google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday August 3, 2008 Norma Steinberg

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Aug 3, 2008

Sunday August 3, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: Drop Me a Letter

23A: One way to look at dieting?: AS A MATTER OF FA(C)T

61A: Let them be so-so?: LAISSEZ - FAIR(E)

98A: Connected to nature?: (G)ONE WITH THE WIND

16D: PETA's position?: DOWN ON ALL F(O)URS

38D: Bribes?: GREASE MON(K)EY

51D: Kooky wish granter? (F)AIRY GODMOTHER

Great puzzle! Much more interesting than the "Exed Out" puzzle we had in June.

I like this kind of "word transformation" themed crossword - adding a letter or dropping a letter. I think I can handle changing- a- letter too. Not sure I am up to the word reversal or anagram, but I am game. Try me!

This morning I kept thinking why the constructor decided to drop C, E, G, O, K and F. Without the F, we could have had a "GECKO". I guess there is no hidden meaning behind her drops, she simply just needs those random drops for her grid. Sometimes a cigar is a just a cigar.

Structurally, this grid looks very appealing to me. I don't think I've seen an Across theme entry intersects a Down theme entry so perfectly, right in the middle and with the identical 11-letter word count. Very beautiful.

The only flaw is the clue for GOLLY (33A: Gee whiz! ). GEE WHIZ is the answer for (33D: Yipes). I can assure you that the constructor's original clue for GOLLY is not "Gee whiz".

I had some trouble with FAIRY GODMOTHER (51D: Kooky wish granter). I misread the clue as "Kooky fish granter", and I had the following silly intersecting fills:

68A: Scott Joplin's genre: RAG. I filled in RAP. Had never heard of Joplin before.

92A: Command to Fido: SIT. I had SIC.

77D: Dishes with chips: DIPS. Really struggled with this one. My final answer was RIMS, ridiculous, I know, but I filled in the M with a sound reason, as my answer for 65D: Covered with bubbles was FOAMY instead of SOAPY. I was thinking of dish plates with chips along the RIMS.

So I was staring at AIRYPORMOCHER for eons and could not make any sense of it. I still don't grok how "Kooky" and "AIRY" are connected. Kooky means eccentric, and AIRY means lofty or snobbish, how can they be synonymous?

Across:

13A: Miss Muffet's surprise: SPIDER. Ha, pure guess. Nursery rhymes stump me all the time.

19A: North star: POLARIS

22A: Gangster Al: CAPONE 50D: Writer Capote: TRUMAN. I always confuse CAPONE with CAPOTE.

25A: Frank admission: AVOWAL

31A: Winchester rival: ETON. Not familiar with Winchester college. ETON's rival is always "Harrow" to me. Wikipedia says ETON is modeled on Winchester.

32A: Wing movements: FLAPS

36A: Dancing Buttons: RED. I've never heard of him. Got his name from the down clues. For a long time I could not understand why RED is the "Dancing Buttons", so confused by the plural form "Buttons". Then I realized the B is in capital letter. Excellent clue. Who is that lady in the middle?

37A: Christie of "Don't Look Now": JULIE. I still think she should have won Oscar for "Away From Her", brilliant performance. I've never seen "Don't Look Now" before. Is it good?

38A: Cosmetic product: GELEE. Ah, irresistible lip gloss, tasty too.

43A: Byron poem: LARA. I don't know this poem. Only know LARA as "Dr. Zhivago's love", also played by the beautiful Julie Christie.

44A: Over in Ulm: UBER

49A: Put on: STAGED. Does this refer to "STAGED a play"?

53A: Pop preference: FAVE. Should have added "slangily' in the clue.

55A: Pavarotti performances: ARIAS

57A: Saw-tooth ranges: SIERRAS

59A: E-I connection: FGH. I think I like the "I follows them" clue better.

69A: Antique shop's affectation: OLDE. OK, this "Ye OLDE Shoppe" has been bothering me for a long time. What does "Ye" mean? Why "Shoppe" instead of "Shope"?

72A: Creamy dessert: MOUSSE. I want a slice of this berry MOUSSE.

73A: Deviation from the norm: ANOMALY

79A: Turning muscle: ROTATOR

82A: Prone to overacting: HAMMY

86A: ___, right in the kisser!: POW. I've never heard of this phrase before.

90A: Cardiff's country: WALES. Cardiff the capital of Wales. Here is Tom Jones, the best WALES has offered to us.

96A: Division in a group: SCHISM

102A: Person with a financial burden: LIENEE

107A: Moocher: CADGER. I would not have got HIC (101D: __ jacet) without this CADGER.

Down:

2D: Suggested: POSITED

3D: With ice cream: A LA MODE

4D: Asian noodles: RAMEN. I like udon, soba is good too. Lots of food in today's puzzle. Xchefwalt would have enjoyed it.

6D: Unit of Morse code: DIT. What's the difference between DIT and DOT? Someone mentioned last time that DOT and DASH are the codes, DIT & DAH are how those codes sound like aurally. Is that true?

12D: Accepted second best: SETTLED. Under certain circumstance, yes.

37D: Is in accord: JIBES

41D: Bandleader Xavier: CUGAT. Have difficulty committing his name into my memory.

43D: Burton of "Roots": LEVAR. I've seen "Roots", but I did not pay attention to his real name.

56D: Pitcher Koufax: SANDY. Gimme gimme. He is a HOFer. This is his 1955 Topps rookie card. Feels like PSA 8 rather than 5.

58D: Key of Beethoven's "Eroica": E FLAT. Learned from doing Xword. I've got no understanding of Beethoven's music. This is for you!

62D: Like speedy service: SAME DAY

63D: Throw out of bed: ROUST

76D: Tree colonies: FOREST. I just learned a new woody word today - sylvan.

78D: Cowboy bars: SALOONS. It indeed looks like a wonderful to eat, drink and have fun. Interesting photo above the bartender's head.

79D: Alice Kramden's hubby: RALPH. I don't know this RALPH. But I know this clue will someone very happy today.

80D: First part: OPENING. See, Sallyjane, here is another example where you do not need an *ING clue for an *ING answer.

81D: Love affair: ROMANCE. I think Oscar Wilde was wrong in saying "Nothing spoils a ROMANCE so much as a sense of humor in the woman."

82D: Bothersome situation: HASSLE

83D: Soul singer Keys: ALICIA. I like this photo, with her talent & passion in full display.

87D: "Our Town" playwright: WILDER (Thornton). I googled the book.

90D: Chess side: WHITE

95D: Fleck or Bartok: BELA. Know the composer Bartok, not Fleck.

To steal a line from Buckeye, I must be off. Make exciting comments today, and turn me on.

C.C.

34 comments:

  1. Good morning CC etal,
    Not too bad today - had to check spelling on "laissezfair" (cc: I don't think there's supposed to be an "e" at the end & would humbly suggest it's not a part of the theme). The "g" in greasemoney/gelee avoided me for a while - never heard of gelee before. Stuck with "down on the farm" for PETA (thought vegetarian) but finally gave up when missing letters presented itself.
    CC: "airy" short for air-headed (non-thinking or "kooky".
    Also, Ralph Kramden used to threaten his wife by saying "one of these days, Alice, pow, right to the moon" on the less-than-politically correct sitcom "The Honeymooners" in the late 50's/60's.
    Hope all have a wonderful Sunday!

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  2. Morning all,
    Pretty easy for a Sunday puzzle. Had to look up the spelling of Laissez Fair and then section fell into place. Ye Olde Shoppe is a form of Anglo Saxon (Old English) and Ye means The.

    I loved Julie Christie in "Away from Her" but I found it so sad but so real. I think many of us do crosswords in the hope that it will help to prevent dementia. Don't know if it will help, but it certainly cannot hurt.

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  3. Good morning.
    Sorry, chris in la - there is an e at the end of laissez-faire - synonymous with 19th century capitalism.
    Ralph Kramden - the great Jackie Gleason.
    This is what Ralph actually said to Alice regarding the moon - "Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon, Alice!" The other thing he said that chris in la refers to is "one of these days, Alice - Pow! Right in the kisser!" which is another one of today's answers.
    Agree with C.C. on golly and gee whiz. Also didn't like the crossing of tale (28A) and ale (29D).
    Red Buttons was in "The Poseidon Adventure" (the first film that also starred Gene Hackman) and also in the 1962 film "Five Weeks in a Balloon."
    I believe the lady in the middle of the photo is Elsa Martinelli (between John Wayne and Red Buttons) and the film is "Hatari!" She played Anna Maria "Dallas" D'Allesandro. Red played Pockets and John Wayne played Mercer.
    C.C. - you have an "R" where there should be a "T" for Xavier Cugat. Otherwise you get "hurr" for 60A = "injured."
    Roots also starred Ben Vereen as Chicken George. His name has been in X/W's before as well.
    Levar Burton played Geordi Laforge on Star Trek - The Next Generation.

    Today is American Family Day, Friendship Day, and National Watermelon Day.

    Have a great Sunday!!!

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  4. I know this is not crossword related but g8rmomx2 visited my blog site the other day. g8rmomx2 - Thank you for visiting my blog. I looked up some stuff on Port Charlotte, Florida. Also, feel free to send the Santa thing to anyone you wish. I am lousy at Sudoku. C.C. does the Crossword so I am left with the Jumble.

    The next post will have something to do with Dennis' suggestion of Medford Lakes (provided I can find something on it).

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  5. paper was late today and did not get finished by 8.30. Puzzle was fun due to the " drop a letter" theme. Some of the answers seem to just fall into place when i would go back to try to figure them out. I read some where that if you have a problem with a clue, the best way to solve the answer is to get up and do something else for a minute ( get anothercup of coffee) and sometimes it will just fall into place. abogato

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  6. Good morning c.c., DF’s and all! Let’s start out today with an old joke:

    Q: Do you have a FAIRY GODMOTHER?
    A: No, but I have an uncle in New Jersey who’s a little weird…

    I don’t get the Sunday puzzle, so all I can do is comment on c.c.’s delicious comments (you must check out a song called “Food and Creative Love” by Rusted Root, it fits in very well today).

    Scott Joplin is credited with popularizing the music “ragtime” at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries. Although mildly popular in his day, he would have been regulated to footnotes had it not been for the recently discussed Redford/Newman film “The Sting”, which featured his music and spawned a top ten hit for (The Entertainer) composer Marvin Hamlish

    “Led Zeppelin III”, the band’s least selling (and most misunderstood) LP was also recorded in Wales. I gotta give Plant & Page the nod over Jones.

    LeVar Burton is also known to millions as the host of PBS’s “Reading Rainbow”, a show that was like Oprah’s book club for kids.

    @c.c. from yesterday- “…nice JOB…” VERY well played!! A hole in one perhaps? Some might consider that a “low BLOW”, but as Dudley Moore said in “Arthur”- “It doesn’t SUCK”.
    I prefer soba to udon- I break with tradition and use soba when I make Hot and Sour soup at home.
    SALOONS were also brothels back in the mid 1800’s, hence the lovely wall art in your link.

    @drdad- you’re right on the money with the Honeymooners lines. They are often mixed up. Those clues brought me back to late night TV in NY, on WPIX channel 11 at 11pm, the Honeymooners, followed by the Odd Couple, then the original Star Trek.

    Have a great Sunday everyone!

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  7. @ drdad,
    Mea culpa - thanks for the corrections!

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  8. CC: great link on the saloons. Looks like a couple of places around here in OK actually. I tried to put myself into that picture to see which pretty dress I would like to be wearing but decided that I'd rather be the woman in the painting over the bar supervising the clientele and overseeing the liquor. Besides dresses are highly overrated.

    chef: cute joke. Dennis lives in NJ...hmmmm. The only thing weird about him is that he's not here. I hope he recovers soon. Love Scott Joplin and ragtime music! I play a lot of his songs. He was truly the King! Died of syphilis. Gotta be a lesson in there somewhere.

    abogato: it's called 'incubation' (a step in problem solving)when you walk away from a problem and then go back later and often see the solution. Sleeping on it works well too...at least for me, depending on who the problem is.

    drdad: I thought that was Hatari. I loved that movie. One song I loved to play from that was Baby Elephant Walk... cute piece on the piano (like I haven't heard that before!)

    Have you seen that cartoon where the astronauts land on the moon and find Alice? Didn't somebody link that into here way back when?

    Enjoy this gorgeous day.

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  9. Good morning, C.C. and all! I made it through the puzzle without assistance, other than asking Dear Husband about the IPO. I needed the last letter ("O") to see AVOWAL. BOISE held me up for a bit. My stepson, who went to the U of I would be rolling his eyes at me!

    I think today will be a day for hibernating inside away from the heat, and recuperating from the past two days.

    Stay cool...safe...and have a good Sunday!

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  10. Hello X-checkers,

    Last week was the first time I had checked on c.c.'s blog for some help on the Sunday puzzle. My doltishness came into play when, after a couple of minutes, I realized that none of the answers matched up. I double checked to see if I had clicked on the wrong day. Nope, my Sunday paper carries a different crossword. I should have figured that out in 5 seconds or less! I wonder why so many newspapers carry the S.T.C. Monday through Saturday, but go elsewhere on Sunday. c.c. Do you, posters, or any lurkers know of any site that carries the Sunday puzzle?

    "The Honeymooner" was a favorite segment of "The Jackie Gleason Show", when I was a kid. It was Audrey Meadows as Ralph's wife Alice, who kept Ralph from being just an unlikeable bully. Alice stood toe to toe with Ralph and he backed down every time. Art Carney, as neighbor Ed Norton, was the perfect comic foil for Ralph. Older golfers (including Addict Husband) might remember the scene where Ralph and Ed, both dressed in ridiculous plus-fours are learning how to golf from a book. Ralph reads the line, "Address the ball." Ed, with club in hand, taking forever to take his stance, finally sidles up to the ball and intones, "Helllooooo, ball." OK, maybe you had to be there, but to see it the first time around was hysterical.

    Showing my age again, Red Buttons was a stand-up comedian before he did much acting. He had a supporting role in the movie "Sayonara", which starred Marlon Brando, and wound up winning the Academy Award for best supporting actor. I remember watching the ceremony on TV and my parents being quite surprised. They weren't big Red Buttons fans.

    I seem to remember a lot of old stuff, but no, I wasn't at Kittyhawk with the Wright brothers, or Lakehurst NJ when the Hindenburg went down.

    More up to date, Julie Christie was wonderful in "Away From Her". We can only hope to be that graceful if something so devastating happens to us. "Don't Look Now" was one of the scariest movies ever, but in a good way. Does that make sense? I had to watch most of it between fingers over my eyes.

    Have to go make a lemon pie for a potluck this afternoon. Sure wish I had the Sunday puzzle!

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  11. @clear ayes- great line!! Here’s another one:

    NORTON (while handcuffed to RALPH in the sleeping car of a train): Hey Ralph, do you mind if I smoke?

    RALPH: Norton, I don’t care if you burn….

    Do you also remember: Capitan Video? LULU? She’s a BLABBERMOUTH Alice, a BLABBERMOUTH?

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  12. Hi y'all,
    My paper, "The San Angelo Standard Times", does not carry your Sunday puzzle. We get 'The Los Angeles Times", which ,for me, is impossible to solve.

    Maybe,after a couple more years with C.C., I'll be able to handle it better..
    In the meantime, I will just enjoy reading your comments.

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  13. The pie is cooling on the counter. I think I have a winner. FYI: potential bakers (Hi, xchefwalt), don't ever put a meringue pie directly from the oven to the refrigerator. It will cause the meringue to "weep" watery thin syrup between the filling and meringue. Let it cool outside first and then into the refrigerator. It takes some forethought, but is worth it.

    Speaking of meringue, let me segue to "merengue", a Latin dance that Xaviar Cugat might have had in his orchestra's repetoire. That brings me to "Kooky" and "Airy". Cugat was married for a time to singer-dancer "Cuchi, Cuchi!" Charo. Charo could definitely be described as kooky, but hardly an airhead. "Kooky" is offbeat, and maybe a little crazy, in a comical or charming way. "Airhead" is an rather insulting, while "Kooky" can be complimentary. What do you think?

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  14. @ clear ayes,
    I agree there is a distinction - how else would you clue "airy god mother"?

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  15. @clear ayes- Charo was also an accomplished classical guitarist. I still can’t figure out how she played so well with those nails!

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  16. clear ayes, which puzzle do you have? My paper has TV Trivia edited by Linda and Charles Preston and it's a bear.

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  17. chris in la: Maybe "Floating wish granter?", or "Transparent wish granter?" ?? There have certainly been kookier clues than those. ;o)

    xchef: I've heard/seen Charo play the guitar. That alone would exempt her from airhead status.

    argyle: Our Sunday puzzle isn't identified, except by the theme and constructor's name. Today's was "KP Duty", by Mike Peluso.

    c.c. might be interested to know that we have an authentic cowboy saloon, about 7 miles away from home. It opened in 1897. Until I get the higher speed ISP I can't "do" links, but they have a website with photos, www.lagrangesaloon.com. No cowboys there now; just lawyers and dentists on Harleys riding their weekend poker runs. It still a great place mid-week to "belly up to the bar".

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  18. Hi, CC

    This puzzle was as close to perfect as we've had in a very long time. Very nicely executed theme. Sadly, that cluing mishap with GOLLY and GEEWHIZ ruined it. I agree that those two clues were likely not original to the construction.

    I wasn't able to finish without checking here, however. The crossing at 107A with 95D and 101D did me in. Had no idea about BELA Fleck or Bartok, or HIC jacet! Thought CADGER might be correct, but wasn't sure, and didn't guess.

    Wish today was a little nicer weather-wise here in Twin Cities land. We got rained out of going boating on Lake Minnetonka last Sunday and had rescheduled for today. Oh, well, perhaps next Sunday?

    On to the NYT!

    Ciao

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  19. Chris,
    Where can I find the definition that "Airy" is short for "Air-headed"? In which dictionary?

    Jeanne,
    Thank you for the "Ye". I've tried many times googling "Ye Olde Shoppe" and found no explanation on "Ye".

    Dr.Dad,
    Do eat more watermelons! They are good for you, and you know that. Does "kisser" here refer to face or mouth?

    Xchefwalt,
    I don't get your joke. I've never heard of "Food and Creative Love", I only know I am starving now. Tom Jones is the only Welsh though. Now I start to doubt whether your type was a typo.

    KittyB,
    Hope your party went well.

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  20. Lois,
    Thank you for the "incubation". I like it. Of course, I had to double check to make sure you were not talking of something else. I am suspicious of everything you say. And that is a good thing (I miss you Dick). Anon was correct last night, we Chinese know clearly where are going/coming. I like your 2 line dilemma and solution.

    Clear Ayes,
    The Sunday puzzle is not on line anywhere. I don't know why. Argyle's puzzle is TMS Sunday puzzle, which is different than our TMS Daily puzzle, though both edited by the same person. I like reading your memories on those old stuff, very refreshing and fascinating to me.

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  21. Dennis,
    I thought of you this morning when I filled in MORAL. How can a guy with such a high MOREL be brought down by a cold? Aren't you supposed to have a strong immune system?

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  22. Good evening to everyone,
    Loved this puzzle, maybe because I didn't need to google anything. cc, you're good!, even though I knew there was an F missing in Fairy Godmother and K missing in Grease Monkey, and E missing in Laissez Faire, somehow I wasn't thinking of missing one letter just knew the answers, crazy I know!
    The Honey Mooners were the best, and Clear Ayes I remember that "golf" episode too!

    Drdad, I loved your blog and had to look you up after your "santa story". I figured you must have a great site and I was right. Took you 4 days to respond to my comment on your blog, but whose counting? LOL Look forward to hearing about Port Charlotte, FL

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  23. Clear Ayes,
    Your puzzle is LA Times' Sunday syndication. Both yours and Argyle's TMS Sunday belong to Tribune Media Service (TMS), the same as our TMS Daily puzzle.

    Jimbo,
    Is your puzzle titled "KP Duty" also?

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  24. CC:

    Re: "airy" - # 4,6,7 & 8 on this one:
    http://www.hydroponicsearch.com/spelling/simplesearch/query_term-Airy

    It's more of a synonymous conclusion based on slang usage, especially on the West Coast (at least when I was there).

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  25. Chris,
    I looked at your link, and I am not convinced. I've never heard of that slang either. Interesting Airy-Fairy.

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  26. Lois,
    Why did "Figwort" bring "toadstool" to your mind yesterday? Was there any dysfunctional thinking behind it?

    Clear Ayes,
    Elan is indeed an animal. Google Elan & Kenji.

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  27. C.C. No. The title of my Sunday puzzle is "A little bit off" by Dan Naddor and edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis. And Its a Bugger. Meaning, hard for me to solve.

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  28. @c.c.- The joke is a play on words. “Fairy” is a slang term for gay or homosexual. Insert that into the joke and it should come to light.

    “Food and Creative Love” is a song on Rusted Roots’ debut album “When I Woke”.

    Which do you doubt? I’m a rotten speller, and I often think faster than I type, hence the mistakes.

    Led Zeppelin was the best I could come up with at the spur of the moment. I couldn’t let Tom Jones be the best thing to come from Wales (wasn’t actor Richard Burton Welsh?).

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  29. Poor Jimbo,
    You are doing a 3-month lag behind LA Times syndication puzzle!

    Xchefwalt,
    Oh, I always thought Richard Burton was a British. Interesting middle name.

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  30. CC: there's always something inherently dysfunctional about my thinking. A fig leaf covers private parts in pictures (sometimes for morel men it would take a branch... but I digress); toads/frogs cause warts supposedly; stools are something for bottoms to sit on (esp at bars); therefore, it seemed logical to me that a figwort would be associated with a toadstool. However as I think about it, a snapdragon should be associated with dragonfly, which is a zipper malfunction and could cause figworts, leading to contact dermatitis, which is a serious problem 'for skin'. The treatment is simple: loong massage with a good skin concocktion and a few margaritas. I highly recommend maragarita o'malley...great hands. Overnight cure. I hope this answered your question somehow.

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  31. We're back from our neighborhood potluck and the lemon meringue pie was a hit.

    c.c. Thanks for the Elan & Kenji google hint. Since we already have the "Greatest American Dog", Charley the Schipperke, I haven't watched the TV show. Dog Kenji is as big as human Elan.

    I'm still a little bothered by "Dancing Buttons". I just didn't remember him as a "hoofer". He may have made a movie or two in which he shuffled around the floor a little, but not enough to earn him the title of "Dancing". He was a comedian and actor. There may as well be a future clue, "Dancing Frank", and the answer would be "Sinatra". Of course Sinatra wasn't famous for his dancing and would be a lousy clue, although he was pretty darn good in "Anchors Aweigh" and "On The Town". I'm glad I've got that off my mind now

    I just googled "famous Welsh people" and there are several sites dedicated to just that topic. Apparently there are literally thousands of famous Welsh folk. Don't forget last week's Catherine Zeta Jones. Christian Bale, Batman of "The Dark Knight" was born in Wales too.

    Last year, we came through Wales and stopped at the town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwrnd robwlllantysiliogogogoch. It is better known as Llanfair. And I bet c.c. thought English was a tough language to master. :o)

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  32. Lois,
    That's a heck of imagination. I googled toadstool and found out that it's a poisonous mushroom.

    Clear Ayes,
    Ha, I totally I forgot about CZJ. What a strange town name!

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  33. great post. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did you hear that some chinese hacker had hacked twitter yesterday again.

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  34. quite interesting read. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did you know that some chinese hacker had busted twitter yesterday again.

    ReplyDelete

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