google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday August 8, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

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Aug 8, 2008

Friday August 8, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Vowel Progression

17A: "Living the Bill of Rights" writer: NAT HENTOFF

25A: Outcome: NET RESULT

37A: Quibbled: NITPICKED

53A: Ain't gonna happen!: NOT ON A BET

63A: Reason to eschew cashews: NUT ALLERGY

Ha, back to the familiar cluing. I had the suspiction that yesterday's puzzle was guest-edited by someone else. Some of the clues just felt so unusual, esp MALE. Or it could be that our editor decided not to tinker too much with the constructor's initial submission, so some of the clues came to us unfiltered and with originality.

This is a rather unusual Allan E. Parrish puzzle. I cannot find any Z, or Q. Good puzzle though, there is no forced fill or strained clue. I solved the bottom part of the puzzle first. Got the theme, then moved upwards and quickly filled in all the N?T theme entry words. Did flaunder at the upper right corner. Had problem obtaining SHEL, esp the last letter, as I did not know the crossing LANGTRY.

I so look forward to a L?ST vowel movement puzzle. LAST, LEST, LIST, LOST & LUST all sound more dynamic, don't you think so? I am so curious to see how the constructor clue those vibrant words.

My labels show that this is the 17th Allan E. Parrish puzzle we've done since Jan 21, 2008. By contrast, we have been offered 29 puzzles from Alan P. Olschwang.

Across:

1A: Straddle: SPAN. I wonder why our editor dislikes getting "handy" with SPAN. Mine is about 7", how about yours?

5A: Speak in Spanish: HABLA. Several Spanish words today: ENERO (32D: January in Oaxaca). EL NINO (60A: Current phenomenon).

10A: Cartoonist Silverstein: SHEL. No idea. I like the cover of "The Giving Tree".

14A: Der __ (Adenauer): ALTE. Konrad Adenauer.

16A: Disaster relief agcy.: FEMA. This remind me of somone's cub scout indiscretion "Brownie". You did a "heck of a job" Dennis!

19A: Greenish-blue: CYAN. I can never remember how to spell this CYAN blue.

21A: Neet rival: NAIR. As I mentioned yesterday, I dislike the repetition of letter(s) in both the clue and answer. "Hair removal product" is sufficient here.

30A: "The X-Files" character: MULDER (Fox). Is he romantically involved with Scully? I've only seen a few episodes. Not my cup of tea.

31A: Alternative to "ah": I SEE. Ha, not an easy "I SEE" for me.

33A: One-named supermodel: EMME. The plus sized model. She is pretty. (Addendum: The picture was actually Velvet D'Amour. Sorry for the mistake.)

36A: Like a run-down walk-up: SEEDY. "Walk-up" is a new phrase to me.

40A: Craps number: SEVEN. This is my favorite No. SEVEN. That's Mantle's 1952 Topps rookie card, the holy grail of baseball card collecting. I've only seen one in person at a card show.

44A: Long yarn: SAGA. Good clue.

61A: Australia lake: EYRE. Lake EYRE, the lowest point in Australia. Unknown to me. I got it from the perps. I like this clue better than the stale "Bronte heroine".

65A: Kodak brand: T-MAX

69A: Hawk's home: AERIE. Interesting pose. What is he looking for?

Down:

1D: Duvall title role: SANTINI. The Great SANTINI. Is this a well-known film? I vaguely remember seeing this title somewhere before.

2D: Lamentations: PLAINTS

3D: Case handled by a lawyer?: ATTACHE. Great clue.

4D: India's first P.M.: NEHRU. In Chinese translation, "H" is pronounced. NEHRU is 尼赫魯 in Chinese characters.

5D: Fictional Brinker: HANS. Unknown to me. I only knew HANS Christian Andersen. Sweet story.

7D: Trailblazin' Dan'l: BOONE. Another unknown to me. Is there any special reason why the clue is spelled that way?

10D: U.S. Army rank: SFC (Sergeant First Class)

11D: Beatles hit: HEY JUDE. Here is the song.

13D: The Jersey Lily: LANGTRY. Foreign to me. Wikipedia says she was the mistress of the future King Edward VII for sometime. Edward once complained to her, "I've spent enough on you to build a battleship," whereupon she tartly replied, "And you've spent enough in me to float one."

25D: Maiden of myth: NYMPH

35D: Big success: ECLAT. Some of the words just sound so brilliant when you pronounce them, ELCAT, bravura, virtuosity, etc.

39D: Plunk starter?: KER. Kerplunk.

41D: Names turned into words: EPONYMS. I like how the Mae West life vest got its name.

42D: Ex-solider: VETERAN. Dislike the clue due to EXS (62D).

47D: Dry gulches: ARROYOS

49D: Largest city on Lake Huron: SARNIA. New to me. See this map.

51D: Take a trip?: FALL. Does it really need a question mark?

57D: 1983 Indy 500 winner: SNEVA (Tom). Uncompletely unknown to me. Wikipedia says he was inducted into Motorsports HOF in 2005. Nice vintage button.

62D: "All my __ Live in Texas": EX'S. OK, 2 questions: Why the apostrophe in the song? And Why not EXES?

C.C.

84 comments:

  1. Good morning, C.C. and gang - I really liked this puzzle for some reason - some real thinkers, and some that threw me off, i.e., 'one-named supermodel' is almost always 'elle', but 'O sole Lio' doesn't quite cut it.

    "The Great Santini" is a great Duvall movie - he plays a Marine fighter pilot trying to raise a family in S.C.; worth a rental if you've not seen it.

    Thought of the sirens a couple times - 'nymph' and 'straddle' come to mind.

    For those who might not be familiar with military ranks, 'SFC' stands for Specialist First Class' - it's strictly an Army rank.

    C.C., mine is NOT 7".

    Make it an outstanding weekend - summer's rapidly getting away from us.

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  2. Dennis,
    ELLE Macpherson is a great supermodel, but she is not "One-named". "One-named" model can only be EMME or IMAN. What is your size then?

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  3. Good morning, all. I really had trouble with Nat Hentoff (never heard of him and Google didn't help). Had 'teal' in first...never heard of cyan until buying ink cartridges! Wonder if anyone else had problems with 'names turned into words', I sure did and had to Google this clue also.

    Since A. Olschwang was not Thursday's puzzle, bet we get him on Sunday!

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  4. c.c., you're absolutely right about Elle. If a larger model than 'Emme' comes along, will she be 'Enne'? Could there be a very large one ('Ewwe')?
    Since we haven't even had a drink together, I'll assume you mean hand span - 10".

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  5. I had to use google to get SFC, SHEL, LANGTRY, ELNINO, SNEVA and ARROYOS. I had heard of El Nino but I was thinking electric current, not sea currents. I wish Arroyos had been clued "Philipine President and family". When I googled "dry gulch" I got "ambush". It's only when I started looking for words starting with elnin that I got El Nino.

    Names are a problem because if you don't know the person then you're guessing. I had written in CHET for SHEL. I knew it wasn't PHIL because I was sure about E-MAILED. I also had EYRIE instead of AERIE, REGRETS instead of PLAINTS, VOID instead of HOLE and AWAKE instead of ASTIR. I also had VETERAN misspelled as VETEREN and NEHRU misspelled as NERRU so my answers to 65 across and 4 down were also misspelled.

    I had never heard of EPONYM but it was a gimme nevertheless because it rhymes with "synonym", "antonym", "hononym" and "acronym" and these are all kinds of words. The suffix "onym" comes from Greek and means "name".

    "Walk up" isn't really a word per se but it appears in the sentence "Take a walk up the hill to get to the next town".

    I grew up 500 kms from Sarnia (in Ottawa) so I had heard of it.

    I thought "HANS Brinker" was the villain in Die Hard and not "the little Dutch Boy". The villain in Die Hard was "Hans Gruber".

    And according to wikipedia, SFC is "Sargeant First Class". (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SFC )The rank "Specialist First Class" also exists. I wonder which one Mr. Parish had in mind.

    Martin

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  6. Morning, folks!

    Good puzzle today, and I was able to finish unassisted. I struggled for a bit in the NE corner after putting TEAL for CYAN (same as southernbelle). I'd never heard of SFC as an Army rank (only PFC), so that also threw me for a bit. Fortunately, I'm very familiar with SHEL Silverstein and once I got HEY JUDE the rest fell into place.

    The SW had the potential to be a quagmire, given that I didn't know EYRE or TMAX, but fortunately I knew SONNETS, EPONYMS and VETERANS and was able to get the unknowns from the perps. EXS surprised me for 62D, since I would have expected it to be EXES. I'm really not sure whether it is grammatical to make EX plural by adding 's, but song titles are often ungrammatical and this is a song title.

    As an aside, a generation ago the rule would have been that you can not make a word plural by adding 's under any circumstances, but this seems to be softening up a but with regard to things like numbers. It is apparently now OK to write "Back in the 80's" or "know your ABC's," at least according to some language mavens and style books.

    Anyway, I originally had NOT ONE BIT instead of NOT ON A BET for 53A, which wasn't helped by the fact that SARNIA (49D) was completely unknown to me. And I also had IMAN instead of EMME for 33A. Who is Emme? Never heard of her. I guess I'm getting old when I know longer know all the super models...

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  7. OK, just saw C.C.'s link to the picture of Emme. The "plus sized model," eh? Is she really a "supermodel"? I suppose it depends on your definition.

    Oh -- and I forgot to mention that I also didn't know SNEVA or LANGTRY. The former was easily gettable via the perps, whereas the latter contributed to my initial consternation in the NE corner.

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  8. Oh, I forgot to mention that I didn't know 'eyre'.

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  9. Good morning, C.C. and all.

    I seem to be on the same track as southernbelle and barry, so I won't duplicate their comments.

    I needed help with ALT of all things. I had a music keyboard stuck in my mind, and it didn't occur to me that it was a computer keyboard.

    ALTE, SARNIA and SNEVA were new to me, but were solved through the crosses or perps.

    I was going to complain about NET RESULT and NOT ON A BET until I saw what you had to say about the theme. They felt contrived, and now I see why.

    8" for me...

    The idea of all my exs being in Texas cracks me up. Why would you care to know where they were? This almost sounds like something Buckeye might have written. *G*

    It's going to be beautiful in Chicago today, and through the weekend. I hope you all have a chance to enjoy this great summer weather.

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  10. Good morning CC & DF's: Great puzzle! Straddle? Holy mind set! First one out of the chute and I'm already in the 'hole'. Affirm? Oh, hello! Then Hans (10", Dennis? You are a morel fellow!) followed by astir, and ply. The jig was up with 'Going to' which is the same as 'coming', just a matter of perspective. The net result is that I realized how thankful I am not to have a nut allergy. Remember not to reuse those special raincoats. I'm going back under my Shel now.

    8-9" 10 piano keys

    Enjoy this gorgeous day!

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  11. CC,

    7"?
    Last time I remember your description it was "petite and pretty". I am officially confused.

    Also, why the info on the "h" in Nehru?

    I love checking in with all the crossworders! Thanks for all the fun.

    Sandra

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  12. Guten morgen!
    Mulder is not, as of yet, romantically involved with Scully but there are hints that the romance takes off in the upcoming X-Files movie.
    The Great Santini was Great!!
    Nymph and straddle, Dennis? Yup. The siren sisters are off given that C.C. mentioned a span of 7 inches and you going in at 10 inches. Thanks, also for SFC definition. I thought it was sergeant.
    I liked Seven with Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Spacey.
    Daniel is spelled Dan'l because that is how his name was pronounced, especially in the TV show that starred Fess Parker (who also starred as Davy Crockett). Do some of you remember Ed Ames who played Mingo, Boone's Indian sidekick on Johnny Carson with the tomahawk right in the crotch?
    Ed Ames and Johnny Carson
    Didn't like ex's for the answer but that is how it is spelled in the song title.

    Today is Bonza Bottler Day (another excuse to celebrate) and Dollar Day. The date today is 8/8/8 (all eights).
    It is also The Date to Create

    Happiness Happens Day

    Sneak some zuchinni onto your neighbors porch night

    National underware day

    Have a good Friday. I'm off in a little bit to go camping for the weekend.

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  13. Hi. Walkup can refer to an older tenement buildiing that does not have an elevator. The top floors were cheaper than the lower ones.
    Calef

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  14. All in all a good puzzle today. I didn't catch on to the theme early enough or it would have been easier. I had to goodle, Living the Bill of Rights author, Alfe, and Shel. The rest I managed to get on my own.

    C.C. a walk up refers to a kind of dilapidated building in the inner city where you have to "walk up" the outer stairs as there are no elevators. That is what makes it "seedy".

    I believe the way they clued Dan'l Boone is because he was a pioneer/trailblazer of the south; specifically Kentucky. So they clued it with a southern drawl. There was a tv show starring Fess Parker that ran from 1964 to 1970 and I never missed an episode.

    C.C. also liked your quote on Jersey Lily Langtry. Laughed out loud!

    I too penned Iman in for Emme. Speaking of Emme, since she is a plus sized model that she is famous for, does she ever diet?

    My span is 8" and I too am glad not to have a nut allergy.

    Enjoy your Friday, and go Vikes! They play an exhibition game against Seattle tonight. I know it's just exhibition, but I love football!

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  15. Drdad, I have a "date to create"
    sneak some zucchini into National underwear and let happiness happen!

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  16. For those interested, my blog site visits Kearney, Nebraska, where I received my B.Sc. in 1982.

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  17. Would have been great today if I had known Nathentoff. Without C.C. I would have missed the vowel progression.

    I liked both the words and clues otherwise. Happy to see such a happy jumble of familiar people; Shel Silverstein, Hey Jude, Lily Langtry, Wyatt Earp, Dan’l Boone and Robert Duval. Made the puzzle fun for me.

    The great Santini was a hard movie to see; I had to watch a part of it a class last year as a study in domestic abuse; sad. But Shel Silverstein is a delight. Favorite is Sara Cynthia Sylvia Stout – would not take the garbage out.

    No idea why the apostrophe in exes – maybe just for emphasis. Barry’s probably right. The problem with all the ex’es being in Texas is that Texas is where I long to be.

    Have a great day everyone

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  18. Dennis,
    Now, if we had a drink together, what kind of size would that be?

    Lois,
    Boy, you've been really attacking "Going" the way Yankees did after 1935 (Ruth-lessly).

    Sandra,
    I stretched out my left thumb and my left pinky finger as far as possible, then I measured the distance between the tips, is that wrong? I mentioned H in NEHRU was because "H" is silent in English, but the Chinese translation has it pronounced. The translations are correct with the other H words like Gandhi & Delhi. I am just very confused with this "H" position in Indian language. I never know where to put it, there does not seem to be any pattern.

    Cokato,
    Thank you for the drawl explanation. Very helpful.

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  19. xchefwalt, I am having a few friends over for mussels tonight since I perfected the recipe. Would that spicy basil I have growing work in that dish or stay with the sweet basil?

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  20. What year were you born? I am surprised that you didn't know of Daniel Boone (a frontiers man, like Davey Crocket) and Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates, a children's book and movie.

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  21. Anonymous @ 9:53am,
    I am equally surprised that you commented without reading my profile first.

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  22. Good day, C.C. et al. I had a terrible time with 60A and 63A as I wanted Casino, not El nino. Oh well... Googling Sneva finally got me back on track.
    Shel Silverstein is a very talented cartoonist, poet and songwriter. Back in the 60's, his cartoons in Playboy were great. He also wrote the Johnny Cash hit, "A Boy Named Sue", but is best known to children for his off beat poetry. Here are a couple:
    "If they make you wash the dishes and you drop them on the floor, maybe they won't make you wash them anymore."
    "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my toys to break, so none of the other kids can use them."
    USS Daniel Boone was the name of my last submarine. His grandson, Alphone Boone ran a ferry known as Boone's Ferry in Oregon. We have a lenthy road in the Portland area known as Boone's Ferry Road.
    Virgil Earp, Wyatt's brother, is buried in Portland.
    I hoped 8D would be lofty so that aloof and lofty, both having connotations of superiority would cross.

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  23. Not only did shel silverstein write great poetry books but wrote "A Boy Named Sue" and many songs with kris kristofferson which included the song "once more with feeling"..

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  24. Enjoyed this with one plaint, lo-fat sans the w. Sole mio or you too? I dont want to nitpick. I too quickly answered teal and the net result was an inane attempt to invent a new army rank. I did like arroyo crossing tor. Geological terms are missing from my vocabulary. I said a prayer to the St. of lost causes , Hey Jude, help.

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  25. This one was tough for me. Started at the bottom. Never did get that it was vowel progression until reading it here. I did know Shel Silverstein well because I bought all his books when my girls were little. Had teal for cyan at first, had upon for span, but finally I saw Santini and saw the light. Had attest at first instead of affirm, but knew it had to be wrong because of Nair. Had Not one bit instead of not on a bet, but I did know ester so changed that. Did not know Langtry, but finally the words across got that one. Needless to say after doing it in pen it looked a little messy when I finished it. But, I finally persevered in the end with only a couple of look-ups! My span is 7"
    Have a great day to all!

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  26. Good morning All,
    I got the online puzzle at 11 PM and filled it in last night. I probably won't do that too often. My brain isn't at its best at that time.

    I had a problem getting started in the NW corner, so I went to the SE. I am a California gal and had no problem with ARROYO or ELNINO. By the time I got back to the top, I had remembered SANTINI. I had never heard of NAT HENHOFF. I thought it might be NATHEN (sp. var.)HOFF. Either way. I finally got it.

    "HANS Brinker Or The Silver Skates" was the hero of a 1900 century children's book. He wins a skating competition and saves his family from ruin. Just the kind of inspirational thing my mother read to me at bedtime.

    Swedish cousin is still asleep. We had a big day yesterday. The giant sequoias in Calaveras Big Trees State Park are awe inspiring. The wine tasting was fun as always. Time ran away and we didn't get to do any gold panning. She did get a lot of photos of Gold Rush towns and was thrilled to have lunch in a real saloon.

    c.c. Langhorne is not intrinsically funny. It was probably a family name to Sam Clemens' family, but was totally foreign to my paternal grandparents. They were Russian immigrants. Maybe they were hoping the middle name would rub off and their youngest son would one day be a famous novelist. (He wasn't.)

    Apparently, I have rather large hands for a woman; 8 1/2" span.

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  27. drdad, Yes, Scully, in fact, got pregnant by Mulder. You can watch some of the old episodes now running in the SciFi channel. I've been a fan of the X-Files for several years and love their approach to ETs...

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  28. Good morning everyone! Got everything today, but it was a disjointed puzzle for me. I had to jump around to get everything. NAT HENTOFF, EMME, EYRE, SANTINI, PLAINTS, SARNIA, and EXS caused me problems.

    Read the biography of SHEL. He was a strange and troubled man. He just never grew up. I questioned the EXS as well, but according to the lyrics, there is no second E.

    Martin, a walk-up is an apartment that is on an upper floor of a building that has no elevator.

    Kittyb, according to the song lyrics, the singer wanted to avoid Texas because if he went there the law would get him because of the beefs that his exes had about him, so he stayed in Tennessee.

    Drdad, is underware akin to software and hardware? I'll bet lois knows!

    8"

    Cheers!

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  29. Hi C.C. and all,

    Finally finished the puzzle after Googling a couple of times. Got 1d from the crosses and Googling 17a. Don't do enough reading to know all the authors. Also had PFC for SFC and wanted "not one bit" for 53a.

    Anon 8:36, C.C. IS pretty and petite. I know because I have a 7" by 7" photo of her on my desk. She is also very intelligent.

    My span is 8".

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  30. C.C. I just read your entire profile and find that you like flea markets. Which ones do you go to? Have you been to the one at the Medina Ballroom/entertainment center? It is Sunday mornings and is a pretty good one. There is also a huge one out in Monticello (w on 94)

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  31. Ouch, this was a touch one (though I loved the theme). I'm surprised/impressed/a little annoyed that Barry got it without any Googling - I needed plenty.

    I completely blanked on CYAN, even after I got a couple of the letters. With "little coronets," I was thinking of the musical instrument, even after I got some letters (and my daughter, who's 4, loves TIARAS!) Maybe my brain just wasn't firing on all cylinders today.

    Not sure why they used Dan'l for BOONE. I grew up in Arizona, so all those frontier heroes were big. Plus, that's what (cruel!) kids called me in grade school!

    Sorry Dennis, it's SEARGANT (not specialist) FIRST CLASS - I know, because this is the rank I obtained just before I got out of the Reserves (after 12 years!)

    I'm not sure the photo that c.c. posted is the real Emme. Here's her website.

    I agree that The Great Santini is a movie worth watching. It's like a whole film of his (too briefly seen) character in Apocalyse Now.

    My finger span is 7" (maybe that's common for women)

    Have a great weekend!

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  32. I really liked the phrase "eschew cashews". I want to say it is "alliteration", but I know that's not quite it. What is the term for an almost rhyming phase?

    I've never heard of TMAX either. It had to come from the perps.

    I really like Firefox spell check, but it doesn't help with misspellings like "Henhoff" instead of "Hentoff". Maybe my brain doesn't function very well in the morning either. Now, if I can just accomplish everything between noon and 1 PM, I'll be set! :o)

    Danielle: You're right. R. Duvall's "Apocalypse Now" character could have come home and 20 years later became "The Great Santini".

    BTW, I hope jimbo is personally acquainted with c.c., or just has her photo for crossword inspiration. Otherwise, it might be kind of strange. Just a comment and no response needed here, I agree with c.c. that personal information is at the writer's discretion.

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  33. Didn't catch the theme till I got here, Duh! Thanks CC.Knew Langtry from the movie Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean, starring Paul Newman as the legendary judge infatuated with her. He named his town Langtry and his saloon Jersey Lily. She actually visited the town after his death. The Great Santini is based on a novel of the same name by Pat Conroy. Love his books. Have a good weekend everyone; off to Twin Cities for Irish Fest.

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  34. C.C.

    If I transgressed, then I apologize to you. It won't happen again.

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  35. Crockett: you are so funny! And so right! I'm very familiar with 'wares' of all sorts (silverware, glassware, houseware, stoneware), and beware, I am also aware of hardware becoming software. Under is just as familiar to me: underneath, underline, understand, underpinning, underpaid, underlaid and 'in the end' under'taker' - the list is endless - that's why I went back 'under my Shel' this morning after posting. I hate to keep anyone waiting. I'll spare you my experience with 'over'.

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  36. I'm surprised/impressed/a little annoyed that Barry got it without any Googling - I needed plenty.

    Well, if it's any consolation, I completely crashed and burned on today's NYT puzzle. Multiple visits to Google and I still couldn't get it all. I felt very, very stupid.

    Anybody else think TMAX is probably T-REX's older brother?

    And I don't have a clue what my span is, since I don't have a ruler handy. Probably pretty small, though, since I have short & stubby fingers. Good enough for typing, not so good for playing piano.

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  37. good morning c.c. and all,

    enjoyed this one. a challenge, but not a bear. new to me: sfc, langtry (loved the quote), and sarnia. did not figure out the theme until i finished and looked back over it. c.c. i liked your l?st suggestion.

    c.c. did you object to the 22d clue practice REcycling for REuse, and 46d attendING for goING to?

    @dennis: 'ewwe' ... LOL.

    using an apostrophe after abbreviations seems to be an accepted practice, like cd's, tv's .. since cds or tvs would make it seem like a different abbreviation - but i don't know what the rule is. anyone? ex isn't really an abbreviation so exes would seem correct. ex's would imply posession, as in, 'my ex's psychiatrist,' but i digress. actually i don't call him my ex anymore, i call him my y. as in why?

    my two cents about the typo and error comments .. i agree with dennis and carol. in light of the 100 rule it seems gratuitous to take up space merely to point out, or correct a typo.

    7 1/2".

    national underwear day seems like the perfect excuse to make happiness happen.

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  38. ACK - lots of typos in my post:

    I meant it was a TOUGH puzzle.

    And it's SERGEANT.

    Here's what I should have posted for Duvall - one minute video of his scene in Apocalyse Now. Awesome.

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  39. Danielle, What a curiousity that the ARMY has "sear"geants and you were one. Did you also work for Sears? chuckle.

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  40. 1A: Straddle: SPAN. I wonder why our editor dislikes getting "handy" with SPAN. Mine is about 7", how about yours?

    Can you explain this?

    Hi C.C. and all,
    I had hard times in Washington AND Forida today.Eponyms is my favorite new word of the day.Didn't know cyan or tor either.

    I put in key for ker, as many of us plunk plunk on the piano.Couldn't come up with saga...just kept thinking skein, but 2 many letters.

    Shel Silverstein is by far the most popular poet for children, and he draws simple inane pen and ink drawings to enhance each poem:

    Captain Hook must remember
    Not to scratch his toes.
    Captain Hook must watch out
    And never pick his nose.
    Captain Hook must be gentle
    When he shakes your hand.
    Captain Hook must be careful
    Openin' sardine cans
    And playing tag and pouring tea
    And turning pages of his book.
    Lots of folks I'm glad I ain't-
    But mostly Captain Hook!

    From WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS

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  41. Sorry, Danielle, our posts about your "sergeant" spelling crossed with mine. Didn't mean to walk on your words. KJ

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  42. Hi C.C. and all,
    I had problems with Washington AND Florida today.I put key for ker-- I'm one of those piano plunkers.
    Saga was an "a-ha" as I kept thinking skein, but 2 many letters

    Eponym is my favorite new word today.Hadn't heard of cyan or tor either.

    Shel Silverstein is one of the most popular poets among kids, esp kids who don't like to read. He draws inane ink sketches for all of his poems.I love the poem "Sick" but it's too long to write. Here's "Captain Hook."

    Captain Hook must remember
    Not to scratch his toes
    Captain Hook must watch out
    And never pick his nose.
    Captain Hook must be gentle
    When he shakes your hand.
    Captain Hook must be careful
    Openin' sardine cans
    And playing tag and pouring tea
    And turning pages of his book.
    Lots of folks I'm glad I ain't-
    But mostly Captain Hook!

    from WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS

    another beautiful day

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  43. Good day c.c., DF’s and all! A special good day to sally, down here in Paradise, welcome!

    No time for the puzzle again today (meeting, meeting, meeting) and I must keep my comments brief, as I have another one scheduled shortly.

    @cukato- you may absolutely use the spicy basil. It will give the mussels a slightly spicy, anise flavor, as if you were to add Pernod. Also, if you REALLY want to get daring, you could go completely Thai by finishing off with coconut milk and red (spicy) or yellow (milder) curry.

    9.5”. You know what they say about men with big hands? They need big gloves!!

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  44. Didn't see "eyre" But they could have clued Twins ex-relief pitcher Willie and I'd have gotten it right away.

    Confidential to drdad from drbowler. Kearney NE was home to the Kearney company which manufactures split bolt wire connectors for the electrical trade. I'm not sure if they are still an independent company. They were small with quality products. But it has been a generic reference in the trade jargon for many years. No matter if you sold Burndy, Reliable, T&B, or whatever, the customer would ask for a #2 Kearney, or a #4 Kearney.

    I know this is not about the puzzle, but I only got about a third of it today and then gave up. Went bowling. 4 games - 880.

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  45. Wow Boomer, according to your blog you bowled exactly what your average is today. 220 is quite impressive. Do you have four 300 rings?

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  46. Good day, c.c. & dfs. My trouble was in the NW corner. Attache threw me because of a brain cramp. I printed Innur instead Incur & puzzled over that for awhile until I saw the errors of my way.

    I did like this c/w. In the old days, when the answer consisted of more than one word they would give you a hint. Ex: 37a Quibbled (2 wds), or 53a, Ain't Gonna Happen (4 wds). Knew SFC and Cyan (One of the three colors in an ink cart.)

    My hand span is 8 1/2" but, besides my feet, it's the only thing on my body that's 8 1/2".

    danielle, The musical instrument is cornet, the head adornment is coronet.

    Ken, I, too, remember Shel's contributions to Playboy.

    drdad, The official start of the Olympics was (China time-they're twelve hours ahead of us-EDT) 8:08 P.M. That makes it 08/08/08/08:08. Eight is a lucky number in China (so I've heard). Is that correct, c.c.?

    There is an old movie starring Henry Fonda (I think as Wyatt Earp) and Walter Brennen as Judge Roy Bean and dealt with Bean's infatuation with Lily Langtry. I'll Google it and give you the name if time and numbers permit.

    This was probably mentioned in the past, but you men need to see the movie "Sirens" with Hugh Grant, Elle Macpherson, Portia DeRossi, Kate Fischer, Sam Neill and Tara Fitzgerald. The Sirens are shown "au natural" so hold onto your...hats.

    You people question the title of Country/Western songs? Grammar be damned. Take my new song. Note the bad grammar, but the great title.
    "I Liked You Better Before I Got To Know You So Good."

    I must be off.

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  47. danielle, now I'm curious - I had a buddy back in the day (60s) who I would swear was a Specialist First Class - was that never an army rank?
    Thanks in advance.

    c.c., to answer your question, if we ever had a drink together, it'd be a stiff one.

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  48. I have 3 - 300 Rings. In 2000 I had 2-300s in a ten day SPAN, and you can only get 1-300 ring per year. Which reminds me, if they had clued Span as Twins right fielder Denard - I would have gotten that right away also. Maybe I should write the clues.

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  49. So Drdad is off camping. Wonder if he's pitched his tent yet.

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  50. he might be stockpiling wood to keep warm.

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  51. Gotta keep the home fires burning.

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  52. mark - Buenos aires

    Yes i think the opening ceremony was set for 8.08 of the 08 2008 for good luck.
    The women´s football started on Wednesday. Argentina lost to Canada who had a 6 kilo, 6 cm advantage. Surprisingly USA (2004 champions lost to Norway.
    My local paper on a Chinese theme reported that over a 1000 people are learning Chinese (should this be Mandarin) in Bs As, and that there is no alphabet (does this mean no crossword). Apparently you need 3,000 words to read the paper out of 50,000 words in use.

    Happy weekend everybody

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  53. Well, waddayaknow. I'm home now with access to a ruler and it turns out my span is nearly 8 1/2 inches after all.

    That makes me feel better....

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  54. ARGH! had my comment all set; tags, links, even a chorus, but hit the wrong thing and lost it all.

    Maybe I'll post later.

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  55. Hi C.C. and everyone: Very late start today.
    C.C. lol at your Lily Langtry quote!

    Dennis at 707am- Got it:) thanks!
    Dennis: "Ewwe" Baaaaaahd :)
    Melissa (12:16) thanks!

    Underwear? what's that? lol
    xchefwalt at 12:47, they also have a saying about the size of a man's shoe.

    Hand span: 7 1/2"

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  56. Ah, alone at last. G.A.H. and I love visitors, but as the C/W song says, "How can I miss you if you won't go away?" Buckeye, isn't there another one, "If You Won't
    Leave Me Alone, I'll Go Find Someone Who Will"? Our lovely guest left this afternoon and will be going home to Stockholm on Sunday. I'm glad we could show her the local sights.

    Goggling away; there are even several website that list amusing C/W song titles. I also looked up EPONYM and there are lots (A LOT) of personal names that are used to identify things. (Entomologists seem to like to have bugs named after them.)

    I think it would be interesting to have an eponym theme puzzle. "Sandwich", "Braille", "Uzi", "Pavlova", "Shrapnel", the list is seemingly endless.

    I wonder if we will be treated to an Olympic theme puzzle in the next two weeks? That could be fun and challenging too. We'll be watching the Games. G.A.H. loves track & field and I'm partial to gymnastics and swimming events. I hope the smog in Beijing doesn't cause too many problems. When we were there 2 years ago it was quite bad, and we certainly weren't going to run a marathon.

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  57. Ahhh, the title of my new book:
    The Pitching of Drdad's Tent written by Woody Hightower, Illustrated by Betty Dont.

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  58. Lois, there is also that great book: "Under the Grandstand" by Seymour Butts and don't forget "Yellow River" by I.P.Freely

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  59. Jojo,
    I don't get your 10:09am "you too" comment. What does it mean?

    Ken,
    I like your LOFTY crossing ALOOF idea.

    Winfield,
    Thanks for the song. Thought of you after seeing Dr. Dad's Ed Ames clip. Remember you mentioned that to me before?

    Clear Ayes,
    "Eschew & cashew", partial visual rhyme perhaps? How real is your saloon? I actually test-solved an Olympic themed puzzle a few months ago. Too bad the puzzle did not make the paper in time. I am not even sure if the author's puzzle is accepted. Thank you for your "writer's discretion" comment. Jimbo he has been with this blog for a long time. He visits us every day, though he does not comment often.

    Jimbo,
    No need to apologize. You are a good man. Don't be sheepish about your take on the puzzle any more. You know I like EWE.

    Cokato,
    I've been to both. Have found lots of interesting stuff at Medina.

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  60. Melissa,
    "Attending" is the only way to perfectly clue GOING TO in my opinion. Can you think of something else? As for the REUSE clue, I just did not pay attention to it this morning. Thanks for pointing it out. Very creative "y" over "x".

    JD,
    Our editor has used "Straddle" for SPAN before. I just wanted some variety, and "Thumb-to-pinkie measure" (hence handy) sounds appealing to me this morning.

    Xchefwalt,
    Were you big gloves just big gloves? Or were you hinting at something dysfunctional?

    Buckeye,
    Yes, digit 8 is good number in China and many Asian countries. I like all your song titles. Were you a radio program host before?

    Barry,
    Your 8 1/2 inch comment made me laugh.

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  61. In case you are interested, an apostrophe can indicate the absence of letters. In this puzzle's case it is All My Ex's Live In Texas.

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  62. c.c. "How real is your saloon?"

    There are several very authentic old-west saloons in our area. Our lunch yesterday was in the saloon of the Murphys Hotel, in Murphys, California. It was opened in the summer of 1856 and was a stopover for Matteson’s Stagecoach line. Famous guests who stayed at the hotel during its early years included Mark Twain, John Jacob Astor, J.P. Morgan, and former President Ulysses S. Grant. The hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places.

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  63. clear ayes, I'd love to see one of those original saloons one day - not gonna find any on this coast unfortunately.

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  64. Since we only have 65 comments, I'm going to try making a link. (I am following c.c. "how-to" link), but I have no idea what I'm doing!

    Murphys Hotel

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  65. c.c. Wow, you are good. I followed the "it's easy" instructions and they actually were. I won't be nervous about links anymore. Thanks!!

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  66. My meaning was, is it only me "Sole Mio", who doesn't like lo without the w. Or you too? Sorry if I wasn't clear.

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  67. My meaning was, is it sole mio "only me" who dislikes low, without the w, or you too? Sorry if I was not clear.

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  68. Opps sorry for the double post, having a little trouble. Can you tell I"m a newbie?

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  69. Just finished watching the Olympic opening ceremonies. Wow.

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  70. @c.c. 5:15 (a great Who song, by the way) I must confess to being dysfunctional. As carol alluded to, men with big feet need big socks, too!

    11 1/2 EEE.

    How about clueing GOING TO “not coming from”?

    Good night all.

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  71. clear ayes, thanks - great site.

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  72. Mark,

    I lived in Korea for a while and I saw crosswords in Korean. Korean is different though because, unlike Chinese, it is considered phonetic, which means you should always know how to pronounce a Korean word of you know the phonetic rules.

    (English is phonetic but about 25% of the time you can't correctly guess the pronunciation first time of a new word you don't know. For Chinese, it's about 75% of the time: some characters have clues as to how they are pronunced but many don't.)

    Anyway, Korean crosswords are small because, as is the case with Chinese, most words consist of four "characters" or less. (I've never heard Korean syllables refered to as "characters". "Phonogram" would be a good term to use: some Chinese characters are pictograms but most consist of two parts, the radical and a phonetic part.)

    I imagine a Chinese crossword could be constructed then. I once explained the concept of crossword (jokingly) to my students by writing the following on the white board:

    喜歡
    歡迎

    Across it says "like" (as in "I like you") and "welcome" and down it says the same thing.

    Oh, by the way, I had WEARING for ATTIRED at first.

    Martin

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  73. Clear Eyes,

    I imagine some people don't want their personal information (including their real name) posted to a blog because the blog not only can be seen all around the world but also in your own neighbourhood: you don't want to give out information to potential stalkers. Also, somebody may say he's living in Taiwan but he could actually be your neighbour down the street or across the road. You never know. I tend to talk to people on line as though they are right in front of me and I never think about such implications. Like I said, I've never posted to a blog before.

    Martin

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  74. Martin, you are correct about giving out information on a blog. What other people say about themselves may or may not be accurate. "Dennis" may actually be a housewife from Detroit named "Gertrude", "Lois" might be a plumber named "Walter". (Sorry, Dennis and Lois for using you as examples :o) This is a very enjoyable site with so many interesting people, but we should remember that we are "out here" for anybody in the world to see. c.c. has let it be know that she has "a line", beyond which she won't respond. I totally agree with her. We can still be friends, but I think it is better to be a little reserved about personal information.

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  75. I have to go now.....have to bake some cookies, and then service my husband. And it's that time of month, so I'm not in the mood.

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  76. Hey, Gert (I hope you don't mind if I call you Gert). I can understand what "Walt" sees in you....you're pretty cute. Have a good evening and don't forget to share that cookie recipe.

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  77. More vowel movement:

    ball, bell, bill, boll, bull

    mass, mess, miss, moss, muss
    (Too many eses?)

    pat, pet, pit, pot, put

    tan ten tin ton tun

    and because I like the literation;

    lay lei lie low luv

    boll is the rounded seed capsule of flax, cotton, etc.

    tun is a large beer cask.

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  78. clear ayes, thanks, but i have to confess - i had my breasts lifted after the 7th kid and the 6th husband.

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  79. Good for you Gertie! (I hope you don't mind if I call you Gertie.) After 7 kids and 6 husbands some gals (me) might gladly throw in the towel. Speaking of which, it is time for me to throw in the towel for tonight. Sweet dreams, all.

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  80. Clear Ayes: Man, you nailed me! Plumbing is my specialty. I'm handy w/tools and I work on pipes of all types and sizes. I plug 'em, unplug 'em, blow 'em and smoke 'em. It's a hard job, but somebody's gotta do it.

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  81. Dennis, I checked that rank, and I couldn't find any evidence that Spec 1st Class ever existed, it certainly isn't currently a rank in any branch of the service.

    c.c. - it took the help of a friend, but I finally found out who the Plus Size model is in the photo that you posted for Emme. Her name is Velvet D’Amour.

    Barry, I watched the Olympics opening show last night and though expensive pageants are NOT my thing, I have to admit to being quite awed.

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  82. 11:33
    I know I'm late to the party, but I have to throw out a comment on 62d: "All My ___ Live In Texas" (EX'S). This is a well-known country song (by George Strait) and is clued as a title (in quotes). Thus EXS is correct, since that's how it is spelled in the song title.

    Doesn't matter if it's grammatically proper or not. The song title is the song title.

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  83. Danielle,
    Thank you for pointing it out. I've added a line to the original blog.

    Embien,
    I still think song titles should be grammatically correct.

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