went back to it.
3) PASrE instead of PASTE - A typo.

Some pretty good guesses helped along the way during the enjoyable solve. I solved so early this morning that it's hard to remember w/o going through an entire review of all the clues and answers. I know the Y in HARRYING was one.

After a couple of theme answers, I started looking for American Pie and Canadian Bacon, but alas no. No complaints, Gary L. It was a fun puzzle.

C.C., I've never heard of that Clean Sweep company you referenced. Not sure how cleaning your duct work would resolve a "drip drip" noise.

I used to get a drip drip noise from the downspouts in light to moderate rain conditions. That noise would drive me batty during the wee hours. Inserting a length of clothes line inside each downspout solved that problem.

staili said...

d-o, Lindsay Crouse's name is not a coincidence. Her father is the "Crouse" in the Broadway team and she was named after the "Lindsay" in the Broadway team. Lindsay and Crouse wrote the script for The Sound of Music (the dialogue, not the songs). They also won the Pulitzer for their own play called State of the Union, which was made into a film starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.

I FIW because I had RESEt for "Alter, in a way" instead of RESEW and didn't know Anna SEWARD so I thought SETARD seemed like a reasonable possibility.

Jayce said...

I liked the Country-Food gimmick. I didn't much like so many names and trivia that are, as Picard said, un-guessable. APISH is not and will never be in my vocabulary. I agree IKEBANA is nice fill, but if you don't know Japanese or have not otherwise heard the word, it, too, would be un-guessable.

Lots of (gratuitous) plurals in this puzzle: INHALERS, IPADS, ERAS, SEALANTS, MEGS, ROES, WARNERS, ATS, EPOCHS, LEICAS, EMUS, OREOS, FEALTIES, HES (ugh), ENTREES, TATAS, PIRATES, SPFS, ORES. SIRES. And third-person singular verbs: TOWS, RESELLS, REAPS, ROTS, REVS, EKES, HAILS.

Owen, loved your song today!

Take care, all.

Emile O'Touri said...

FIR Started out in the N/NW and noticed the nine trivia questions and lost most of my enthusiasm. Putzed around a bit looking for crossword clues but bumped into more trivia.I don't mind a bit of pop stuff and proper nouns, but usually his grids have just too much of the stuff for me to react positively.

Yellowrocks said...

I loved the geographical cuisine which I soon sussed at Swedish meatballs. I have never heard of Mongolian beef, but Mongolian was easy and beef was perped. I carefully marked most fill to return to, but I forgot to mark 123 D and left the F blank. A failure of a messy pen and ink solve. One bad cell. A mental ABC run would have found FEALTIES. I was into praying and meditating for devotions.
I know most Judy Blume novels, but DEENIE was all perps.
I have seen all three definitions of APISH in print. I think the first two are somewhat more common than the clue today.
-having the qualities, appearance, or ways of an ape.
-slavishly imitative.
-foolishly affected; silly.
I didn't take note of all the S endings. In Scrabble it is a good way to attach new words.
My Japanese DIL studied IKEBANA and still is a great flower artist. She made lovely table arrangements for my 80th birthday party.
My new BP medicine is making one glass of red feel like three. Another senior drawback. I hope this is coherent.
I have heard of SWOOSIE, strange name. The double OO tipped me off.
Having been an A type do-bee all my life, I am enjoying the change now. I can just BE, no imperatives. Even with great activities offered, if I want to just sit and read I do so. And when I have had a good rest I can join in or not as I please. AAH! Contentment!

Lemonade714 said...

Congratulations Phil Mickleson on becoming the oldest male to win a Major golf tournament at age 50. I wonder if this will inspire Tiger to make a more committed effort to get back to competitive golf. It was a real test of skill as the winds changed and the youngsters fell by the wayside.

I was surprised that so many of our solvers who also read historical novels did not recognize FEALTY immediately.

YR, be careful. Many Blood Pressure medications are potentiated by alcohol.

waseeley said...

Late to the party, as I've been gardening all day, and dotting the eyes and crossing the teas for this Thursday's review (warning, it's a real scorcher).

This puzzle broke my losing streak for recent late week puzzles (some of which I won't even own up to trying). While there were a lot of DNKs there were mercifully many perps to make up the difference.

And thanks to Gary for this TASTEFUL TRIFLE of punnishing WORLD WIDE cuisines. And thank you as always CC for your review. I'm surprised with all that food you didn't somehow slip in some Chinese.

Speaking of food I've got to help DW with dinner, so here are just a few favs:

32A I wonder if Judy Blume's DEENIE is any relation to our JOE DEENIE, who makes frequent appearances on the Corner.

99A The TRIBUNE papers, including the Baltimore Sun, were just sold to hedge fund Alden Global Capital. Don't hedge your bets that they'll start getting rid of "dead wood". "Crosswords? Who needs 'em?" Might have to start looking around for a new place to get my daily Corner fix.

113A EMUS These are birds of a feather and they flock together. You may see one soon in a puzzle near you.

2D DW worked as a systems analyst for T Rowe Price for many years. Great company.

Cheers,
Bill

waseeley said...

YellowRocks @6:53PM What's your BP medicine? If I could talk my doctor into switching, I could probably save money on reds (3 buzzes per glass!).

Cheers,
Bill

Wilbur Charles said...

I should have thought of REESE.
Also missed the S on CROUSE and SYN(thetic?) duh. Oh my, I see Gary calls it SYNfuel.
I finally WAGed the A(TS) @ signs
Aaarrrggghh!! It's CATE and NABISCO. No K.

There's another goof. I had REAL TIES.

Arrggghhhh!!! Again. TSTORM. If only I could read my writing.** I thought it would be an acronym.

I finally decided it had to be NEC not DEC. The latter was a huge former* rival of IBM. Right. Anon-T? I see HM agrees.

I finally got HARRY(ING) but apparently don't know my TV stations (IFC)

I sure did start well. I also started very late. She wanted the flea market an all day affair.

Picard nifty POINT about SWOOSIE. My father flew B24s.

WC

** Or as YR put it "A failure of a messy pen and ink solve." May I add poor lighting, wrong glasses and bad pen. I'm in my Dunnellon house not my usual bailiwick

*I had faith that Rich would have used that word if he meant DEC. TTP. I'd call it am educated guess

Wilbur Charles said...

Picard, re. FIR vs FIW. I mentioned on the online solve that one should leave a blank square(like the R in OREO. So when all squares are filled you can check the xword before filling the R. If "Congratulations!" doesn't appear it's FIW.

And...The thing about "cheats" is "Know thyself". If Wilbur has the option of a lookup or red square his lazy brain will take it every time . But involving F&F is just for fun.

Lucina said...

It was so wonderful to see all of my extended family today! Normality is precious to me now. I had not seen most of them for 18 months, since Christmas of 2019. The Children have all grown and surpass me in height. It was a lovely celebration not only of the two graduates, but of reuniting with family again. I love my big, noisy, fun-addicted family and have missed them so much.

Anonymous T said...

Lurker who's been having fun with Pop & Youngest's Graduation crowd says...

A little birdie asked me to link This relating to The Gilded Age of Troy, NY and somewhat adjacent to Downton Abbey.

Youngest's graduation was held outdoors (#Covid) in the rain (mostly a hard drizzle) last night at the football stadium (691 kids to get through before heavy storm!).

Today we had a party with her #Besties (who are all Honor Society kids) and some of their parents (whom I've know since the kids were in Grade 2 dancing ballet).
The kids in attendance today are all going to do well - they have their heads screwed on straight.

Oh, and Pop was ever the entertainer; the old man can tell a story with a punch... Had our adult guests in stitches.

Play tomorrow after a trip to IAH.

Cheers, -T

Cross@words said...

@lemonade714 — LPGA recognizes Fay Crocker at age 45 in 1960 as their oldest major winner. Do you have someone else in mind?