google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday August 9, 2008 Matthew Higgins

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Aug 9, 2008

Saturday August 9, 2008 Matthew Higgins

Theme: None

Total block: 27

Sigh...another Matthew Higgins, what can I say?

Annoying amount of affixes and obscure words. Maybe Mr. Higgins should give up this ambitious themeless idea and plunge into themed puzzles for some badly needed batting practice and minor league training. Amazing how he can come up with 27 blocks every Saturday.

Look at how many ER, RE, ED he employed to create this grid, not to mention those pesky S'es:

15A: Puts back: REPLACES

61A: Raised letter designer: EMBOSSER

62A: More compressed: DENSER

1D: Gave a big hand to: PRAISED

45D: Those relaxing: RESTERS

37D: Populated: PEOPLED

And the irksome RENCOUNTER (27D: Hostile contest). Have you ever heard of it before? I have not. What a desperate a 10-letter word for a desperate constructor who desperately needs RE & ER affixes.

Sloppy editing job from our editor too:

6D: Frozen fruity treats: ICES

50D: Unfreeze: DEICE

58A: Wheel-driving channel: MILLRACE. Completely unkown to me.

29D: Garden tractor brand: WHEEL HORSE. Another unknown.

I had to flirt with Mr. google a few times, and I don't think I enjoyed the experience at all.

Have to share with you this interesting piece on Matthew Higgins.

Across:

1A: Perfect maker?: PRACTICE. PRACTICE makes perfect.

9A: Chucklehead: STUPES

16A: Sword of Damocles, e.g.: THREAT. This is Richard Westall's "The Sword of Damocles", the symbol of hidden perils of power.

17A: Cause supporter: ADHERENT

18A: Speakers' platforms: ROSTRA. Singular is ROSTRUM.

20A: Bony-plated dinosaurs: STEGOSAURS. I googled this one. Could not get the letter G and O. See this picture. Why is it called STEGOSAURUS? Needs some polishing with the clue. Terrible repetition of "saurs". Can you come up with a better clue?

22A: Rope fiber: SISAL. Named for SISAL, Yucatán.

24A: Worsted fabric: SERGE. Yawner. It's time to recognize the genius in SERGE Gainsbourg. No other song is more exotic and erotic than "Je T'aime... Moi No Plus": "Je vais et je viens, entre tes reins..." What other words do you need?

25A: U.S. Medical grp.: NIH (National Institutes of Health). I would not have got this one without the down clues.

26A: Splicing device: EDITOR. New to me. I always thought EDITOR is a person.

28A: Extinct bird: MOA

30A: Expression wish: DESIRE. I DESIRE U2.

37A: Lay down asphalt: PAVE. Now we are on PAVE binge. I kind of miss ET AL now.

46A: Narrative poetry: EPOS. Epic poetry. Also new word to me.

48A: Sleekly graceful: FELINE. Dictionary has another definition for FELINE: "Sly, stealthy, or treacherous".

52A: __ the ticket!: THAT'S. I don't understand this one. Is it a slang?

53A: Fitted for grasping: PREHENSILE. New to me also. So close to COMPREHENSIBLE.

57A: Blow a gasket: LOSE IT. SEE RED is clued as "Blue a gasket" last time.

60A: Make manifest: EVINCE. No need to "Make". "Manifest" is sufficient.

63A: Wakame and kelp: SEAWEEDS. I like wakame. Kelp is too coarse for me. My favorite SEAWEED is nori. Delicious!

Down:

2D: Beach close cause: RED TIDE

3D: Especial to special, e.g.: APHESIS. I've never heard of this term before. Was it a gimme to you?

4D: Some flowering vines: CLEMATISES. CLEMATIS the "Virgin's Bower".

9D: Russian count's wish: STROGANOFF. Or STROGNOV. Vaguely heard of it before. It's named after Russian diplomat Paul Stroganov. It's "a dish of tender beef strips, mushrooms, and onions cooked in a sour-cream sauce and served with noodles or rice." Russians put sour-cream in everything.

10D: Porky's sweetheart: PETUNIA. Learned this from doing Xword. PETUNIA was always a flower to me before.

21D: Fourpence piece, once: GROAT. Ha, I wonder if Mark (Buenos Aires) knows this English silver. I had on idea.

23D: Tribal knowledge: LORE

38D: Judge favorably: APPROVE. Are you happy with the "Judge" clue?

39D: Elects: VOTES IN

43D: Dark igneous rock: DIABASE. Another unknown. Here is a picture. Amazing how those yellow flowers can survive and bloom there.

44D: Inveigled: ENTICED. I did not know the meaning of "Inveigle". I only knew "Inveigh".

51D: Slug trail: SLIME. Icky!

C.C.

58 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had to google a few words: APHESIS, CLEMATISES, SISAL, STROGANOFF, GROAT, MOA, FEEDER, DIABASE, MILLRACE and SEAWEEDS. I thought "Stroganoff" when I got 9, 16 and 18 across but I had no idea how to spell it. I wrote in WHEELHOUSE for 29 down but it turned out to be WHEELHORSE. It was a good guess I think.

Martin

Anonymous said...

How about "Jurassic animals" for "stegosaurs"?

Martin

Katherine said...

Good morning everyone.
I never heard of RENCOUNTER, MILLRACE,WHEEL HORSE,PREHUNSILE, APHESIS, DIABASE. I did like the clue for 1A.
Didn't you have the link to the "Je Taime" song once before CC? I think I remember seeing it here before.
I agree with you about 26A (editor).
Have a good day everyone.....

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Martin,
I like your STEGOSAURS clue.

Katherine,
Yes, I have, several times. It's one of my favorite songs.

Argyle said...

Hello, no problems finishing but then realized how many I didn't really know.

epos - a group of poems, transmitted orally, concerned with parts of a common epic theme. (ěp'ŏs') There is no epo

NIH - National Institutes of Health

aphesis - The loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of a word.

rencounter - To meet unexpectedly; to encounter in a hostile manner; to skirmish.

groat - a silver coin of England, equal to four pennies, issued from 1279 to 1662.

diabase - A dark-gray igneous rock so called by Brongniart, because it passes over to diorite. Also called dolerite.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Argyle,
Would you have got WHEEL HORSE, CLEMATISES and MILLRACE without the perps?

Argyle said...

I would have got Wheelhorse(good rototiller) and millrace. We have a lot of little water-driven mills around here. They often had to shut down in the summer due to low water flow. Clematis, yes, if I think to pronounce it, 'kli-mat-is'.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Jojo,
Thank you for the explanation on "You too" last night. Now I understand what you meant. Good comments.

Xchefwalt,
What's the name of that big gloves Who song you mentioned yesterday? Your clue for GOING TO ("Not coming from") has reached the peak of Mountain Dysfunctionality.

Argyle,
Thank you for the vowel progression word list last night. Interesting pronunciation on CLEMATIS. I wonder why it's also called "Virgin's Bower"?

Clear Ayes & Dennis,
So, I normally read the last comments first when I get up in the morning. Imagine how shocked I was to read 7 kids/6 husbands statement from Dennis...

Argyle said...

58A: (water)wheel-driving channel - Millrace delivers the water that turns the waterwheel.

20A a better clue? prehistoric reptile with plates
New Latin Stegosaurus, genus name : Greek stegos, roof + Greek sauros, lizard.

52A That's the Ticket! A similar phrase to "now we're cooking with gas"

53A Now that's a prehensile tail!

Jeanne said...

Morning all,
Googled Porky's sweetheart and the first choice was your blog. Had to refrain myself from looking at the rest of the answers. I think I will finally remember Petunia now.

I knew Wheel Horse since we have had several garden tractors over the last 30 yrs. Groat is one I can't remember even though we have seen it several times. Never would have gotten millrace w/o the perps.

Feels like fall here this a.m. Not happy about that. Don't want to see summer end.

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - Ah, where to start.....well, rather than mention all the things I pulled out of the dark recesses of my mind, let's just say this one kicked my tail; my puzzle looks like an inkblot test with all the write-overs. I actually made it through without Mr. G., but c'mon, who didn't initially think 'speakers' platforms' was daises? Never heard of the 'wheelhorse' brand, NEVER heard or saw the word 'rencounter', thought using 'ice' twice was weak, and was racking my brain for a short 'bennifer' type answer to 'tabloid twosome'.
Other than that, I had a great time. Only thing missing was sticking a fork in my eye.

Hope it's a great weekend for everyone; spectacular (low 80s, low humidity) here in the NE.

Anonymous said...

Well, I did finish in an hour, but still wasn't sure of some words, such as aphesis (wasn't special to me), rencounter (thought it should have been re-encounter). Got whe_ _ horse and really had to work to end up with wheel. Higgins must visit the library every day searching for unusual words.

feste said...

27d tirbal?

feste said...

27d tirbal?

Argyle said...

klem-uh-tis, kli-mat-is

Some clematises are called virgin's-bower, traveler's-joy, leatherflower, and old-man's-beard. No idea on why for any of them yet. Clematis virginiana - native to Virginia but that doesn't explain 'bower'.

I'll keep looking, by my old-man's-beard. (mild oath)

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Feste,
23D: Tribal knowledge (LORE)

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Argyle,
I still don't understand what is "That's the ticket". Can you give me a plain example?

Dennis,
If you have not heard of RENCOUNTER, then it has to be an obscure word.

Southerbelle,
I love the last sentence in your comment.

Barry G. said...

Morning, folks!

I did this one over the breakfast table away from my computer, so I didn't Google any of the words. I did, however, have to use my dictionary a few times....

I struggled for awhile in the NW corner due to (a) not being sure how to spell CLEMATIS (and not wanting to accept CLEMATISES as a valid plural), (b) misspelling SISAL as SISEL, (c) not knowing the word APHESIS, and (d) not wanting to accept that EDITOR could be a device as well as a person. That section finally resolved itself once I realized my spelling mistake and decided to accept EDITOR and CLEMATISES. I still didn't know APHESIS, but it looked right once I got it.

The NE corner was only rough momentarily because I wanted to put some form of podium for 18A. Once I realized what 9D was, however (beef stroganoff is one of my favorite foods), the rest fell into place quickly. It helped that I knew who Petunia pig was.

The SW corner was a bit tricky due to the fact that it contained both EPOS and RENCOUNTER, two words completely unknown to me. I got them both via the perps, though, so I didn't need any help.

The SE corner, however, was my personal Waterloo. I've never heard of DIABASE. I've never heard of WHEEL HORSE. I've never heard of MILL RACE (I had to look that one up in the dictionary to proceed). I couldn't figure out FELINE (I could only think of "svelte" or "lithe" and neither fit) and had to use my dictionary to figure it out once I had FE___E.

In closing, I just have to say...

Rencounter???

Barry G. said...

I still don't understand what is "That's the ticket". Can you give me a plain example?

Well, I'm not Argyle, but the expression simply means "that's right." It was made popular back in the 80s via a recurring Saturday Night Live sketch starring John Lovitz as The Pathological Liar. He would say something totally outrageous and then add, "yeah, THAT'S the ticket" for emphasis. For example, he might say something like:

"You can't arrest me -- I know the Pope. No, wait -- I am the Pope! Yeah, THAT'S the ticket!"

JOJO said...

I stubbornly stuck to riptide and it almost sunk me for awhile. Loved those cartoons with Porky and Petunia.
If my husband says, lets have the leftover stroganoff tonight, I say thats the ticket!!! no cooking tonight.Its an older expression, haven't heard it for years.
Wheelhorse and millrace stumpers for me, almost lost it.
Have a great weekend all.

Chris in LA said...

Good morning CC, etal,
Not too tough today - most googles were for spell check rather than answers.
CC - Jon Lovitz popularized the term "that's the ticket" on Saturday Night Live several years ago when he played a pathological liar character - couldn't find video, but here's a transcript og one of the routines:

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/85/85bliar.phtml

Just for grins thought I'd throw in another SNL video for the Sirens - one of my favorites, it actually aired for about a minute before the producers pulled the plug (edited for the blog, of course):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhwbxEfy7fg

Hope all have a great Saturday!

Ken said...

Good morning, C.C., et al. I had a few problems with the NW corner. I had riptide rather than redtide and aphesis was a mystery to me.
C.C., others will chime in with "That's the ticket." but it is a dated expression of American slang that basically indicates enthusiastic approval. I believe it applies when several courses of action are being considered and one idea stands out. I'm not sure of the origin, but probably stems from having a "ticket" to go a certain way to get where you want to go. At least, that is my guess. Google has info on political programs and discount ticket opportunities that use the phrase as well. I've rarely heard it in common speech.

Ken said...

Barry, I wasn't a SNL watcher, so thanks for adding your comment on "That's the ticket." In my youth, I did hear older people use it now and then.
The term "wheel horse" comes from our horse culture of pre-auto days. In a four horse group, there would be two "lead" horses and two "wheel" horses, ie those closest to the wheels. Wheel Horse is also the name of a common bluegrass music tune.

JOJO said...

Chris I didn"t think of Jon Lovitz, in regard to "Thats the ticket", he makes me laugh out loud. Remember him in the Seinfeld episode? Wish he had his own show.

Dennis said...

The video from youtube for the sirens reminds me of the old popcorn box trick we used to pull on girls at the movies, back in high school days. Usually good for a scream and a smack...

Dennis said...

jojo, you're right - he was the one character on SNL that would always crack me up. He was also outstanding in "A League of Their Own"....."see, the thing is, the train moves, not the platform".

Buckeye said...

Hi, c.c and fellow dfs. Well, a puzzling puzzle. Don't care much for Wright's entries, although some were fun. (See previous postings for my complaints about this puzzle. Ya'all covered it "greatly" esp. c.c., as usual.)

As I mentioned previously, I observed this blog for months before I decided to join in on comments.The explanations of the answers to clues from the participants are brilliant and the reparte ( help me out with the spelling here-I know some Spanish but little French) is wonderful. I find myself working too hard to solve these c/ws (notice the lack of an "'") so I could post my successes. That's a pain in the ass. Hence, I shall return to the closet (heterosexual) and observe the wonderful banter, experiences,and clever entrendes that makes this the best blog on the "net". I shall be following you every day to make sure someone doesn't try to F*** up c.c's brain child. So be on your toes. I WILL BE BACK!!!
"I Still Miss You Baby, But My Aim's Getting Better."

I DEFINETLY must be off!!!

Anonymous said...

I lost it doing todays puzzle. I usually don't get so frustrated. Did not enjoy it at all. Too many unknown words. Loved the Olympic opening ceremonies last night.

Anonymous said...

C.C. In the 1930's and 1940''s "That's the ticket" was a common phrase. I understood it to compare to having a ticket to get into a place or to solve a problem that would be a positive experience. If you have the ticket you can get the answer to a problem.
Calef

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All,

As usual, all the good comments and criticisms were already posted by the time I joined in. I"ll just add my 2 cents anyway.

There were some words I didn't like. I've never heard anyone called a STUPE and I agree with Dennis about using ICE in two answers. Then there were the words I just plain didn't know; APHESIS, RENCOUNTER, DIABASE and MILLRACE. GROAT for me has always been a grain. But when I incredulously googled it, I found out that the grain is GROATS. Our garden tractor of choice is a John Deere and I had never heard of a WHEELHORSE. Perhaps it's a brand that isn't available on the west coast. But fortunately, what I couldn't figure out horizontally, the perps made possible and viceversa.

I liked STROGANOFF. That one can be added to the eponym themed puzzle I'd like to see.

Older SNL was fantastic. I don't watch it much anymore. Is that because it isn't cutting-edge, or because nowadays my bedtime is its starting time? Wasn't it Bette Davis who said, "Getting old isn't for sissies." :o)

Don't go away Buckeye!

KittyB said...

Good Morning, C.C. and all.

Argyle, I had the same experience. I finished the puzzle by eventually filling in the perps, but I didn't recognize a lot of the words: APHESIS, DIABASE, EPOS, NIH, AND RENCOUNTER.

I misspelled STEGOSAURS, but got it on the perps, and guessed on the "O" in GROAT. I've read that word, but never heard it said.

STUPES and MOA were also new to me.

C.C., I'd have gotten MILLRACE (there's one nearby), and CLEMATISES (I own two), but oddly, given the amount of gardening we do here, I wasn't familiar with WHEELHORSE.

It sounds as though I need to go back and read the last of yesterday's comments. 7 kids/6 husbands.....good GOD!

Jeanne, it's overcast and cool here (near Chicago), today. Mother complained that the house feels cold to her, so I've wrapped her in layers of polar fleece. Can you imagine how she'll feel when winter arrives? I'm ready for Fall, but not snow and ice.


Dennis, I went for "daises," too. Then I tried to make it 'Nostrums' before I finally realized the answer.

Southernbelle, I wanted "RE-encounter," too. That word simply looks strange!

In answer to the question about 'bower,' a clematis grows on supports, like an arbor, and forms a mass of leaves and flowers arching over the top. If they were planted on both sides of the arbor, they would meet and create a shady nook under the vines. 'Bower' is defined as: A shaded, leafy recess; an arbor. (dictionary.com).

Here’s a site on Clematises (how awkward….I want the Latin):

http://www.clematis.com/html-docs/homepage.html

Argyle, I think the English put the emphasis on the first syllable.

Blogger HATES me! I've had to copy and paste about six times. 'Preview' is the kiss of death on this computer.

Sorry for the ‘tome’ today, but it seemed better than sending out half a dozen shorter notes and using up our posting quota.

I hope you all have a great day!

KittyB said...

Buckeye, don't leave! I look forward to your song of the day, and I definitely think you belong among the D.F.s. Please reconsider.

Unknown said...

That's the ticket implies that everything is just right; perfect; correct. Ticket is a variant of "etiquette" which has the meaning "of appropriate conduct", ie correct and proper.

Clear Ayes said...

BTW, Props to both Dennis and Lois. Last night's little throwaway comment on my part turned into witty reparté when it came to their turns.

There are so many clever and amusing people here. So much information is presented in such an enjoyable way. They (You) are what make this site a great experience.

carol said...

Hi C.C. and all, most of you have had the same feeling about this puzzle (and I do mean puzzle)as I have this morning. What a bear! I am not going to list all the words I never heard of, since you all did a good job on that.

Dennis (and I hope to god you are not Gertie) I know that "box trick"(rhymes with another word).

Cool and a little rainy here in the Rose City...supposed to clear up later. We have had an odd summer, weather-wise.

Buckeye, please stay with us, we enjoy your witty comments very much.
More later.

bobbi said...

36D I assume that was supposed to be Track and field gathering?

Anonymous said...

I'll try to post again, and see if my password passes. Back to eponyms, which are my favorite kinds of words. An Amelia Bloomer invented wide split trousers gathered at the ankles for women, that were then dubbed bloomers.
My long-ago understanding of prehensile is that humans have opposable thumbs which allow us to grasp objects.
Cheers.
Sallie

Anonymous said...

I'll try to post again, and see if my password passes. Back to eponyms, which are my favorite kinds of words. An Amelia Bloomer invented wide split trousers gathered at the ankles for women, that were then dubbed bloomers.
My long-ago understanding of prehensile is that humans have opposable thumbs which allow us to grasp objects.
Cheers.
Sallie

Dennis said...

carol, did you enjoy your 'surprise'?

lois said...

Good afternoon CC & DF's: Great links (esp Serge), CC. Thank you. What a devil Higgins is and such a nice lookin' guy too! I use red ink to fill in unknowns and make corrections (teacher syndrome) and the NW corner hemorrhaged. (red tide right here)! The SE corner bled a little. However, all was not lost. The word 'Clematis' is so sensual that it 'evinced' my 'desire' for 'sens' (sins) w/something as hard as 'diabase'. I 'enticed' the 'resters' with 'wine' and we 'practiced'
'duets' all morning. The outcome was darn near poetry! That's why I'm late. Yeah, that's the ticket!!! I LOVE John Lovitz.

Dennis AKA Gert: how did the cookies come out? Maybe I should rephrase that. How are your cookies? Nope, that didn't work either. So, Gert, did you get your cookies off in time? Sometimes those sheets get so hot! Do you share them? How 'bout the recipe?

Clear ayes: That was so funny last night. Good job! Just call me Walter in a Halter, Pipe 'Specialist First Class' at your service.

carol said...

Dennis, sadly I was too young to appreciate the finer points of what was offered.:)

Anonymous said...

mark - Buenos Aires

Yes c.c. groat is a familiar word much used in Rowan Atkinson Black Adder type comedies. Its such an awful sound that its funny. eg "all women want me for is my groats!" "My wife married me because I had a lot of groats, but now I have none left and she is looking for groats elsewhere"

I finished unaided but with much correctional liquid paper. I misread Porky for Porgy and put it in the ursa spaces, for instance, and also had rip for red.

A mill race is a ditch, sealed off from a pond or small lake (called a pound) by a wooden "lock". When it was time for the miller to grind the wheat for flour, he would let out the water from the pound, which with the force of gravity was enough to start the water wheel which ground the corn, and when he was finished he would "lock" the water of the pound to ensure he retained sufficient water to drive the wheel another day.

Beautiful day here.

chau

xchefwalt said...

@c.c. 7:15 I must be brief, lots of hockey, school shopping and raindrops today. I apologize for not being more clear; the name of the Who song is “5:15” and it has nothing to do with gloves. Thank you for your complement (“peak of mountain…); at least I’m the best at something!

Anonymous said...

bobbi,
36D: MEET. track event.

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning everyone (just barely morning). Worked this one online, and the clue for 23D was misspelled online: tirbal? New words were STUPES, EPOS, APHESIS, GROAT, RENCOUNTER, and DIABASE.

It was interesting to read the Wikipedia article on APHESIS and find that it is directly related to my regular platelet donation method, apheresis.

Dennis, I also wanted daises for 18A. One advantage of doing the puzzle online-- no inkblots!

embien said...

No time today (on Saturdays I do the puzzle at my breakfast restaurant since my fave waitress there is an xword fan).

Unknown words for me today:
APHESIS
DIABASE
EPOS
RENCOUNTER

I think EDITOR is ok for 26a: Splicing device. I used to "edit" reel-to-reel recorded tapes by slicing them with a razor blade and joining up the different segments with a special kind of tape (similar to cellophane tape but had special adhesive properties so it wouldn't damage the record/playback heads of the tape recorder). I don't think this technique is used much anymore, what with digital computer editing.

All that said, EDITOR was the last word I filled in (since APHESIS was previously unknown to me).

Here in Pacific Northwest logging country we are very familiar with MILLRACEs. Water was the cheapest/easiest way to transport logs to the mill and we used to see huge log rafts lined up in the river waiting their turn to go down the MILLRACE to the sawmill. Nowadays they do all the hauling by truck.

Der Katze said...

Though Jon Lovitz popularized "that's the ticket!" in the late 1980s its a much older term.
I found this on line That’s the ticket

" ... it is to the French language that we must go for its origin! 'That's the ticket' is a corruption of the French 'C'est L'etiquette,'
which has the same meaning of 'that is the proper way.' The play is on the French word 'etiquette,' which means 'ticket' or 'label' as well as etiquette."

Der Katze said...

"...its a much older term"
Almost as old as Dennis. ;)

Dennis said...

der katze, great explanation re: 'that's the ticket'; thanks. And yes, I don't think there's anything currently in existence that's older than I. Maybe the odd fossil. Oh wait, that's me.

Lois, the cookies are sweet; it's best to get the batches straight out of the oven. I'd be glad to share the family recipe with you.

clear ayes, my alter ego is all your fault. And after seven kids, I need a combination bra/knee socks.

Carol, what a wasted opportunity. I was gonna say you and your husband could try it now, but it's tough to do with the cups; the old boxes used to just push inward at the bottom. My stepmother used to get upset about the greasy stains on the front of my pants -- but the butter felt kinda nice...

carol said...

Dennis, did you ever get any "takers" on your more than "generous" offer, or is that rubbing salt into the wound???

carol said...

Dennis, You "inveigled" those young things while you "replaced" the popcorn with your "morel" self...you were prehensile (53A) :)

lois said...

Carol: you are hilarious!

Dennis: I bet they're sweet, as sweet as gemstones. Yeah, I like 'em when they're hot, right out of the oven. I'd love to have that jewel of a recipe. Thanks for sharing.

Oh, BTW, I used to be dad's popcorn girl at his theatre. I never found a surprise like that in my popcorn box ever...well not until I graduated to selling pickles and hot dogs.

Clear Ayes said...

Dennis, don't be too concerned about your alter ego and the changes 7 kids have wrought. As long as Gertie keeps up those other more important "clenching" exercises, husband number 6 will still love her....

Oh my gosh!! I'm turning into a DF.!!

g8rmomx2 said...

Hey all,

Agreed with everyone, so won't bore you with all the new words, but I did google 5 or 6. Thanks for the explanation for That's the ticket, used to see SNL, but don't remember that one! Watching olympics today so got on the puzzle rather late. Opening ceremony was really awesome!

Have a great evening!

melissa bee said...

hi c.c. and all,

thank you c.c. for your usual insightful post and links. got here so late today, everything's already been said, but all this talk about 'that's the ticket,' reminds me of a favorite movie. 'just the ticket,' with andy garcia and andy mcdowell. garcia plays a passionate ticket scalper. here is a trailer.

@clear ayes: i knew you had it in you.

have a great weekend everyone.

carol said...

Clear Ayes, welcome to the dark side, we needed another one!

Dennis said...

clear ayes, when walter told me he wanted me to become a kegeler, I thought he needed a new bowling partner.
And welcome to DFville.

Carol, no, they didn't think prehensile - more like reprehensible. Hey, sharing is caring.

Lois - what's the point of having a good recipe if you can't feed it to others?
You sold pickles and hot dogs? What was it - 'one for you, one for me, etc. etc.?

lois said...

Clear ayes: I also would like to welcome you to the fun side (dark side, as some call it, altho' I think it's more like seeing the light...bud light, amstel light etc.or like Jack and coke light). At any rate, welcome!

Dennis: You are not only morel but also magnanimous what with feeding the populace! I'm sure I'll enjoy your cookies. As to the selling of hot dogs and pickles? one for one was fair enough, two-fers were better, and three-fers was a party! Good times! My dad had no idea how much he taught me!