Theme: "See 'n Say"
17A: Lunch combo: SOUP AND SANDWICH
23A: Footwear combo: SHOES AND SOCKS
38A: Flag combo: STARS AND STRIPES
49A: Little girl combo: SUGAR AND SPICE
60A: Bonebreaking combo: STICKS AND STONES
I don't like seeing 5 repetitive "combo" in the above clues, very lazy. Given the creativity shown by the constructor on the theme entries, I suspect our editor might have tinkered with the constructor's original submission. Anyway, a "duet" sounds more appealing to me than a "combo".
This is a beautiful grid. I am so impressed with those S* & S* phrases. I was thinking of a similar T* & T* puzzle, but I could only think of "Thick and Thin" & "Toss and Turn". What other T*& T* phrases can you think of? They have to be 10-letter long I suppose, 15- letter will be ideal of course.
Several clever clues in today's puzzle, and several eyebrow-raising abbreviated answers too.
Across:
1A: Profundity: DEPTH. Wish the clue were "The third D (3-D)" to pair up with CCL (20A: Half of D). I've never realized that there is a "C C" in every "half of D".
6A: Erect: RAISE. Would have had a nice little sub-theme if RAISE were clued as "Worker's demand" since we have 56A: Workplace safety grp. (OSHA) & 30D: Work Station (DESK).
11A: VW predecessors: STU. Great clue. STUVW, in alphabetic order.
15A: Former defense secretary Les: ASPIN. "LES" was clued as "Aspin from Wisconsin" on July 8.
22A: Plumps (for): OPTS. I've never heard of "Plumps for" before. Dictionary defines the phrase as "Supports enthusiastically", but that would be "ROOTS for", how could it be "OPTS for"?
28A: Potato style: MASHED. The green pieces on top are chives, aren't they?
34A: Race of Norse gods: AESIR. I forgot. Had AESI? for a long time. AESIR is "the principal race of gods, led by Odin and living at Asgard." Very interesting root: "Old Norse, pl. of āss, god), no wonder they live in Asgard.
43A: Gov't security: T NOTE
45A: Annie or Harry Potter: ORPHAN
67A: Bit of binary code: ONE. This ONE is for you, xchefwalt.
68A: "The Highwayman poet": NOYES (Alfred). What a confusing name: NO YES. Thomas probably will "NOYER" into this name again.
69A: Dashing Flynn: ERROL. Know him, have never seen any of his movies though. Interesting book title - "My Wicked, Wicked Ways".
Down:
2D: Son of Cain: ENOCH
4D: County div., often: TWP (Township)
5D: San Simeon castle builder: HEARST. Got it from the cross fills. "San Simeon castle" is not a familiar name to me.
6D: Hazardous gas: RADON
7D: Varied: abbr: ASSTD (Assorted). What do you think of this clue?
8D: None for me, thanks: I PASS
11D: In good order: SHIPSHAPE
26D: Vocalist Vikki: CARR. Unknown to me. I googled her name. Here is her "It Must Be Him" & "All The Time".
33D: New state name: HAMPSHIRE. Another clever clue. New HAMPSHIRE.
41D: Title for M. Clouseau: INSP (Inspector). I have no idea who M. Clouseau is. I've never heard of "Pink Panther" before. This picture popped up when I googled "Inspector Clouseau".
46D: Anti-Red grp.: HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee). I pieced the answer together from the perps. Vaguely remember seeing this word in someone's comment before. Wait....OK, it's from Melissa. She mentioned HUAC when she remarked on Zero MOSTEL a few weeks ago.
48D: African menace: TSETSE. Good to see a full fly. Here is a female TSETSE. How sad, this deadly fly kills 3 millions livestock in this region every year.
50D: Prepared for action: READY. See, here is good example of how a constructor/editor can make a clue more interesting, tricking people to think of a past tense verb. A present tense "Prepare for action" is also a valid clue since READY can also be a verb.
55D: Stand for something?: EASEL. I like the question mark in the clue.
C.C.
17A: Lunch combo: SOUP AND SANDWICH
23A: Footwear combo: SHOES AND SOCKS
38A: Flag combo: STARS AND STRIPES
49A: Little girl combo: SUGAR AND SPICE
60A: Bonebreaking combo: STICKS AND STONES
I don't like seeing 5 repetitive "combo" in the above clues, very lazy. Given the creativity shown by the constructor on the theme entries, I suspect our editor might have tinkered with the constructor's original submission. Anyway, a "duet" sounds more appealing to me than a "combo".
This is a beautiful grid. I am so impressed with those S* & S* phrases. I was thinking of a similar T* & T* puzzle, but I could only think of "Thick and Thin" & "Toss and Turn". What other T*& T* phrases can you think of? They have to be 10-letter long I suppose, 15- letter will be ideal of course.
Several clever clues in today's puzzle, and several eyebrow-raising abbreviated answers too.
Across:
1A: Profundity: DEPTH. Wish the clue were "The third D (3-D)" to pair up with CCL (20A: Half of D). I've never realized that there is a "C C" in every "half of D".
6A: Erect: RAISE. Would have had a nice little sub-theme if RAISE were clued as "Worker's demand" since we have 56A: Workplace safety grp. (OSHA) & 30D: Work Station (DESK).
11A: VW predecessors: STU. Great clue. STUVW, in alphabetic order.
15A: Former defense secretary Les: ASPIN. "LES" was clued as "Aspin from Wisconsin" on July 8.
22A: Plumps (for): OPTS. I've never heard of "Plumps for" before. Dictionary defines the phrase as "Supports enthusiastically", but that would be "ROOTS for", how could it be "OPTS for"?
28A: Potato style: MASHED. The green pieces on top are chives, aren't they?
34A: Race of Norse gods: AESIR. I forgot. Had AESI? for a long time. AESIR is "the principal race of gods, led by Odin and living at Asgard." Very interesting root: "Old Norse, pl. of āss, god), no wonder they live in Asgard.
43A: Gov't security: T NOTE
45A: Annie or Harry Potter: ORPHAN
67A: Bit of binary code: ONE. This ONE is for you, xchefwalt.
68A: "The Highwayman poet": NOYES (Alfred). What a confusing name: NO YES. Thomas probably will "NOYER" into this name again.
69A: Dashing Flynn: ERROL. Know him, have never seen any of his movies though. Interesting book title - "My Wicked, Wicked Ways".
Down:
2D: Son of Cain: ENOCH
4D: County div., often: TWP (Township)
5D: San Simeon castle builder: HEARST. Got it from the cross fills. "San Simeon castle" is not a familiar name to me.
6D: Hazardous gas: RADON
7D: Varied: abbr: ASSTD (Assorted). What do you think of this clue?
8D: None for me, thanks: I PASS
11D: In good order: SHIPSHAPE
26D: Vocalist Vikki: CARR. Unknown to me. I googled her name. Here is her "It Must Be Him" & "All The Time".
33D: New state name: HAMPSHIRE. Another clever clue. New HAMPSHIRE.
41D: Title for M. Clouseau: INSP (Inspector). I have no idea who M. Clouseau is. I've never heard of "Pink Panther" before. This picture popped up when I googled "Inspector Clouseau".
46D: Anti-Red grp.: HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee). I pieced the answer together from the perps. Vaguely remember seeing this word in someone's comment before. Wait....OK, it's from Melissa. She mentioned HUAC when she remarked on Zero MOSTEL a few weeks ago.
48D: African menace: TSETSE. Good to see a full fly. Here is a female TSETSE. How sad, this deadly fly kills 3 millions livestock in this region every year.
50D: Prepared for action: READY. See, here is good example of how a constructor/editor can make a clue more interesting, tricking people to think of a past tense verb. A present tense "Prepare for action" is also a valid clue since READY can also be a verb.
55D: Stand for something?: EASEL. I like the question mark in the clue.
C.C.
92 comments:
Awesome - finished in record time for me- did both this and my SUDOKU in 15 minutes! - Olny verified a couple of things with Mr. Google! Awesome.
Good Morning C.C. etal!
Have a Great Friday!
Good morning. An easy puzzle today. Nice to see inner tube because Dennis just finished tubing behind a boat.
Noticed the volume of comments yesterday and the day before. My, how we've grown.
Today is National Raspberry Cream Pie Day. Sin sisters probably like cream. It's also Respect For Parents Day, and Sister's Day.
Have a great Friday!!!
Good morning, C.C. and fellow DFs - This one went pretty fast; once I had the first theme clue, the others were no-brainers, and that alone seemed to fill in a third of the puzzle. Pretty easy for a Friday, no?
C.C., I think that's parsley on the mashed potatoes. I agree about 'plumps for/opts'; I thought it meant roots for. Also, back in the 60's, I stayed in a motel near Malibu CA that was once one of Errol Flynn's homes, complete with mirrored ceilings. Pretty unusual at that time.
Carol, cokato et al, thought of our late conversation when filling in 49A.
Hope everyone has a great weekend; do something memorable.
Good morning........I did pretty good on this one today. I missed a few.
I agree with Dennis, I think that is parsley on the mashed potatoes too.
I wasn't too crazy about the 7D clue either.
CC, The Pink Panther was pretty funny back in the day.......
Have a good weekend everyone....
Dennis et al,
Would you be able to get AESIR without the perps? Does TNP (4D) stand for "Township"? Couldn't find it in my dictionary. Were you all OK with ASSTD (7D)?
C.C., 4D is 'twp'; 14A is 'in awe', and yes, it stands for Township.
Aesir was a gimme only due to repetition.
Dennis,
I misread the 14A clue as "Dumb", so my fill is "INANE", hence 4D became TNP.
Blogger hates me!
C.C.....it's parsley, but chives would have been the better choice. At least, that's my personal opinion.
I had TWP for the abbreviation of 'township,' with INAWE across.
The only word I didn't know was AESIR and I got it from the fills.
I hope you all have a good weekend. It will be a busy one, here.
Not fast but finished while watching CNBC and the sore economy. Oil MUST continue to go down to $100 or even less, but I doubt it...
I thought 55A was a fairly good clue. Made me think of everything BUT...
Good morning CC et al,
I agree with everyone on "plumps for" = "opts".
Re: T&T - a little bit of = "this and that"
CC - House Unamerican Activities Committee was chaired by Senator Joe McCarthy (Wisconsin, I think) and was basically a witch hunt for communists in the late 50's - scourge of Hollywood. He would ask "are you now or have you ever been a communist?" People would be relentlessly pressured to turn in their friends & coworkers, so much so that they would give up names just to get out of there. Very scary time in American history.
G'moring all, Those pasley flakes are just for show but chives would give it some flavor. Ummm.
Are you alright with 43A?...I was trying to think of a new homeland defense dept..
laugh - when I got STU, I wondered how they figured Studebakers were a predecessor of Volkswagons.
I've been to the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, CA quite a few years ago. I couldn't believe the wealth: gold taps, the swimming pool unreal!!! etc. It's a worthy visit if in that area. The beach and nature are just beautiful.
G'morning
(I hate when I se my typo just as I hit send.)
T & T: tried and true.
(Tested and proved to be worthy or reliable)
argyle, you have a great point with the Studebakers, however, I believe that the clue can also be the alphabet letters STU VW. Studebakers were the cars to get. They were too light in weight. The PRESIDENT model had the funny looking "rocket" looks. Who remembers the Chevrolet CORSAIRS??? There are still 1 or 2 around here in pretty good shape. IO have not seen any Studebakers since the late 50s.
flyingears, do you mean Corvairs, the car that Nader killed?
C.C. I think you used to have a link to the puzzle on line and I don't see it anymore. Do you know how I can find it? No paper today.
Morning, folks! Happy August.
A surprisingly easy puzzle, I thought. Especially the theme answers. I figured out the theme early on, and the last two theme answers I actually filled in after getting a couple of crosses without even bothering to look at the clues.
I nominate TWP as the most awkward and strained abbreviation of the year. Is this even a real abbreviation, or did the author just make it up for this puzzle? I didn't mind ASSTD (assorted) quite as much, but it's still bad. INSP for inspector didn't do much for me, either. And add me to the people who dislike "plumps for" for OPTS.
Meh.
On the bright side, I thought that "VW Predecessors" was a great clue for STU (I'm sure the answer refers to the three letters preceding the letters V and W in the alphabet). But that's really the only bright point in this puzzle. And yes, AESIR was a gimme for me because I've studied Norse mythology.
So much for "it's C.C.'s blog and she can tell us when and where to stop". Ha! Knew the vulgarity would catch up to you all.
I've been asked to not 'flame' anon for the time being, so out of respect for the requestor, I won't. But anon, you're wrong yet again - we've been talking off-channel for some time about the blog numbers, and how they're overwhelming C.C. It has NOTHING to do with content, as she made clear. Matter of fact, I have a feeling that your little whining act is gonna have just the opposite effect. So you lose yet again.
And rest assured, at the appropriate time, the rest of the blog will know who you are.
Mornin' all! Argyle, Thanks for the VW thing. I got stuck on the "car", and till I got here just couldn't pull my head out far enough to understand a STU being the VW's forerunner. D'uh!! Think alphabet, dummy!!!!
Did the same as CC with 11a. Had an "N" instead of a "W".
Had no idea what a TNP was!
Don't remember seing AESIR before and 43a boggled me. I wanted some kind of security force. Ya know, with weapons and stuff. I think the clue could have been "GOV'T investment" instead of "security".
I'm afraid 6a will "raise" some eyebrows today. (I hope it's only eyebrows!)
OK, enough rambling.
Later, dudes!!!
Anonymous @ 6:53am,
This is your last post. Next time it will be deleted without warning. I've never seen a more "vulgar" comment as repelling as yours.
Chris & Der Katze,
Thank you so much for the "This and That" & "Tried and True". Vodka & caviar to you both!
Argyle,
Santa, where is my T* & T* gift?
Cokata,
Go to my "Which Newspaper" side bar, you will find the link. It's in Chicago Tribune's website.
Barry,
Thank you for echoing my doubts on TWP (though I got it wrong) and INSP. I still dislike ASSTD.
Good morning CC & DF's: not too bad but wanted to put a match to some of the clues...except I'm online which also had misspelled
'vonebreaking combo'60A and I'm thinkin' Boris and Natasha (no offense meant) are here and I'm going to be in awe of the axe they raise. I'm 'mashed' if caught but would rather be smashed and caught by a cowboy. How does 16A Hag = old crone? I'd be alone if I called my old crones hags. And 65A and 22A...uh, no! Perps got me thru and enjoyed raise crossing sin & end...my kind of crossing! enjoy this gorgeous day!
c.c. time and tide wait for no man.
Ya know ANON,(soon to be known as POS) I believe you have an agenda! But you're preaching to the wrong group. I sincerely believe that the bulk of the people who post here are really great, intelligent, and probably more spiritual than even YOU could imagine. SO, why don't you take your sermons to a group that really needs them. Maybe one of the many porn sites that you visit. Who knows maybe you can get them to SEE THE LIGHT.
There, I'm over it.
lois, I think you're thinking of 'crony', or pal. A crone is defined as a hag.
turn and thrust - I only mean the dance move, girls.
I really enjoyed the theme today; except threw Vonebreaking misspell online threw me off a bit.
Only tight spots were stu, and aesi. Completely missed the progression, and was thinking about cars. Couldn’t figure out how a Studebaker fit in. Duh. Now I see Argyle made the same leap. Gimme five, Argyle.
Agree with Katherine about the 7D clue. I’m not familiar with the term ‘plumps for.’
I think insp would have been better clued ‘web host’ or something similar.
C.C, very nice move on anom. Why should he have blog space here?
I wasn’t able to check the blog after my original post yesterday until very late, but it’s a nice thing to be able to see what ya’ll talked about. I see I was given credit for ‘grok’ for a few thrilling minutes. but Dennis set the record straight. I wish I could take credit for such a great word, but I learned it here.
I don’t want to bore everyone, but I was out late yesterday because I went to a book reading/signing by Garth Stein. Has anyone read his books? He was reading from “The Art of Racing in the Rain”. It’s a story narrated by a dog, and nothing like ‘Marley and Me’ or “Saving Sprite” both of which are true stories told from a human perspective.
Part of the reading was the scene where the evil sexual predator (toy) zebra attacks the innocent Barbie and then the entire toy collection, and the dog gets the blame. Hilarious in the book, and even more so when read by the author.
barb b, don't think it was me; I learned it here too.
Good morning c.c., DF’s and all! Office day today, no sweltering in the heat of SW Florida.
I only got hung up in “Oregon” today, with 1a and 1d just not registering in my brain. It should have, as playing Frisbee as a youth was almost an Olympic sport. I second barry’s motion on “twp”, sometimes I think they make these things up just to drive us crazy. I am also with argyle; after filling in the clue through the perps, I wondered the same thing about Studebaker.
That is parsley, and chive would be better. I prefer thinly sliced green onion (scallion). I didn’t like the clue for 45a- in my mind I kept looking for a name to attach to Harry Potter. 31a was a quick fool, as my first instinct was to insert SHEA (Arthur ASHE is literally right across the street from Shea. When the US Open is on at the same time the Mets are home, the traffic is unbearable. Also, all those planes from nearby LaGuardia airport add to the ambiance).
c.c.- I vodka you for ONE. Another profound U2 song is “Bad” from the “Joshua Tree” album. See if you can find the live version from “Wide Awake in America”, it’s very powerful stuff.
6:53- unreal. You don’t know when to leave well enough alone.
Dennis: thank you and my friends thank you. I am thinking of crony. Perhaps crone would fit the self-righteous, sanctimonious anon that needs psychological help. Poor miserable troll.
Argyle: 'dance moves' works for me too.
I can see where you've had problems with the volume cc. I gave up just trying to read all the comments let alone respond too. Do you have a live feed on this site like jimh has? Just curious how many hits you get from people who don't comment and where they're from. Hope you all have a good weekend.
Tried to post a link with this to the live feed but it won't work. Any idea why?
Anonymous @6:53am,
I warned you I would delete your next comment, and I did. You've got no understanding of the real reason behind my limit on the posts. You've hidden behind your imbecilic anonymous mask and viciously attacked the commentators I've grown to love. You are such a despicable coward, thinking only with your 4-legs. Don't even lurk in my blog. Get lost!!!
Ah! fifteen!
taste and texture
NYTanonimo,
I am very IT challenged, I don't have Jim's skill for live feed. This blog gets about 4,000 daily hits & 100 daily comments in the past week.
Argyle,
Sweet "Taste" & rich "Texture", hmmm, more vodka for you.
Anon, bravo...tired of reading all the sexual tension these women must have. this was started as a crossword blog. get a room or find another site.
Hey "I agree"/anon - before you start agreeing with yourself too much, understand this: This is C.C.'s blog, and it's her call as to its direction. We've all reached a comfort level in what's become a crossword/chat blog, and if you aren't pleased with that, find something more to your liking. We're certainly not gonna change because you don't like it. You really do need a life.
I believe what C.C. said in her message was to keep the comments orientated to the crossword puzzle. Not sexual connetations as what appears here every day. It sounds like she's sick of it as I am.
Morning all,
I have been wondering if anyone is using the new Cuil as a search engine. I can't decide if I like it or not. I have been using Google and then type in the same thing in Cuil and at times get totally different results.
By the way, Twp. is a very common abbreviation here in Berks County, PA. Of course, so is "outen" the lights.
"I agree" - perhaps you could point out where C.C. said that, other than in your delusional mind. No reference to sexual "connetations" (why are you doing crosswords if you can't even spell?). And one more time - NO ONE cares what you're sick of. NO ONE. It's not your blog.
Finished the puzzle in record time. Don't really like "doing" it on line. That's for you, i agree and anon. Liked the soup and sandwich, sticks and stones, stars and stripes. Favorite soup and sandwich: grilled cheese and tomato soup. Getting ready to head out for a sail, beautiful day here in MN.
C.C. I enjoy your site and hope that in no way I am to blame for the insensitive comments. I can't keep from thinking that these negatives posts started after I started posting on your blog.
Argyle, yes I did grin at 6A
@ Jeanne,
"outen" the lights - I love it.
When I was growing up in Cleveland my mom used to ask me to "throw me down the stairs the basket" on laundry day.
Here in Louisiana we "make groceries" - I gotta go to the grocery store later this afternoon.
I'd be interested to hear what other local colloquialisms are out there.
TGIF to all!
dennis, yes, I meant CORVAIR. The Corsairs were the A-7s the USN flew in the 70s when I was in the carrier. Got it all confused...
MAYBE Anon's comments ARE the ones just getting the blog full. MAYBE, just maybe, if he quits the blogs will remain under 100. About 90 of them are just to get anon to stop his BS!!!
About the Norse Gods, the Aesir, Norse historian Thor Heyerdayl points out that the people of Azerbaijan are called the Azeri. He considers it possible that the legend of Odin was based on a real person who was Azeri because there was an old legend about Odin saying that he came to Norway by boat via the Black Sea from a land known as "Aser".
http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/31_folder/31_articles/31_thorazerconn.html
Martin
Good morning all. Did almost all in about 20 minutes, then fussed and fumed to fill a couple of holes.
After reading the comments, I can contribute to the TWP problem. The "Northwest Ordinance Act" of 1787 set up the system of land classification "Northwest of the Ohio River" and "South of the Great Lakes". Within the act was the division of so many "sections" (640 acres to a section), 36 sections to TWP or township.
I once lived in the Township of Newport, MN.
I recalled the act from grade school of all places, but had to google it for the particulars. If you fly over corn country in the midwest in late summer, you can see the grid of "section" roads laying out the prairie states like a checkerboard. As teen-agers, My friend and I would drive the section roads, all gravel then, doing about 70 mph. With 7 foot corn, all the intersections were blind corners! Ah, when you're young, you'll live forever.
Easy enough that I was able to finish without assistance but I wouldn't say it was a slamdunk. "Plumps for" didn't work for me. I got INAWE and TWP but still didn't know what TWP meant. The theme answers were easy easy easy so it made the puzzle a little easier than it might have been. Agree that duos or pairs would have been better than combos. Never heard of AESIR, got it from the perps. This is my one and only post of the day.
Sorry, I omitted that the 640 acres constitues a square mile, hence the checkboard pattern of section roads, mile after mile. I don't know if the practice extended to the western states.
Bit late with this but "Her Infinite Variety"-Name of an Irish music group-available on CD -. Beautiful!
Sandra
All right- I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!
Anon, I Agree- “What we have here, is failure to communicate…..”
Here’s the scoop, as I see it (and again, if I’m wrong, someone please correct me), we are a x/w community, one that enjoys the language, its usage and the tangents that the daily puzzle takes us. C.c. is our mentor, enabler and friend, for whom without her we would not be here. As a non-native speaker of our language, I feel she find our banter amusing and confusing, and she learns from us as we learn from her. She gets to understand our country, values and culture as few do; by monitoring a nationwide blog, she gets to see all our warts for what they are, gets to see how people from the Northeast differ if language, verbiage an slang from Midwesterners, Southerners and Westerners.
Do you even READ this blog, or only skip to the dirty parts? Have you READ c.c.’s own comment on this issue? Have you READ how one regular contributor (who is very funny and well liked) was chastised for swearing? Have you READ where other writers were admonished for polarizing political views and name calling? C.c. and all the others here are more that capable of policing themselves, I have yet to hear a cry for help on that.
So as I’ve stated before, it comes down to two choices: 1) start your own blog where you may endlessly air your viewpoints to those who care (even sneeking a peek here to call us names if you like), trust me, we won’t care or 2) point your browser elsewhere and LEAVE US THE HELL ALONE.
Here endeth the lesson.
fairly easy puzzle today. was hung up on aesir (34a) for longest time and also mind-blanking on t note (43A) for some reason...
cc - you should really rent one of the Insp Clouseau movies and give it a watch - they're hilarious! the late peter sellers was a comic genius (whatever his other faults). the pinkpanther flicks are really good!
Good morning everyone! I did this online last night and was completely befuddled by the 22A clue. WHAT? As previously mentioned, there is the misspelling of 60A and a couple of capitalization problems on 64A and 26D ("big ___" and "vikki.”) in the online site.
TWP is definitely a valid abbreviation. When looking into land records in an area where surveys were done using the township system, a description of T2R4W would indicate Township 2, Range 4 West of a particular meridian. Before township, there were the “metes and bounds” surveys. Start at the big elm; go to the large rock, etc. It's amazing that anyone knew where there land was actually located! Now we have GPS. Times do change.
AESIR was there for me, but only because of seeing it so many times in puzzles. Nice to see the whole fly, but your link seems to be broken, C.C.
Have a great day everyone.
Over and Out.........
Ken, thanks for the info on the Northwest Ordinance Act. I was going to post that TWP is a VERY common abbreviation in northern Illinois. I grew up in those corn fields you mentioned, and am accustomed to the one mile grid of roads.
I'll have to go back to read last night's posts. I may have credited the wrong person with 'grok." If so, my apologies.
good morning c.c. and all,
easy one today. didn't know what a harrow was, and agree about 'plumps for/opts.' the theme answers were fast fills - except for that online misspell 'vonebreaking.' didn't even get that it was a misspell until i read it here from lois and barb b .. thought it was some word i didn't know. c.c. i agree that the use of 'combo' in every theme clue was uninspired. cute observation on NO YES.
have also been to hearst castle, am IN AWE of it. liked seeing HUAC, since it's history is of interest to me. c.c. your mind is like a steel trap.
6:53: what is that annoying whining noise?
8:21 & 8:35: there it is again .. would someone please get the RAID? despicable.
in the interest of giving credit where credit is due .. grok: mh introduced most of us to this when he used it in his comment on 7/9/08. crockett responded, 'what is grok?' and kitty b and mh both responded to explain the meaning. it has been used often here since then.
Hi all! Not to many problems today. Agree with all on plumps (for), never heard of that. Had trouble with AESIR, but got it from the down words. c.c. I also agree that you should rent some of the Pink Panther movies, watched all of them when I was a kid. TWP (township)I learned when going to real estate school. Have a great day everyone!
Good MORNING c.c. AND ALL,
Had an easy time with the theme, after I got "shoes and socks". Don't like the clue for 22a and only got TWP from the crosses.
I believe the authors have their own rules concerning abbreviations. Also, Tnote somehow does not, in my mind, equal "security".
Faithfully following the comments and enjoying every one of them. Please keep it up!!!!
C.C. I FILET MIGNON you!!!!
Good Morning C.C. and everybody!
22A was confusing to me too, I didn't know 34A(even from "hors"),4D was a mystery as well, and even when explained, I think it is strange.
As to 41D Whew! THAT sure as heck isn't Inspector Clouseau! I don't think the Inspector would know what to do with that "pink panther"(looks more like a pink "panter") :)
C.C. thanks so much for blocking that disgusting anon. Looks like you'll have to keep on doing it, as he keeps popping up. He obviously cannot read well as he completely misses the meaning of your messages.
Dennis and xchefwalt, Bravo! I sure could not have expressed it better myself.
Dennis, thanks for the ref to 49A. I like to think of myself as sweet and spicey!
I think I may have complained too much yesterday about living in a prehistoric area. This morning our electrical service went "flooey" for about 5 hours. I finally got online and did the puzzle. I thought it was fairly easy. Once those big "S" answers started to fall into place it went quickly. Like most others, I thought "Plumps (for)" was a silly clue. "I plumped to go to dinner, rather than cook". "He plumps for a bicycle instead of a scooter". What the heck is that supposed to mean?? "STU" stumped me for a while as I tried to think of an old German automobile, until I went the other direction and got "shipshape" and "tact"
Be careful of the Pink Panther movies. The originals with Peter Sellers were so funny. There are lots of sight gags and sexual innuendo (innuendi?). Steve Martin's remake suffers in comparison. Martin is a very funny guy, but he hasn't had much luck with his movies. OK, before you say anything, "The Jerk" and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" were close to perfect, but they were early in his movie career. Nowadays, I prefer Martin's more serious work. I saw "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" performed on stage and I really liked "Shop Girl".
Today is a Girls Day Out. Six women are going to town for lunch and to see what I expect to be the ultimate chick flick, "Mama Mia". Hardly anybody likes to admit it, but down deep, we all love ABBA.
Have a good day all.
mark - Buenos Aires
Plumps for is common in old UK for selects. My mother would say " I plumped for the jam tarts rather than the mince pies"
Contributors spoke of the car corsair (Chevrolet? in the states but Vauxhall in UK) and the schoolboy joke was:
How many cars can you get on a mans chest -
a thousand corsairs
Have a good day and weekend to all.
Just dropped in to say good morning C.C. and DFs.
Don't have time to do the xword... will have to do it on the plane. Leaving for a week or so to get some sun. "O" is having another gloomy weather day... overcast and drizzle....
I've never tried doing xwords online or via satellite so I may or may not check in over the next couple. Uplinks are undependable at best so banter is totally out(which is probably a good thing).
Anyway, be good to each other.
ciao
btw, There is more than one kind of harrow so don't assume the answer will be disc every time. The most common types are the disc harrow, the chain harrow, the tine harrow or spike harrow and the spring tine harrow. We call some spike tooth harrows, too.
Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Hi, guys. Got todays x/w fairly easily with a few "posers". VW, and aesir took awhile but finally got it.
Love Peter Sellers in all the Pink Panther movies. Great score by Mancini.
Have you ever noticed how much time the anti-porn groups spend watching porn? The people who would never go to the corner tavern demand there be no smoking at corner taverns? The list is endless. Sooo, to anon and I Agree I have a brilliant suggestion. START YOUR OWN TRIB X/W BLOG! Call it Crosswords for Christ. Or, Purity Participles. When you're up and running, come back and post your blog with c.c. and you and all of your "yawner" friends can bore each other STIFF. (That should set the sirens typing like the double entandre mistress they are. How do you spell entandre?" Anon and I Agree, it's like a television. If you don't like the program, TURN IT OFF. GO AWAY.
I posted last night, my new c/w song is "I hate every bone in her body but mine." Please don't comment, anon.
I must be off.
I loved this puzzle - you know I like the easy ones. Loved the theme, really fun.
Why not just clue OPTS as "chooses"? Mark - thanks so much for the explanation, otherwise I would have continued to scratch my head over that one. It's a great phrase - "plumps for the jam tarts" - very evocative.
Clear ayes - I thought the Steve Martin remake of the Pink Panther was kinda sweet, but I agree that anyone not acquainted with the character should watch the original. My husband and I still do this bit with each other after gazillion years.
Just wanted to put a link to Big Sur - my mother lived there for awhile in the 1960s - one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Have a GREAT weekend.
Still can't get a "Blue, underlined" name.
Yeah!!!! Got it. Thanks "late night group " of 7/31/08. See!! You can teach an old dog new tricks!!!
Hi CC and DF's
The puzzle went OK, had the same trouble most everyone did with 4d,7D,and 34A. I totally agree with argyle on 43A I was thinking about some new abreviation for the FBI. I finally got it with the perps. flyingears, the USAF also flew the A-7 corsair, D modle, from 1969 to 1980, then the ANG got them until the mid 1990. I flew the A-7 at myrtle Beach SC and Davis-Monthan AFB. I flew other fighter type aircraft in my AF career and some aluminum overcast made by Boing and Douglas in another life, but the Corsair will always hold a special place for me. Thanks for the memories
@clear ayes 11:30- I must agree with Danielle’s’ 1242 comment. While it does pale in comparison to Blake Edwards’ originals, it is still a funny movie on its own merit, and Steve Martin makes the character his own and doesn’t `go the cheap route by just imitating Sellers. BTW, Martin’s “Blowfinger” is dark comedy at its best.
I had forgotten to mention c.c.s’ “inspector” picture- if inspectors looked like that, I’d have chosen a life of crime!
ENJOYED THIS CW ON THE BEACH TODAY. SORRY THAT IT WAS SO EASY. FORGOT TO BRING A BOOK. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND ALL.
good, I thought of another 14 to balance toil and trouble,
Top Hat and Tails
gotta go do a job, won't be back 'til around 11:00 EDT. Plant ya' now, dig ya' later.
Dennis, Xchefwalt et al,
I've expressed my reason for the limit once again at "Limit on Comments" post, and I am NOT going to respond to someone who agrees with himself/herself.
Argyle,
Good stuff @ 12:22pm. I am waiting to unpack more gifts later tonight.
Crockett1947,
The TSETSE link worked fine when I clicked earlier. What do you mean by "seems to be broken"?
Martin,
Welcome to the blog!
Dons_minds, Steve, & Jimbo & Calif & Buckeye,
I've enjoyed your comments lately. Please always leave a message when you swing by.
steve, I was also involved with the A-4 Skyhawks. Now, THOSE were the ones if you recall... I was able to fly the back seat in the TA-4 with a Naval Aviator buddy of mine. We used to fly from Lemoore NAS to Albuquerque, NM and back again allowing me to take control of the stick. Those Wednesdays were real fun.
C.C., the link works fine now. Ugly old gal, isn't she?
Buckeye, now you're one of us!
I wanted to post this earlier,but had to be away for much of the day.
For folks who didn't get TNOTE's "Government security." In this case, security refers to a financial instrument. We may hear of two year or five year "treasuries", ie, treasury notes or TNOTEs. Most of us are familiar with the savings bond our grandparents or aunts may have given us. Like saving's bonds, treasuries or tnotes are "backed by the full faith and credit" of the US of A. They are totally safe, but not very strong on returns on your investment. One of the differences between savings bonds and tnotes is the dollar figure. Savings bonds have a face value as low as $25, whereas tnotes are commonly in units of so many thousand dollars. Hope this helps. Ken
CC & DFs - Easy day today.
CC-Thanks for your strenght and putting folks in their place.
CC- I thought with this group you would want to work on a theme for T&A not T&T... lol
Gone back to readin' and postin' occasionally.
Razzberry,
Where have you been? Boy, I had to use the BAD Urban Dictionary to find out what T & A is.
C.C., T & A is also the term we use when we remove tonsils and adenoids (tonsillectomy & adenoidectomy).
Flyingears,
What is a T & T to you then?
Kittyb: I think you were the one who cited "Shake, Rattle and Roll" as a Bill Haley hit before "Rock Around the Clock" the other day. You're right, of course. Thx for rekindling my memory on that great rock'n roll tune.
Evening, all!
Since we're still under the 100 comment limit and allowed to talk about non crossword related things, I just wanted to say this about that...
Personally, I'm not particularly comfortable with all the sexual banter around here, either. I'm not horribly offended -- just not overly comfortable with it. However, this is C.C.'s blog, not some sort of public service! If she doesn't mind it, who cares what I think? If it makes me uncomfortable, I don't need to participate in it, and that's the bottom line.
I'm just glad I found a place where I can discuss the crossword puzzle I do every day (except Sundays). You can't imagine (or maybe you can, actually) how many times I've had difficulty with a puzzle, was proud of how well I did, or had a question or a complaint about a clue and dearly wished I had somebody to talk to about it. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, C.C. for starting and maintaining this blog! And if you want to go off on tangents and talk about sex (or even beets, for that matter), you go right ahead!
Er... As you were.
Oh -- and I don't do the Sunday puzzle only because my local paper (the Boston Globe) carries a different puzzle on Sundays. It's not because I'm extremely religious and feel that doing crossword puzzles on Sunday is a sin or anything like that. Just thought I'd mention that... ^_^
Barry,
My sentiments (sp) exactly.
I've actually been lurking here for a while. I teach at the Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology and my office mate and I have office hours at the same time. He started doing crossword puzzles and he would ask me to finish them and I'd get frustrated and go online and that's how I found this blog. So now I do crossword puzzles myself because I know that there's somewhere I can go to find out where I went wrong and not have to wait until the next day to buy the newspaper. Sometimes I'm able to finish the puzzles myself without even going online and that's seriously cool.
Martin
11:19 today. I was stuck for a long time looking for my error. Finally figured out it wasn't INANE and TNP! Didn't catch the significance of STU until I came here (actually, hardly saw the clue as it was solved by the crosses).
I think 47d: Anti-Red grp. (HUAC) should perhaps have been clued as "in the past" or some such (at least I don't think HUAC still exists--or does it?)
@barry: weren't the beets in Rex's NYT blog? Maybe they were here as well and I didn't remember it.
@clear ayes: saw Mamma Mia yesterday with my wife. A lot of fun, but it certainly won't be going on my top 10 film list. As for it being a "chick flick", I'll have you know that there were two men in the theater (counting me). Hmmm, maybe it is. I'm going to go now and dig out my ABBA "Gold" CD!
@c.c.: you have my full and unqualified support in the "controversy." The double entendres and innuendos are probably a great way to learn more of the nuance of a language. Idioms too!
@barry: weren't the beets in Rex's NYT blog? Maybe they were here as well and I didn't remember it.
Yeah. It was just an inside joke because I know C.C. reads Rex's blog as well.
"Dancing Queen, young and sweet, only seventeen." Five women, age 57 to 70, singing along as loud as they could to ABBA Gold on the way home. You should have seen it, or maybe it's better that you didn't. "Mama Mia", not a great movie, but it was impossible not to like, and want to jump up and dance.
xchefwalt @1:12 "BTW, Martin’s “Blowfinger” is dark comedy at its best." I didn't mean to dis Steve Martin. His "Insp" Clouseau was amusing, but it just wasn't as good (in my opinion) as P. Sellers. I really wanted to like it as much, because I think Steve Martin is a huge talent. I forgot about "Bowfinger" That was a very good movie, but I think hanging around this site has warped your spelling :o)
Unless something presents itself that I simply MUST comment on, I'll keep myself to two entries today. Hopefully no power outage tomorrow and I'll be able to check in earlier.
Very strange. I can't get crosswordcorner.blogspot to open. It says "Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site http://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com/. Operation aborted
Anyone else having this problem? I can see the site but can't to anything and when I 'OK' the message, everything goes away.
Hi Argyle, c.c. etal,
Here's that comment I must make. Yes, I was having the same difficulty as you were,
"Internet Explorer, etc." I did get in, but a couple of time I got booted out before I had a chance to click on the posts. Has some devious STCC hater done something diabolical to the site? Is that even possible? Am I paranoid? I don't think I am paranoid, but I wonder about my other questions.
I have noticed that our Sirens and their Gallants have been mostly silent today. Don't go into hiding because of a few unkind comments. I understand c.c.'s need to keep the number of comments under control. I'm sure she has a "real" life and can't be riding herd on the blog 24-7. But she has made it very clear that she wants the posts to remain free, easy, friendly and no censorship (Ain't America grand?). The friendly (and sometimes naughty) people were what attracted me to this site in the first place. Don't go away!
I shut myself down and restarted, Then I goolged 'crossword blogsite'. When Google took me to C.C.'s site, I was ready to click on the comments button of her "comment limit" entry and I made it through before the warning got me. After reading the omments, I clicked 'back' and then and there the message reappeared.
I was able to get back here because I always bookmark it separate from the original post.
Argyle, I've been having that problem as well. I finally downloaded Firefox and haven't had any problems at all (yet). See you all on the morrow.
Greetings all from the seashore of Old Mexico. "The weather is here and I wish you..." Jimmy Buffett. Time to chew on some cactus and lime and have a good time.
Just wanted to test out the landline connection down here. Had some trouble for a while but it seems to be functioning now.
Crockett & C.C. - thanks for the Chicago Trib address. I tried it & got in no-sweat!
Y'all be good to each other and don't worry about that 400 pound gorilla sittin' there with you in the room.
Embien,
You are right once again about HUAC. There should have been an "old" or "former" in the clue.
Argyle,
Thank you so much for the T* & T*.
What does "Plant ya' now, dig ya' later" mean?
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