google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday October 3, 2008 Barry Silk

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Oct 3, 2008

Friday October 3, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: EDU (Email address ending in 18A, 23A, 40A, 53A and 62A)

18A: Two-rope jumping: DOUBLE DUTCH

23A: Goods tax: EXCISE DUTY

40A: Manhattan Project's oralloy: ENRICHED URANIUM

53A: Stipulatory: AGREED UPON

62A: Waste land?: GARBAGE DUMP

Neat puzzle. But I messed up the upper left corner, trying so hard to cram in MORSE instead of HARD C for 3D: First letter sound in code?

It seems that our editor is now obsessed with ENYA (19D: "A Day without Rain" singer). She appears in our puzzle so often, always as the answer though. I suppose he can clue MAY (66D: Just might) as "Enya song "MAY It Be"" next time.

If you were the constructor, how would you clue NURSE? I don't like "RN word".

Did you notice that most of our weekday puzzles have 38 blocks?

Across:

14A: Nutritionist's abbr.: RDA. And NO FAT (69A: Like Jack Sprat's diet). The Zone diet probably has the most sensible combination (40% carb, 30% protein and 30% fat). The most effective way to lose weight is to fall in love. Your mind will be AWHIRL (31A: Spinning) with everything but food.

15A: Pele's first name: EDSON. I did not know this before. Wikipedia says "While his birth certificate shows his first name as Edison (after the American inventor), he prefers to call himself EDSON". See this autographed EDSON =Pelé ball.

20A: Chinese vine: KUDZU. If not for ZIP (21D: P. O. code), I would not have got this vine. It sounds so Japanese.

22A: 1940's computer: ENIAC. How to pronounce ENIAC?

34A: Bear greeting?: HUG. Such a tender loving hug.

37A: Yemeni seaport: ADEN. Shouldn't Somali explore its Gulf of EDEN coast for oil? Why is it so poor?

39A: Drum type: BONGO. They are handmade, aren't they? I am surprised that some of the vintage Ludwig snare drums are worth thousands of dollars. I don't understand "Let There Be drums."

47A: Right-angle degrees: NINETY And CIR (70A: Geometric fig.).

52A: Brit's omega: ZED. I like this clue.

58A: Lustrous finish for velvet: PANNE. New word to me. I like her outfit.

67A: Japanese drama: NOH. Or Nogaku. The Japanese opera. Funny NOH/Kabuki clip.

71A: __ sense (keen intuition): SIXTH. Have you seen Bruce Willis's "The SIXTH Sense"? Sounds scary.

72A: Salty calls: AHOYS

Down:

2D: For two: A DEUX. Dinner A DEUX, are you ready?

4D: One Gorgon: MEDUSA. She really looks awful. The other two are Stheno and Euryale.

11D: Walk-in veterinarian: PET CLINIC

24D: Porter's "Well, Did You __?": EVAH. Why EVAH? I wanted EVER. I actually saw "High Society", but I don't remember this song.

25D: Fiddle follower?: DE-DEE. New to me also. Maybe I've heard people say it, I just never pay attention to it.

29D: Video effect: SLO-MO

34D: Big name in pickle packing: HEINZ. My first thought was Vlasic.

36D: Intl. road race: GRAND PRIX

54D: Davis of "Hero": GEENA. I've never seen "Hero". I like her "Thelma & Louise" & "A League of Their Own".

55D: Old pound parts: PENCE. Mark, is it old? How old?

60D: Writer Ogden: NASH. Ha, gimme. Have to thank Clear Ayes/Ken for their "Candy is dandy" posts. But why "Writer" instead of "poet"?

C.C.

73 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, c.c. and gang - not smooth as Silk for me, but I managed to get through it without G-spotting. Even when I got to the end, I looked at 73a (edu) for quite a while before I got it. Clever. I'm also hoping we're told how Barry's original submission differed from what we got; there were a couple areas that didn't feel like his doing.

Got a viewing this morning for yet another friend - 60 years old, the picture of health, very laid back -- heart attack out of nowhere.

Back later.

Dick said...

Good morning Cc, DFs and DFettes.... great puzzle today! Only one actress/actor name which I did not know but got from the perps. I liked all of the U's in the grid. Almost got stumped on 40A until I remembered Oak Ridge for the OR in ORALLOY thus Oak Ridge Alloy. In addition I could not get the intersection of 11D and 18A.

Hope you all have a great week end.

Martin said...

I finished it without using google! I had to use a thesaurus to get EGEST though. I also had to look up "quibble" because ARGUE didn't come to me. For BONGO I put in SNARE at first so the centre right area was the last to fall. I didn't like the clue "Walk-in veternarian" for PET CLINIC: I thought the clue was looking for a person so I had PET CLERIC for a while and AWHEEL instead of AWHIRL Oh and for ENRICHED UNRANIUM I was originally looking for a person, some Italian guy named ENRICO EDURANICO. Okay, I confess I did try googling AERUE (for ARGUE) and BORRO (for BONGO) but all that told me was that there were no such words. The dominos fell (so to speak) once I found ARGUE. All in all there was only those two words I needed in the end.

Is it possible that "oralloy" was a typo for "alloy"?

Martin

Chris in LA said...

CC:
re: "nurse"

_ back to health
or
_ a drink

ENIAC - pronounced "en-ee-ak"

Good puzzle today - not much trouble, edu presented early (an helped on "garbage dump"

My daughter gets married tomorrow so I am off to Cleveland in a few hours. Hope all have a great "TGIF"!

Dick said...

Martin see my 5:58 post for oralloy.

Martin said...

Dick,

I saw your 5:58 post. I still think it was a typo. "oralloy" is one word: what you are suggesting would be "O.R. alloy".

Martin

Dick said...

No Martin they used oralloy as a code name therefore it is correct without periods.

Bill said...

NURSE Medical person; Critical care giver; Medical assistant; Hospital employee. Some of many.
I first looked at this and thought "Oh, boy, this isn't going to be easy! So, I started slowly and, much to my amazement, it all fell quite easily.EDSON and PANNE came towards the end. Had no idea but the adjacent fills put everything together. Thanks Barry Silk! I liked this one.
two DR's Appointments this AM, and a ceiling painting later so , as Arnold said "I'll be bach" later!
CY'all

Dr. Dad said...

Good morning all.
When is the hammer going to come? It has to be around the corner. This was another easy one.

Dennis - sorry to hear about your friend.

Martin - it isn't a typo. During the Manhattan Project, the code word for enriched uranium (so spies, etc. wouldn't know what was being talked about) was indeed oralloy (spelled exactly that way) and it stood for what Dick already stated - Oak Ridge Alloy (where it was produced).

BTW - oralloy brings to mind Sarah Palin's mispronunciation of "nuclear" in last night's debate. When are they going to realize it is "nuke-lee-er" and not "nuke-ya-ler?" Makes a scientist like me want to puke.

I did like how Barry Silk hid the theme in the across answers.

My puzzle had the second part of 20A blurred so all I could see was "Chinese." Still, I had seen kudzu when I was in North Carolina. The plant is from Japan and Southern China according to my resources. The stuff grows like wildfire and is very hard to kill. It is all over the place down there.

TGIF. I committed a bad error yesterday. It was not Captain Kangaroo Day. That is today.

"Andy Griffith" and "The Mickey Mouse Club" also premiered on this day in 1960 and 1955, respectively.

Have a great day!!

Barry G. said...

Morning, folks!

The last couple of Barry Silk puzzles were surprisingly easy for me, but this one was the type of puzzle I've come to expect. I managed to solve it unassisted, but there were some brutal spots. It's never a good sign when I can't even understand the clue (thanks, Dick, for the explanation of "oralloy").

The two big stumpers for me today were EDSON and PANNE. I also didn't realize KUDZU was a Chinese vine, since I associate it exclusively with the American South, but I've certainly heard of it and was able to get it with a few perps.

KittyB said...

Good Morning, C.C. and all.

I love seeing Barry Silk's name pop up on the screen! It almost makes up for having to live through quip Thursday! *G*

I breezed through this puzzle. AWHIRL and EDSON were about the last to fall. I tried 'snare' and 'tenor' before I realized that BONGO was the word. The clue for ENRICHED URANIUM made no sense to me until enough of the perps were in place.

Chris in la, congratulations and best wishes to the couple. May they have a long and happy marriage.

Bill, I hope your doctor's visit goes well.

Dennis, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. I'm afraid we have reached that point in life where it's going to become more common, but that doesn't make it any easier.

I hope you all have a good day.

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

Dennis et al,
Here are some of Barry Silk's original clues:

NURSE: Patient's cry
RAND PRIX: Pontiac model
KUDZU: Fast-growing vine of the South
BONGO: A beatnik may beat it.
ENRICHED URANIUM: Critical component for nuclear power generation
CEO: Superior Suit?
MEDUSA: Her look could kill
HEINZ: "57 Varieties" company
NASH: Rambler maker

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

Dennis,
I am sorry about your loss. Life can be so fragile.

Chris,
Congratulations! Thank you for the NURSE clues and ENIAC pronunciation. When you come back, can you tell me more about stage props? What exactly are they?

Sallie,
I forgot to thank you for the explanation on Tri-Cities. How long did you live in that area? Did you see any big stars? Did they have a diva/divo attitude?

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

Mark,
Deep South.

Clear Ayes,
"And at my feet the pale green Thames/Lies like a rod of rippled jade". I have problem visualizing a rod of rippled jade. What is a rod?

Kazie,
Does canned spaghetti sandwiches have bread inside?

Crockett,
Do you eat flaxseed raw?

kazie said...

Dennis, sorry to hear of your loss.

Chris, Congratulations! Have a wonderful time!

c.c., No, the spaghetti is the canned variety--then you make a sandwich with it as the filling. Ugh!

Old pounds: British pounds shillings and pence created massive problems for most kids in math class--try this:

A pound had 20 shillings, and a shilling had 12 pence. How do you multiply or divide these amounts? Or even add or subtract for that matter? You have to convert the leftovers as you move from one column to the next. No wonder they switched to a decimal system. We switched in 1964 in Australia, but the Brits hung on until the '70s.

Dick said...

Dennis,

My sympathies to you and your friend's family.

kazie said...

I guess I was a couple of years off--the change to the aussie dollar wasn't until 1966. I just checked wikipedia. I was still in college, so a bit of a stretch for the memory.

pattispa said...

Good morning, all. c.c., you asked about alternate clues for RN. One might be "compassionate caregiver". I am particularly aware of all their kind ministrations as I was recently in hospital. One nurse even gave me a complete bed bath and rubdown. Pure luxury! My sister is an RN and I know first hand how devoted they are to their patients. God bless them, everyone.

I'm not surprised that many had trouble with Edson (Pele) but since Edson is my maiden name, it was a "gimme" for me. Don't often have many of those.

Am saddened to hear of Dennis's friend. It is sometimes alarming to hear of persons younger than ourselves dying. Makes us more aware that we should live each day as if it were our last and do good where we can.

Tomorrow I am gong to my local farmer's market and buy zucchini for a lucious loaf of bread.

Ken said...

Good morning, C.C. and class.
Most of today's puzzle fell out for me, but 55D would not come to me. I also think oralloy was a misprint.

@Kazie: I checked on your board with the woman from the ACC website, but she couldn't hazard a guess based on the info she had from me. Keep it always; you'll treasure it more than anyone else could.
Don't forget other aspects of English coinage, such as crowns(5 shillings, half crowns(2 1/2 shillings), tuppence(two pence) and ha'penny(half pence). And a "sovereign" was a pound sterling(as in silver).
I think "bob" is slang for a shilling as well. Give me dimes and quarters, anytime!!
You're right on a "brace of pistols." I'm not sure if it referred only to matched dueling pistols or to matched pistols in general. I think I've also read "brace of horses" for two running alongside. ??

@Clear Ayes. There are several tournaments running in Oregon and most directors have their own boards for such. I just thought about who ran the biggest tournaments, asked and received.

@Carol: Thanks for the "nice guys" comment. You've not met me over a cribbage board, it's not a pretty picture. Btw, I agree with Crockett, but my words were "a real cutie."

@Kittyb: I'm trying to learn Polish(going to Poland next summer) but I understand there are neighborhoods in Chicago where only Polish is spoken. ?? Thank you.

Anonymous said...

To Ken
Chicago is said to have the largest Polish population outside of Poland. Come for a visit and try a pierogi!!

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning, everyone! Haven't looked at the theme yet today, but I thought "college connection" would be appropriate. Had four unknowns or forgottens today, all in the across mode: EDSON, ITALO, PANNE, and NOH. Interesting that the spell-check also doesn't know those!

When the Z in 52A showed up, I knew this had to be a Barry Silk puzzle. Correct! Two letters shy of the pangram, but those are difficult to do, I realize. Barry, thank you for another interesting puzzle. Oralloy, stipulatory -- nice clue words.

C.C., how about "TLC giver?" for NURSE? Didn't notice the 38 blocks. Is that a constant? Or almost so? ENIAC=(en e ack) Hugs sure feel good, don't they? Thanks for the Let There Be Drums link. Cute pin-ups! The Noh theater clip is a funny adaptation of the class "Who's On First" routine. Funny.

@dennis Condolences on your loss. Life is short at times.

@chrisinla May the wedding be a great time and may your daughter have a long love-filled marriage. Enjoy.

@C.C. I like most of Barry Silk's original clues, but the one for CEO. That's a bit obscure for me.

I guess the flaxseed is raw. I don't toast it or anything like that, but I don't eat flaxseed by itself only.

Martin said...

C.C.,

One of my students found a website with 118 Chinese crossword puzzles dating back to September 20th, 2006. The grids aren't very big (I think they are all 8x8 grids) and the clues aren't very cryptic (a full paragraph for each fill) but they represent the best on-line evidence that crossword puzzles can be done in Chinese.

Martin

kazie said...

crockett--wouldn't TLC indicate an abbreviation in the answer? Maybe if RN was the answer it would work.

Ken, thanks so much for asking about my board. I guess I won't pursue it for now--since I really do want to keep it.

You're right about bob. Dener (the spelling is a guess) was another term, used for sixpence. The aussie coins were ha'penny, 1d, 3d(a "thrippeny" bit), 6d, (d = penny), 1 shilling, 2 shillings (a florin), and then the bills (known as notes) were 10/- (pronounced 10 shillings), £1, £5, £10, etc. I don't remember ever seeing a crown, and I think the term was used more in England than oz, but prices were often quoted in guineas (£1/1/-, or 21 shillings) to make the item seem cheaper. For example, if something was 40 guineas, it was actually £42.

Anonymous said...

C.C.:I lived in the Tri-Cities area for 14 years in a wonderfully-named town: Vestal. Domingo was the only big name, but he wasn't famous yet. The other is Richard Leech who was also from Vestal, and made it big some time ago (tenor) at the Met and other places around the world. And no, there weren't any diva-divo(?) problems.

My husband is working on getting a picture of my cribbage board that will show up here.

I did not get EDU. I insisted it was ovate. So the SW corner was a mess. Gave up and came to the Blog.

Sorry to hear of your friend, Dennis. My first husband was 58 when he died of heart failure.

And as his PhD was financed by the Atomic Energy Comm., enriched uranium was a gimmee for me.

Chris in LA: Have a great time at your daughter's wedding.

Crockett1947 said...

@kazie I wondered about the abbreviation question on the nurse clue, and I guess I'll have to concede that it probably wouldn't be appropriate.

Ken said...

Well, for heaven's sake! When I check my profile, the pix of Carol, Crockett and myself is there, but it doesn't show on the blog. I've logged in and out of google, rebooted and threatened the cpu with submergence. No luck. Dang...

g8rmomx2 said...

Hi c.c. and all,

Fun puzzle today! But, only got Edson, Evah, Noh, Kudzu from the perps. As Dennis said even after I finished the puzzle I didn't get the "edu" clue until much staring.

Dennis: so sorry to hear about your friend, very sad.

Chris in la: Congrats on your daughter's wedding. Have a wonderful time!

cc: Thanks for Barry Silk's original clues!

Bill: Hope your doctor's appointments are only "routine visits" and that they go well.

Have a great day everyone!

Ken said...

Well, finally! I dunno why the pix didn't take the first time.

@C.C.: "Did You Evah" was sung in "High Society", the movie I may have seen 100 times, by Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. If you recall, the movie transpired over two days. The evening of the first day was Tracy's(Grace Kelly) bachelor party. The duo sang it there.

@Clear Ayes. The movie also featured Bing singing a song "That's Jazz" accompanied by Satchmo's band including Barrett Deems.

Dennis said...

Back, and thanks for the kind words.
If you ever needed reinforcement that the 'carpe diem' school of thought is the way to live, this should certainly provide it. This guy was in perfect health, exercised religiously, great family, and a stress-free job. Matter of fact, we'd recently been laughing over drinks about how lucky we both were, coming off successful corporate careers, and both doing something we really enjoyed now, in his case running a a very profitable small business from home.
Sooner or later, the wheel just stops on your name...

Anyway -- I thought Barry's original clues were outstanding, especially 'superior suit'; you actually have to think, instead of the typical 'corporate bigwig' clue.

By the way, today is National Virus Appreciation Day -- not sure what to make of that.

Have an outstanding weekend - do something fun.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, This was a satisfying Friday puzzle. I liked the inventiveness of the theme answers and the ways they were clued.

I think for most "little girls at heart", DOUBLE DUTCH was a gimme. Didn't we all jump rope as kids, ladies?

I had never heard of "oralloy", but was familiar with the Manhattan project. However, I did need help from some of the perps before the answer to 40A spread itself across the grid.

Even after I had 73A, I had to go back and look at the theme answers to figure out how EDU fit in. It was a nice little Aha moment, when I realized it was just as my mother used to say, "It's as clear as the nose on your face."

I was pleased to see Ogden NASH as an answer. I don't know why it was clued as "writer", rather than "poet". That gave me the perfect excuse to post another of his poems. We are used to his short snappy verses, but this one makes you stop and think.

The Bargain

As I was going to St. Ives
I met a man with seven lives;
Seven lives,
In seven sacks,
Like seven beeves
On seven racks.
These seven lives
He offered to sell,
But which was best
He couldn't tell.
He swore with any
I'd be happy forever;
I bought all seven
And thought I was clever,
But his parting words
I can't forget:
Forever
Isn't over yet.

Ogden Nash

BTW, I picked out this poem last night after working the puzzle online. This morning, it does seem a little more pertinent, considering Dennis' sad news.

C.C. I found this photo of a jade rod pendant. The jade doesn't have a rippled surface, but you can get the idea (if you squint your eyes) of a green river seen from above, and at a distance.

Ken, I loved the movie "High Society", another MGM musical from the '50's. All the Cole Porter music was terrific. I think True Love was the only time Grace Kelly sang in a movie.

Ken said...

@Kazie: You're welcome on the board query. Your mission, if you decide to accept it, is to make sure your descendents play cribbage.(This message will self-destruct in five seconds.)

I knew I'd forgotten a term from English coinage. A guinea seems to be in every novel set with English characters.

In true English style, the Canadian dollar coin, depicted with a loon, is a "loonie" and their two dollar coin is called a "toonie."
Thanks for thrippenny and especially florin. My dictionary says the florin originated in Florence, Italy in the 1200s.

@Sallie: I hope we get to see your board.

Ken said...

Dennis: I've been to a few too many funerals in past years. Your friend died much before his time. I'm sorry for your loss.

Anonymous said...

Husband has made a photo of cribbage board made of walrus tusk. How do I post it?

Dennis said...

clear ayes, as I recall, Ogden Nash wrote several books in addition to his prolific poetry writing. I may be wrong, but I seem to remember reading a couple as a kid.

Crockett1947 said...

@sallie Go to your profile and upload it there. Be sure it's not too large -- the system doesn't care for large files!

Crockett1947 said...

@ken Good to see the picture up. Now we've got to get carol up to speed.

Ken said...

Sallie, use the same technique to show your board pix as you did with a photo.
Click on yourself here on the blog and remove the photo where your attributes are shown. You'll see the place to add a photo. Cite the place on your hard drive where your photos are stored.
When I changed from my photo to the one of Carol, Crockett and myself, I had to log out of google and back in for it to take effect. That should do it.
I can't wait.

DoesItinInk said...

Today’s puzzle was a tremendous improvement over yesterdays! It took me until the very end to understand the theme, but that is fine. I had to guess or use the perpendiculars to get the two school “names” ASU and USC, but I completed the puzzle with no red squares.

All three of my daughters have played soccer since they were young, and my middle daughter is now playing her second year of varsity college soccer. Years ago I bought the video Hot Shot about EDSON Pele’s life. We all found it inspiring. Here is a clip explaining some of Pele’s techniques.

ITALO Calvino again…I highly recommend his book If On a Winter’s Night A Traveler. The first chapter is about the protoganist going into a bookstore to purchase a book. If you love the experience of visiting bookstores, you will definitely relate to this chapter.

cc: I loved yesterday's clip of Groucho singing “Lydia the Tattoo Lady”. I remember that a folk group once recorded this song but could find nothing on the internet. Does anyone remember which group sang this on one of their albums? The Chad Mitchell Trio? The Smothers Brothers?

Ken said...

Clear Ayes: I have the movie "High Society" and can watch it...well not weekly, but several times a year.
My first name is Noel, named for Noel Coward, and if my mom knew that Cole Porter and Noel Coward used to play footsie, I'm sure she'd be doing about 100 rpm in her grave.
However, Cole Porter's love songs are eternal. He was one of the gifted ones; I love his music.

I love all the stories of family cribbage boards that are coming out. I feel humbly pleased that so many here have such ties.

Anonymous said...

Mark - Buenos Aires

I think the "Sheila" has told all that there is on pre-decimal coinage. UK changed in 1972, I think. Didnt Oz start driving on the wrong side of the road around then?
Is "Sheila" derogatory or friendly banter? I hope not the former, if so, I rephrase it to "That nice lady from down under" and apologise sincerely. Kazie, I enjoy your input immensely.

I think guineas may still be in use in UK in horse auction circles.

Wife: "Whats on the tele tonight"
Husband: "Dust"

C.C. "Deep South" is correct.
"He spouted about region of Georgia, Alabama etc"
"He spouted" is an anagram of "Deep South"

Try:
"Like the night sky or Grauman´s Chinese Theatre forecourt?"
Letters: 4 - 7

have a great weekend everybody.

DoesItinInk said...

Mark in Buenos Aires...does "4-7" mean two words of 4 and 7 characters each? So the answer could be "star lighted"?

These puzzles are so different from our crossword puzzles that I really never get the answers, but do keep putting them here as I enjoy trying to understand them.

carol said...

Good morning C.C. and all,
Good puzzle this morning but I did have to do some Googling.

Dennis, I am so sorry for your loss! It's worse somehow, when it's not expected. Perhaps it was a "hidden" heart condition?

Crockett - I posted the picture yesterday, after help from Joe. Thank you for the kind words...you too Ken!!

I thought 52A was a clever clue!

39A Sandy Nelson was a great drummer, but I'll bet the "boys" here did not hear a thing....those pictures C.C. posted should keep them busy for quite awhile!! Surprised you guys did not mention them!

Mama P said...

Hi Gang,
Pretty easy puzzle this morning. Didn't know Pele name or the enriched uranium. I was so close, I just didn't step back. Hubby is back to work, so I was in a hurry to get to the blog. Edu was very helpful today.

Sorry to hear about your friend, Dennis. I am attending too may funerals lately.

Congratulations to Chris. Dress warm, it is chilly in the mid-west.

Everyone have a great weekend. I have a volleyball tournament on Saturday.

Barry G. said...

How about this for an obscure clue for NURSE: "One may be registered."

Dennis said...

carol, you're right - i missed the Sandy Nelson link. He was certainly one of my heroes when I was growing up and taking drum lessons twice a week. Now c.c. is my hero. Great video, c.c.; thanks.

kazie said...

Mark, thanks for appreciating my input. However, "sheila" is used mmore as a common noun rather than like the girl's name it comes from. So you hear for example, "those sheilas over there", or "are you sheilas coming?" And yes, since it's really only used by undereducated types, I would consider it somewhat insulting. I forgive you though, since it was used in ignorance of its cultural context.

Aussies have always driven on the left side of the road, like most other former British colonies, (and for no reason I can fathom, also Japan).

According to wiki, the brits changed to "new pence" in 1971.

Ken said...

Annie: Thanks for your comment. I've only been to Chicago when I was eight, not counting a trip to Skokie in the 60s. Is it fairly apparent where the Poles live? I do know there is the largest number of Poles in one place outside of Warsaw and Toronto, or so I read.

melissa bee said...

good morning c.c. and all,

i liked this one, had to work for it. all i could come up with for a theme was DU, until that last across clue finally gave me the 'aha.' so many u's, and x, y, z, too .. has barry silk written all over it. as usual, i like his original clues so much better than the editor's, especially ceo and bongo. didn't know panne or noh, smiled to see doh. had trouble parsing clue ORALloy .. oh.

@dennis: the good ones are often taken too soon .. carpe diem, indeed. a toast to your friend, and a well-lived life.

Mama P said...

Metropolitan Detroit has a very large Polish population. Hamtramck was a one time 90% Polish. We have great Paczek year round.

KittyB said...

Ken@9:36, yes, Chicago at one time had the largest gathering of Poles outside of Warsaw, and that might still be the case. We have a Polish-American cleaning lady. She has quite adequate, heavily accented, English. I'm certain that there are large areas in Chicago where only Polish is spoken.

KittyB said...

"In Illinois more than one million people are of Polish descent, the third largest ethnic group after Germans and Irish."

Ken, there's an entry at Wikipedia that answers your questions about the Polish population in Chicago.

I'll try to create a link.

Dick said...

@Ken... Pittsburgh also has a very large Polish citizenry. In fact there is one of area of Pittsburgh called "Polish Hill" and was the original settlement for the Polish immigrants coming to the Burg.

Ken said...

@KittyB and Mama P: thank you for your helpful comments. Dick: U of Pitt had one of the premier Slavic language programs and I might find myself a student there sooner or later.

Thanks again to all.

crazyhorse said...

Hi CC and everyone!
I have been "lurking" for quite a while and I decided I should try posting. I finished this puzzle without any help, but that is not usual for me. I love all of your comments and your banter! I can't always get the links, especially Youtube because I can't get any kind of high speed internet out here in the country, only dial up. Maybe some day we'll come into the 20'th century!

Dennis said...

Welcome, crazyhorse - good of you to join us. Since you have dialup, we'll be sure to type slower.

Ken, et al, there's a large Polish presence in Philly as well; several streets have Polish names and the Pulaski Day parade there brings out a ton of people.

Dick said...

@Ken If you come to the Burg let me know. I am an alumni of Pitt and enjoyed watching Pitt upset the University of Southern Florida last night. It was a flip flop between the game and the debate and I did enjoy both.

Anonymous said...

How about "feed a newborn" for nurse.

I also did not know Kudzu was chinese. I thought it was indigenous to southeastern US. It certainly is abundant in that region.

Seattle John

Clear Ayes said...

Real life has been imposing on my fun and games the past couple of days. But now I get to spend a little time checking out the latest posts.

So many good clues for NURSE. We many never see "RN" again.

Ken, You're mother was a very discerning woman to have named you after Noel Coward. He was a talented actor, playwright and composer. I always thought of him as a witty bon vivant and I didn't know until recently that he worked for MI5 during WWII.

Doesitinink, Your question about a folk group who sang "Lydia The Tattooed Lady" sounded so familiar to me. I haven't been able to find anything online either. If I have a light bulb flash I'll let you know.

Melissa bee, A smoldering new photo, it's very attractive. I'm surprised the guys haven't logged in about it yet.

Crazyhorse, I feel your pain. I didn't have high speed internet until about a month ago. Satellite reception was too expensive and the only affordable way our area was able to get into the 21st century is with a radio antenna system. So far so good.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to Ken, I am attempting to show my cribbage board.

Ken said...

Clear Ayes: There is no doubt of Coward's talent and creativity.
I recently saw "The Grass is Greener" based on one of his works. Starring Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons, it's a great movie of an affair, but with loyalty winning in the end.
As a child, I longed for a name that would fade into the woodwork such as Joe or Pete or John. *S* Noel was often pronouced as Joel or worse yet, Noelie. I frequently heard "The First Noel" on the playground. Not even my parents called me Noel, but rather a family nickname. Sigh

Today's clue about Yul Brynner reminded me of the time I saw "The King and I" in Portland. We had practically front row seats. He owned that role. I'd also seen Anne Blyth play Anna in Honolulu in the 60s, but nothing could touch Brynner's performance.

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

Clear Ayes,
In the song "Lydia": "She was the most glorious creature/Under the su-un./Guiess. DuBarry. Garbo./Rolled into one..." Who is Guiess?

Also, in one of Byron's poems, he wrote "Better to Err with Pope, than shine with Pye", who is Pye?

embien said...

No time today. A tree fell across the power lines in my driveway, and we were without power for six hours and I did the puzzle in the newspaper since I couldn't go online. You forget how dependent we are on electricity in our modern lives--even more so in my case since I'm on a well and we are without water whenever the power goes out.

Only unknowns were PANNE and EDSON.

I hope everyone noticed the marvelous construction of this puzzle. The theme (EDU) appears in the exact center of the grid! (And in the center of ENRICHED URANIUM.) I stand in awe of a constructor that can accomplish that feat, and certainly Barry Silk is one of my favorite constructors.

c.c.: ENIAC is pronounced ENN-eee-ack (emphasis on the first syllable). It's actually an acronym, and I imagine Wikipedia would have what it stands for.

kazie said...

Sallie,
That crib board is certainly unique. It really is amazing how many different forms are possible for them! It makes mine look pretty ordinary.

Clear Ayes said...

Sallie, That is one beautiful cribbage board. You are a lucky lady to own it.

Embien, You are also lucky that the tree didn't injure anyone. It sounds like you had a lot of rain and or wind to do that kind of damage.

Here in the Sierra foothills, we are eagerly anticipating what we hope will be our first real rain since last February. It is cloudy out now and we are looking forward to waking up to the sound of rain on the roof. I know that many other areas of the country have been inundated. It's too bad we couldn't have taken some of it off your hands.

C.C.Henry James Pye was Poet Laureate of England from 1790 until 1813. Apparently he was awarded the post as a political favor. According to Wikipedia, "The appointment was looked on as ridiculous, and his birthday odes were a continual source of contempt."

Byron's reference was to Alexander Pope's line, "To err is human, to forgive, divine." Byron must have been inspired by Pope's poems. He would rather have had a poem be compared to Pope's brilliance and fail (err), than to write an average poem and have it be compared favorably to Pye's mediocre work.

The following is one of Pye's odes to romance. Judge for yourself if Bryon was right or not.

Written on a Lady’s Fan

In ancient times when like La Mancha’s knight
The adventurous Hero sallied forth to fight,
Some sage magician famous in romance
Supplied the warrior with a wonderous lance,
With which through adverse troops he forced his way,
And won from giant hosts the doubtful day.

But I more fatal arms to you impart,
By Venus forged to wound the human heart.
This weapon placed in your victorious hand
No cunning shall elude, no force withstand,
Nor shall the brave resist, or coward fly,
But all mankind submit, adore, or die.

carol said...

Crazyhorse, welcome to our group. We hope you stay and continue to contribute!

Melissa bee, Great new picture, very sultry! (as befitting a Siren)

Seattle John, Kudzu is originally from China and Japan and is considered a scourge in many, many areas!

Sallie, beautiful cribbage board - unique! What a wonderful family heirloom and history to have.

My new picture is of my sweet 20 1/2 year old cat: Laurel. She will not be with us too much longer, but we treasure each of her remaining days. This was taken in March of 2007, when she was still in fairly good health. Gotta love our furry friends, they make life so much better!

Clear Ayes said...

According to Dave Cory's Blog "Guiess" is a mistaken transcription of Groucho's introduction to "Lydia". "You'll see that when Groucho lists the three beauties that were all rolled into Lydia, the first one sounds like it rhymes with "vice". According to Nick Markovich, administrator/archivist of the Yip Harburg (Lydia's lyricist) foundation, this was ThaĂŻs, an Athenian courtesan who allegedly convinced Alexander the Great to burn the palace of Persepolis. Jules Massanet wrote an opera called ThaĂŻs."

I've learned more today than I've learned in the past year!!

Carol, Laurel is a beauty. I agree with you about pets. We couldn't do without ours.

Golf Gal said...

Good evening...
Late as usual. I worked on the puzzle on and off today and really had trouble with oralloy by not recalling Oak Ridge.
Those of you, like clear ayes, who work the puzzle online: Do you access a particular newspaper that contains the Star Tribune puzzle? I checked the Chicago Tribune which has it. Working it online seems more difficult because only a few clues are visible at any given time. I stand in awe of you who have the puzzle completed before 6 am.
Golf Gal

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

Clear Ayes,
Thanks. You are so resourceful. Razzberry linked this C. C. Rider last night. What is C. C.? I also noticed that Mitch Ryder has a song titled "Sock It To Me, Baby". What does it mean?

Carol,
The fried potatoes turned out pretty good. Thanks again.

Golf gal,
See this list.

Golf Gal said...

c.c.
Thank you for the list you compiled. The Arizona Republic has the Los Angeles Crossword. Will have to check on what The Tribune carries.
Golf Gal

carol said...

C.C. so glad you liked the fried potatoes! I just tried your frozen banana and it was delicious! So, thank you too:)

Clear ayes, thanks for the kind words about Laurel! She really is the sweetest cat...her brother had a sweet disposition too. He left us in 2000, and I still miss him!

embien said...

@clear ayes: No major wind or rain here, it seems it was an old snag that fell over on our power line. The "old snag" was big enough that it snapped the power line in two, though. Maybe it's time was just up. We've actually had a very dry September here in Oregon--I don't think much rain at all.

I live in a very rural area, so only four houses were without power due to this incident. My "driveway" is 3/4 mile long.

If I didn't have Hughes Net (satellite internet), I'd be on dial-up, just like another poster here today. Costs me a bundle (nearly $100/month for pro service), but what can you do?

KittyB said...

Carol. do you have a picture of Hardy to share with us? Laurel is a beauty. How nice you've had the extra year with her.

Golf gal, if you click on the start of any word in the puzzle, the clue box will shift, so you can see more clues whenever you wish.

melisa bee, great picture!

Clear Ayes said...

C.C. "What is C. C.? I also noticed that Mitch Ryder has a song titled "Sock It To Me, Baby". What does it mean?"

There is a lot of conjecture on the internet about the meaning of "C.C. (or See See) Rider. I think the most probable explanation comes from good old Wikipedia.

"The song uses mostly traditional blues lyrics to tell the story of an unfaithful lover, commonly called easy riders.

The term "See See Rider" is usually taken as synonymous with "easy rider". In particular, in blues songs it often refers to a woman who was skilled at sex. Although Ma Rainey's version seems on the face of it to refer to "See See Rider" as a man, one theory is that the term refers to a prostitute, and in the lyric "You made me love you, now your man has come", "your man" refers to the woman's pimp. So, rather than being directed to a male "easy rider", the song is in fact an admonition to a prostitute to give up her evil ways."

"Sock it to me" originally meant "to put something bluntly", or "say what you have to say and get it over with."

The phrase also has definite sexual overtones. If you listen to Mitch Ryder's Sock It To Me, Baby, it is pretty obvious that the singer is asking for/demanding sex.

In the late 1960's there was a very popular TV show called Laugh-In. "Sock it to me" became a catch phrase that caught on across the country. Used in the show, the phrase was pretty innocuous and they usually tossed buckets of water at whoever said it. Still, everybody under 40 years old knew about the sexual meaning.