Theme: ReTAIL Tag
17A: User interface navigation technique: BREADCRUMB TRAIL
26A: Abbott/Haney board game: TRIVIAL PURSUIT
42A: Futile quest: WILD GOOSE CHASE
55A: Proceeding normally: ON THE RIGHT TRACK
WITHOUT A TRACE will be great too.
AL HUNT's name is probably too short for a theme answer. Is he famous enough or people know him only because he is Judy Woodruff's husband?
Felt like I was watching CNN's "The Situation Room" this morning:
47D: Newsman Blitzer: WOLF
18D: Powell of the Bush White House: COLIN
58D: GOP gathering: RNC
Too bad JACK (10A: Writer Kerouac) is not clued as "The Situation Room" commentator Cafferty. He whines too much though. I would prefer KILL (13D) to be clued as "Veto" rather than "Murder". That upper right corner felt weird to me this morning.
I disliked the clue for ATHLETES (38D: Track figures) because TRACK is part of the theme answer for 55A. Tell me how you would have clued ATHLETES. I really enjoyed hearing everyone's NURSE clue last time. So many sparkling ideas, esp Barry G's "One may be registered".
Across:
1A: Stamp pad: INKER. This reminds me of the boring Chinese calligraphy classes we were required to take in primary school.
16A: Race in "The Time Machine": ELOI. This has become a gimme, so are LOEB (21A: Leopold's co-defendant), ICBM (1D: SALT subject) and LSATS (28D: Exams for future attys). They used to be big stumpers for me.
20A: V x CCXXI: MCV. Roman 1105.
23A: Base on balls: WALK. Very nice clue.
33A: Audacious: BRAZEN. The spelling is quite close to CRAVEN.
35A: "___ la Douce": IRMA. I tend to confuse the name of this movie with "La Dolce Vita". TREVI (26D: Fountain of Roma) is featured in the movie.
36A: Actor Burton: LEVAR. He is so good in "Roots".
37A: GI Jill, once: WAC (Women's Army Corps). I would not have got it without the down clues.
38A: Blood vessel: pref.: ANGIO. Angioplasty e.g. Tough crossing with IMIDE (31D: Ammonia compound). I knew neither of them. "I" was hard to obtain.
Down:
3D: Ukraine's capital: KIEV. I like their prime minister (Yulia Tymoshenko). She is very pretty.
5D: Aussie lefty of tennis: ROD LAVER. I had no idea that he is a lefty. Whom do you like more, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal?
10D: Abrupt yank: JERK. Is "The JERK" a good movie?
23D: Washington cager: WIZARD. I don't follow NBA. Who is their best player?
27D: "Bolero" composer: RAVEL. Once again, the flowery "Bolero", to keep your blood flowing.
29D: Singer O'Connor: SINEAD. Her "Don't Cry for me, Argentina" is the best.
43D: Mavin of Motwon: GAYE. I learned his name from doing Xword. Not familiar with his songs. I like this song title.
54D: Hebrides island: SKYE. Here is the map. Did you see IONA on the south? Maybe that's how actress Ione SKYE (with John Cusack in "Say Anything") got her name. IONE was clued as "Actress Skye" on our August 29 puzzle.
C.C.
17A: User interface navigation technique: BREADCRUMB TRAIL
26A: Abbott/Haney board game: TRIVIAL PURSUIT
42A: Futile quest: WILD GOOSE CHASE
55A: Proceeding normally: ON THE RIGHT TRACK
WITHOUT A TRACE will be great too.
AL HUNT's name is probably too short for a theme answer. Is he famous enough or people know him only because he is Judy Woodruff's husband?
Felt like I was watching CNN's "The Situation Room" this morning:
47D: Newsman Blitzer: WOLF
18D: Powell of the Bush White House: COLIN
58D: GOP gathering: RNC
Too bad JACK (10A: Writer Kerouac) is not clued as "The Situation Room" commentator Cafferty. He whines too much though. I would prefer KILL (13D) to be clued as "Veto" rather than "Murder". That upper right corner felt weird to me this morning.
I disliked the clue for ATHLETES (38D: Track figures) because TRACK is part of the theme answer for 55A. Tell me how you would have clued ATHLETES. I really enjoyed hearing everyone's NURSE clue last time. So many sparkling ideas, esp Barry G's "One may be registered".
Across:
1A: Stamp pad: INKER. This reminds me of the boring Chinese calligraphy classes we were required to take in primary school.
16A: Race in "The Time Machine": ELOI. This has become a gimme, so are LOEB (21A: Leopold's co-defendant), ICBM (1D: SALT subject) and LSATS (28D: Exams for future attys). They used to be big stumpers for me.
20A: V x CCXXI: MCV. Roman 1105.
23A: Base on balls: WALK. Very nice clue.
33A: Audacious: BRAZEN. The spelling is quite close to CRAVEN.
35A: "___ la Douce": IRMA. I tend to confuse the name of this movie with "La Dolce Vita". TREVI (26D: Fountain of Roma) is featured in the movie.
36A: Actor Burton: LEVAR. He is so good in "Roots".
37A: GI Jill, once: WAC (Women's Army Corps). I would not have got it without the down clues.
38A: Blood vessel: pref.: ANGIO. Angioplasty e.g. Tough crossing with IMIDE (31D: Ammonia compound). I knew neither of them. "I" was hard to obtain.
Down:
3D: Ukraine's capital: KIEV. I like their prime minister (Yulia Tymoshenko). She is very pretty.
5D: Aussie lefty of tennis: ROD LAVER. I had no idea that he is a lefty. Whom do you like more, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal?
10D: Abrupt yank: JERK. Is "The JERK" a good movie?
23D: Washington cager: WIZARD. I don't follow NBA. Who is their best player?
27D: "Bolero" composer: RAVEL. Once again, the flowery "Bolero", to keep your blood flowing.
29D: Singer O'Connor: SINEAD. Her "Don't Cry for me, Argentina" is the best.
43D: Mavin of Motwon: GAYE. I learned his name from doing Xword. Not familiar with his songs. I like this song title.
54D: Hebrides island: SKYE. Here is the map. Did you see IONA on the south? Maybe that's how actress Ione SKYE (with John Cusack in "Say Anything") got her name. IONE was clued as "Actress Skye" on our August 29 puzzle.
C.C.
88 comments:
Good morning, c.c. and gang - I was surprised but happy to see a Barry Silk puzzle this morning. Made it through without G-spotting, but it wasn't a snap either. Which reminds me, when's the last time we had a real hammer?
c.c., yes, The Jerk was a pretty funny movie.
Today is National Come and Take It Day - I wonder if you have to do it in that order...
Hope it's a bearable Monday for everyone.
PHEW! Today I was in TRIVIALPURSUIT of a LONE FLAW in this xword . EUREKA! Found one in 4d!! After a BRAZEN attempt to enter EON, I found I was on a WILDGOOSECHASE!
Finally followed the BREADCRUMBTRAIL and got on THERIGHTTRACK with ERA and resisted the URGES to change other entries. Didn’t need a WIZARD’s SKILL and this was one to ENJOY. When it was OVER I was sure that Barry Silk didn’t pull the WOOL over my eyes. I was able to ESCHEW the use of “G” and didn’t get all WEEPY at my earlier entry of the wrong answer.
On a SCALE of 1 – 10 I’d say it was a 9.5.
Dennis,
So you did not have trouble getting "I" (38A: ANGIO & 31D: IMIDE)?
Bill,
Great comment! The ATHLETES clue is very flawed though.
CC, Yes, not very clear. Track competitors might have been better.
I wanted to put in STEWARDS again.
Or maybe HANDLE (that's what they call money taken in at a track)
Good morning Cc, DFs and DFettes. Another good CW today and this makes four in a row that are doable with little or no help. The link to "Bolero" last week immediately brought to mind the answer to 27D.
I got the theme early on when I got 17A which made the other ones easy to come up with. Guess over all the puzzle was interesting but somewhat of a boring puzzle.
Hope you all have a great day.
c.c., I knew angio, which gave me the 'i' in imide, which I didn't know.
I had no problem with 'athletes'.
The clue for athletes led me off course for awhile as I kept thinking the figures referred to were the betting figures.
Being married to a chemist and having some memory of chemistry classes, from back in the day, made imide a gimme for me.
@ Bill... I enjoyed your 5:43 post. It was very funny.
Thanks Dick, I thought I might as well do something with my time. For the last 10 days, every time I start some of my outdoor projects it RAINS! So I've been stuck inside being a bit lazy!
Good morning, C.C. and all.
What Bill said at 5:43 goes for me, too! lol
I made it through the puzzle without assistance, only because the fills helped me out. It was nice to see a Barry Silk puzzle to start the week.
One of Sinead O'Connor's more obscure performances is on an album from 1994 called "The Glory of Gershwin." Larry Adler, of harmonica fame, gathered pop performers of the time to do a Gershwin album. Sting, Elvis Costello, Lisa Stansfield, Elton John, Kate Bush and Meat Loaf were a few of the other performers.
Sinead chose to sing "My Man's Gone Now." Her performance is not the best on the album, but I applaud her effort on an incredibly difficult piece of music.
I'm glad the puzzle reminded me of her. I think I'll go order the CD!
Our week is supposed to alternate sun and rain, a traditional early October weather pattern. I hope you all have a good day, whether you have liquid sunshine (with a tip of the hat to Lois), or the regular kind.
Good morning, all - Was this really a Barry Silk puzzle? Didn't time myself, but whizzed through which doesn't usually happen with one of his puzzles.
I was a WAC...are they passe now?
Bill, enjoyed your 5:43 message. Wish you would send some rain down here. Haven't had rain so long, we have a fire hazard warning.
Morning, folks!
Nice puzzle today from Mr. Silk. Very smoooooooth. ^_^ The only unknown for me was ROD LAVER (I don't follow tennis, sorry). It took me awhile to figure out what "Base on balls" was asking for, and I briefly considered putting BALK and then coming here to complain about how BALK really didn't have anything to do balls. Then I had my D'OH moment and realized it was WALK. Guess I won't be complaining after all...
As for a clue for ATHLETES, how about "They often perform in arenas"?
Belle. Where are you? We're headed for VA on the 15th and I'm sure the rain will follow us. It generally does!!!
Good morning, C.C. et. al.
An easy puzzle today. Only about 8 minutes or so but I've not been timing myself lately. I liked enol and imide in the same xword. The Eloi are back and we just had Trevi a couple of puzzles ago (was it Sunday?). In the current market, has anyone seen a real estate "SOLD" sign lately?
Quite a few names this morning as well.
It keeps raining here in New England. I've had my fill of moisture.
It's Child Health Day. It is also German-American Day. I couldn't find National Come and Take It Day so I will just have to "take" Dennis' word for it.
The Jazz Singer, the first talking movie opened on October 6, 1927;
LSD is declared illegal in the US on October 6, 1966. Does anyone here remember MK-Ultra?
Have a great Monday!
Oh, yeah. IMIDE. That was another one I didn't know. I thought it was going to be AMIDE at first, but nope.
Today is National Come and Take It Day-hmmm-sounds like it was specially made for Wall Street!
Had to look up the final R in LEVAR and RODLAVER.
Wow NYTAnonimo you hit it on the head with your 7:07 post.
Clue for ATHLETES? JOCKS
Good morning, C.C. et al. I found no bread crumbs to follow to easy answers, but finally worked it out with no help. I'd have preferred "calibration tool" for 64A.
I like either "players" or "jocks"(a gimme) or perhaps "some are runners" or "some wear shorts" as in basketball or tennis.
Bill, you are very creative! I chuckled too.
C.C. I noted your "boring" calligraphy classes. Clifford Stoll is an astrophysicist who wrote two books: Cuckoo's Egg, a true story of internet espionage and "Silicon Snake Oil.", an argument for getting computers out of schools. In one of them, he has a group of Chinese physicists visiting him at UC Berkeley. When they go to lunch, the Chinese look at each other and finally one of them nods. By that wordless conversation, he is elected to write their menu choices. I felt is was a great story of cultural beauty being in everyday life. Would that our culture included great handwriting. Some older folks learned as youngsters, but it is rare to find.
Clear Ayes: Thanks for the word on Simka. There are mini-cultures(as good a word as any) that practice off beat versions of English, pig-latin being an example. My sister is fluent. For those who aren't familiar with it, one takes the first letter from a word and puts it at the end, followed by a long a sound, eg, Ia an'tca peaksa ita eryva ellwa. At speed it is pretty hard to follow. Short words such as I and it just get the long a sound after them.
Another I've heard of is to follow all vowels with "me" as in dumemb ames ame bomex omef romecks.
Having said that, I wonder if some writer didn't develop something like that so that Latka and Simka could memorize their lines. ?? I must have too much time to muse this morning.
Lois: It is a small world to think that you were familiar with a relatively obscure area of Oklahoma, but now live in an area of Virginia I once called home. Go figure.
I've been sulking the past few days after the "oralloy" clue in Friday's puzzle: yes, I realize now, having googled "oralloy" that it was an unabiguous clue; thing is, I want to be able to do these puzzles without google and I don't want the clues to literally be in "code".
Today, I was a bit taken aback by the clue "User interface navigation technique" for BREAD CRUMB TRAIL: yes, I understand the "navigation technique" part but I am stumped as to what "user interface" refers to, other than a keyboard and a screen, for example. It's okay because I had BREA*CRUM*TRAIL from the perps and that was easy enough to figure out.
On the other hand, I was happy with the clue "Spirited mounts" for STEEDS: at first I wondered "Why 'spirited'?" but then I realized that without the adjective it would just be "Mounts" and I would have guessed CLIMBS instead of STEEDS.
I found BRAZEN in a thesaurus but I had to use google to get ROD LAVER and TAOS. Was TAOS a gimme for anyone? Was it because you'd seen it in a puzzle before? Grrr.
I also wanted AMINE instead of IMIDE: it was okay because I was able to get the I and the D from the perps. Oh and EPIC was a gimme: it seems EPIC is usually clued as "saga" and SAGA is usually clued as "epic".
I think I'd bETNA EDNA because ICH getting late. IMIDE be back tomorrow or IMIDE not. Anyway, ALB see URAL tomorrow if I do. I think that's ENOL for today.
Martin
Good one. No prob with ATHLETES clue altho I put STEWARDS first due to short term memory overload. Reminds me of the way Howard Cosell used to pronounce it as "ath-a-letes". Kind of like the way Sarah Palin pronounces nuclear as "nuc-u-ler". Bet she doesn't do crossword puzzles.
dick,
no one posts more than 3 times on Rex's blog.
Smooth sailing today until I ran aground in the Hebrides.
Interesting that the acronym table does not recognize RNC
anonymous@9:23, you may not have noticed -- this isn't Rex's blog.
It is so good to be back, and luckily we have a Barry Silk puzzle today...haven't done it yet. While away I had to do USA Today puzzles.One day it had a slew of collective nouns:bloat, charm, crash, dray, and mob.I got the Sat puzzle way too late to do it, and I noticed that it had so many phrases that I would be at a loss without your help.I appreciate this blog so much and missed your chatter. Lots of new people..HELLO..and welcome.
Dennis: I'm so sorry about your friend. My dad said he knew when he was getting old when he started reading the obits every day.I'm there, and it is sad to lose family and friends, and our precious dogs and cats. I'm embarrassed to ask my Bob to help me post my cat's photo, but just maybe. Parsley is 15 and still a beauty.
C.C.: I listened and read as much of the blog as I could, and the one thing that stood out was the "Let There be Drums" Sandy Nelson clip. Shame on you!LOL I loved his music, and those pin-ups reminded me of Alberto Vargas (from Peru) who did the most beautiful air-brusbed pin-ups for PLAYBOY mag in the 60's.He started with painting movie posters in Esquire , like Betty Grable, Jane Russell, Ava Gardner, and of course, Marilyn Monroe.
Melissa Bee- great new picture!
Oh CC, you asked if anyone had ever been to a Japanese Tea ceremony. Two years ago, one of my moms, brought all her tea pots, etc to my classroom and did the ceremony for my 33 6th graders. They were mesmerized, and almost everyone drank the tea. She also brought Japanese sweets which they loved.
noh and emends(twice) were in my puzzles last week too.I had Moog twice too.Learned that a British raincoat is a mac.
I was so impressed that Ken, Carol, and Crockett got together..superb picture!!
Buckeye, I loved the 20 things to do with matzah.
Have a great day!
anon at 10:12 I don't know what the hel* you are talking about.
anon make that your 9:23 comment.
Dick - that's two responses to anon at 9:23 a.m. Apparently you only have one response left. LOL. Oh, darn! This isn't Rex's blog.
CC - I love The Jerk.
How about - Olympians = athletes
If all of our anonymous zingers (not the ones that actually participate in our discussions)will form their own blog...I promise not to go there and post anything! ;~p
JD, you are so excited to be back the your enjoyment was contagious! I was grinning by the time I got to the end of your post. *G*
I'm having trouble seeing all our pictures. Is the picture you've posted one of Parsley, or is that a dog?? Parsley is a great name for a cat. Don't be worried about asking Bob for help with your picture. It's an easy thing to change, and he might be able to show you how to do it. Take notes! It will help. It's nice to see you back.
Ken, I'm sooooooooo confused. I thought that you were living in Oregon, and had just run a cribbage contest. But, in your comment at 9:16 it says that you live in Virginia. Do we have TWO Kens?
Bill I love your 5:43 comment. You said it all! I sure wish we'd have a couple of days of rain so that I could get some INDOOR projects done! *G*
Southernbelle, WACS will NEVER be passé. My aunt was a Lt. Commander during WWII. I'd love to hear about your experiences.
nytanonimo...Maybe it should be Give It Away Day. I would have liked to see a lot more restriction on where the money goes on the bailout.
Martin, TAOS was a gimme. I've read about the art colony there for years, and have friends who have visited Taos.
Dr.g, I went to your profile to see where you live, and discovered that you sing. You and Crockett would have fun if we were to gather. Perhaps we have our own quartet or chorus among the lurkers.
One last thought (on my second post...) jd, "mac" or "mack" is the short version of "mackintosh," a form of rubberized raincoat that has been around almost two hundred years.
And with that, I must be going. Good day, all!
Mark, did you see my musing yesterday on driving?
I guess I'm the only one who didn't know Axl Rose. My music habits are stuck in the 60's I'm afraid.
Just once I'd like to see Taos clued as "Marshall McCloud's hometown."
Mark - Buenos Aires
Yes "Mac" is the generic British raincoat. (Rubberised and waterprrof) Named after its inventor Charles Macintosh.
Could "athletes" be desribed as a foot fungal problem?
Perhaps "Car rally champion" for Loeb
What does GOP stand for. Some say "God´s own party" but surely this is not the true acronym.
"Weak flu afflicted insominia" = wakeful, as some here stated.
How about "Both sides had meal inside afterwards" (5 letters)
Split the clue down "both sides" = ?. Think of initials for driving in UK and USA.
Put "had meal" inside the initials..
and the answer is another word for "afterwards"
A beautiful day here, Spring has arrived.
Keep happy everyone.
Anonymous @ 9:23am,
See, see, this is my blog! Dick has been riding for hundreds of miles and I vodka him. Your comment is presumptuous, unasked and unwelcome.
JD,
Nice to see you back.
Ted,
Good clue.
Mark, Buenos Aires - GOP originally stood for Gallant Old Party but quickly changed to Grand Old Party.
Barry Silk Monday; nice start for the week. Not very difficult, either, except that I forgot eloi, and coil just didn’t occur to me. I loved all the theme clues; they were very whimsical and fun.
I liked seeing eschew; it reminded me of one of my favorite 'fun phrases.' Eschew obfuscation. Another is on a little sign kept on my refridgerater - "This mess is a place."
C.C.
The picture of the calligraphy classes is charming. I guess it’s a bit like handwriting classes in the States; boring at the time, but very helpful. Calligraphy seems more aesthetically appealing to me.
I liked both Barry Silks' and our Barrys' clues for athlete.
Ntanonimo, my sentiments exactly about Wall Street. Lol.
Razzberry,
Very creative clue too. Thanks for the "C. C. Rider" link last week.
Barb B,
Hey! I missed you. Barry Silk's ATHLETES clue would be fine if TRACK were not part of the theme answer for 55A.
Mark in Buenos Aires: LATER!!! (L=left, R=right, ATE=had meal). These are fun once you explain the general technique. But how did you learn to interpret the clues?
Good Morning All, Barry Silk puzzles are always welcome IMHO. The only words I didn't know were the pesky, science related, IMIDE and ENOL. Sadly, I just didn't "get" science in school. I think it is too late to go back and apologize to my junior and senior high school science teachers for not paying adequate attention. Luckily, we have Drdad and others to explain some of the intricacies.
The SW was a problem for a little while. I wanted TEARY for 47A and SOLE for 59A. When I got WOLF Blitzer, I knew I was wrong and had to retrace my steps to get WEEPY and LONE.
Martin, In the story "Hansel and Gretel", the children used the bread they had for food to make a trail of crumbs to lead them back home. Not too smart, because the forest animals ate the crumbs and the kids got lost. The tots were the USERS here, hence the "User interface".
Hi JD, nice to hear from you again. Ditto to Barb b. Buckeye hasn't been around much. Crockett is gone for a few weeks, so the guys are really taking up the slack.
Ken, you made me laugh with the reminder of Pig Latin. We thought we were so clever at nine or ten years old and were sure we were fooling our parents.
Kittyb, If you haven't visited TAOS, you should, one of these days. It is located in a beautiful area. Do you sing too? Our local chorus started practicing for our holiday concert in August. It was kind of hard to get enthusiastic about "The 12 Days of Christmas", in four part harmony, when the weather was 100°.
I don't have a poem today. C.C. asks such thought provoking questions about them, I sometimes think, I am taking up too much blog space with posting, and then answers and speculations about poetry. After all this is a crossword puzzle site, not one for poetry. I'm glad to keep it up as long as C.C. wants me to.
C.C. Yes, The JERK was a funny movie. But it was also very silly. The humor was based on the astounding naïvité of the hero, played by Steve Martin. Bernadette Peters costarred as his not quite so clueless girlfriend/wife. But once in a while we need silliness in our lives and one of the dopey songs I'm Picking Out A Thermos For You has become a family favorite.
,,,,,,,Barry Silk's ATHLETES clue would be fine if TRACK were not part of the theme answer for 55A.
Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting things. You did say that.
Would it also be wrong to have track as the answer to a clue? Is it the redundancy that makes it wrong?
Good morning everyone, fun puzzle today and I didn't have to use Mr.G or anything else..but did have some serious head-scratching!
Unknowns: Lenar, Ravel,Imide and Drub. Got them all through other fill-ins.
Bill (at 5:43) I echo what the others have said...very witty!!
Kittyb- to see someone's picture more clearly, click on their picture to bring up their blog profile. Click on "View full size",and a "pop-up" box will appear asking if you want to open (browse)..click the "ok" at the bottom of that box. You'll see a picture of a magnifying glass with a + on it, click on that and with each subsequent click the image gets larger. Hope this helps.
More later, I'm off to meet a girl friend whom I have not seen face to face in nearly 35 years..I hope we don't scare each other :)
Martin, In the story "Hansel and Gretel", the children used the bread they had for food to make a trail of crumbs to lead them back home. Not too smart, because the forest animals ate the crumbs and the kids got lost. The tots were the USERS here, hence the "User interface".
Not to be overly pedantic here, but...
While "Hansel & Gretel" may, in fact, be the original source of the phrase "breadcrumb trail," the phrase is now commonly used to described a way of navigating around various computerized user interfaces such as web pages (a "user interface" just means the part of the application that is presented to the end user, as opposed to the back end stuff).
If I may be permitted an example from my on-line store, check out this page here. You'll note at the top of the page there is series of links that looks like this:
Barry's World : Surreality : General Surreality : Pheasant Rebellion
That's a breadcrumb trail, since it indicates the path you took to get to the page you are currently viewing (or, at least, it would indicate it if you had gotten to that page from my store's front page instead of following the direct link I provided).
Mark - Buenos Aries
Kazie, I just read your note from yesterday. I checked and apparently Burma changed from left to right in 1970, and Okinawa vice versa.
Driving a right hand drive vehicle in a country that drives on the right is not so bad now. Millions of UK´ns do it every year and Europeans to UK the other way round. The difference is that now you can drive on motorways, autopistas, autobahns etc practically anywhere from the channel ports and so confidence is gained before hitting (not literally) the towns.
here the cars drive on the right and the trains on the left. The latter because railway builders (mainly Scottish, thats why there are golf courses near the main stations) built how they knew it. Its amazing how railway stations here are exact replicas of their traditional Uk counterparts.
Do many countries have left hand drive trains and right hand drive roads do you know?
chau Mark
I don't know about the trains anywhere else, but the worst driving problems I had were in Cornwall and Wales, where the tall hedgerows on narrow country roads prevented seeing anything around a curve, if you needed to overtake a hay wagon.
I have to admit ignorance of Burmese or Okinawan traffic, but I can't help wondering if it's as dense as in modern affluent cities in the west.
As to confidence on autobahns--at 200Km per hour? I'm always scared even in a normal car in Germany!
Barb B,
Yes, it's the redundancy that annoys me. Answers are very very tough to change once the constructor works out the grid. Clues are much easier to fiddle with.
Clear Ayes,
It's your daily poem, Dennis's/Dr. Dad's "Today is the Day...", Flyingear's quote, Mark's cryptic, etc, that make the comments interesting. This blog is not for puritans. They should try somewhere else if you want their edenic crossword garden. So, keep your poems coming. And thank you for always taking time explaining them to me.
Haven't been around for a few days. I was down and out with a nasty flu. I missed work on Thursday and Friday and was so down and out I really didn't leave my bed until Saturday. Sunday we took the boat off the bouy so it is now officially fall to me. *sigh*
The puzzle went pretty smooth for me today and it felt good to get in the swing of things.
Clearayes, keep those poems a coming. I enjoy reading them everyday. That is what is fun about this blog. Something new everyday, whether it be a poem, a quote, or recipe.
@kittyb... I used to work in Los Alamos, NM and it is not that far of a drive to Taos so we would drive over there to browse the art colonies. If you get to that area you should also visit historic Santa Fe.
There is an adage about an old Indian that lived at the market square in Taos. The Indian was supposed to have the best memory of anyone in the state. One day I was at the square and went to see the Indian and found him sitting on his blanket. As a test I asked "What did you have for breakfast on this day 20 years ago"? To which he answered eggs. I left feeling somewhat disappointed as he could have said anything and I would not have know the answer.
However 20 years later I was driving through Taos and told my wife about the Indian with the fabulous memory and suggested we see if he was still there. At the square there was the same old Indian still sitting on his blanket. I walked up to him holding my right hand in the Indian hello tradition and said HOW. He looked at me and said scrambled!!
@ cokato ... sorry to hear that you were sick. Hope it is all better now and you will be out and about.
Well, I'm finished but had 12 red squares.I so enjoyed the Bolero with flowers C.C., which reminds me that it is about time to get the tulip bulbs planted.Does U Tube have a Bolero showing Bo Derek running down the beach in 10?
I was ashamed that I did not know much about the Hebrides, but then, most maps don't focus on those small island names.
37A- I put Joe..well, it could happen.
Rod Laver was a great player. His left arm was noticeably larger than his right arm. Back then, the players did not play 2-handed. Today that makes Federer stand out because he only uses one arm, whereas most players have adapted the 2-handed swing. Both Nadal and Federer seem to be nice guys, but I really miss watching the more feisty guys like Jimmy Connors and John Mc Enroe.You never knew what was going to happen.
After doing these puzzles for awhile, I find it odd the information we collect throught the years. Much of it I have no idea where it came from.. such as peoples' names.I knew the name Edna Ferber but had no idea what she wrote.
It's a lovely Mon. here in the Bay area. We loved our spotty showers on Sat.. so refreshing.
Barry, LOL That just goes to show you I am still living in the early 19th century. I had no idea that BREADCRUMB TRAIL had a 21st century meaning.....still learning all the time. Thanks for the explanation.
Kazie, We didn't drive in Ireland and I'm glad we didn't. There are the same problems there, with narrow roads, hedgerows and visitors who think they know how to drive on the left.
Cokato, Hope you are feeling much better.
Dick, Funny!!
C.C. Thanks for the "go ahead" with poetry. Here's a short funny one. It reminds me of what Navin (Steve Martin in The Jerk) might say.
Stupid Pencil Maker
Some dummy built this pencil wrong,
The eraser's down here where the point belongs,
And the point's at the top - so it's no good to me,
It's amazing how stupid some people can be.
- Shel Silverstein
Alaska, as a part of the United States, didn't particularly interest me. I was as ignorant of it as were (and are) most of the millions of citizens of my country. I knew a few bare facts only; Alaska was a Territory of the United States; it was vast enough to be termed, without too much exaggeration, a sixth continent; it had been bought from Russia for seven million dollars in 1867 over the protest of most of the citizens of this country who called the transaction Seward's Folly because the purchase had been advised by Secretary of State Seward. Something over seven million had been paid to Russia for this gigantic territory. Vaguely, it was known that Eskimos lived there and that in the 1890's gold had been discovered.
This is from Edna Ferber's novel, Ice Palace.YEARS ago I read Giant. She also wrote So Big and Cimarron,
and was born in Kalamazoo. Didn't Bing Crosby sing a song about a gal from Kalamazoo?
kittyb- No, that is the picture of one of the sled dog/ puppies we got to hold in Alaska.That trip was so magical. We are going thru the Panama Canal on a cruise in a few wks. It should be full of new adventures too.
cokato - I was beginning to worry since we hadn't heard from you. Glad you are feeling better.
I recently received an e-mail for a recipe exchange. Would anyone be interested in participating in it? I did not know if it would be appropriate to post it here and so though I would ask first.
Thanks.
Thank you all for your concerns. I am almost 100% back to my spunky self so you can Come and Take it.
clear ayes,
I also was unaware of the 21st century sense of breadcrumb trail, but I lucked out with several clues today and they just fell into place, as did that one.
Welcome back cokato. No fun being sick, is it?
Barry, Clear Ayes, & kazie...
I have handheld GPS units that will capture a "bread crumb trail" so you can back track if you are in a wilderness area and get turned around. Can be used on the water also to mark and find that favorite fishing hole easily.
Razz
In the absence of a longer one from clear ayes today, I thought this was relevant:
The Call of the Hebrides
I must go to those mystic isles
Where the ships and the mariners be,
And where the dancing sunbeam smiles
On the winds and the waves of the sea.
I must go to those sheen-white sands
Where the dulse and the seawrack are,
And count the ships from foreign lands
As they pass by the harbour bar.
I must go to the caves once more
Where the sea-rivers used to hide:
I long to linger by the shore,
And to sing to the ceaseless tide.
And I must watch the fishermen
As they hoist their great sails in the bay,
And listen to the echo when
Little children rejoice at their play.
O take me there, and let me float
Like a bird on the restless seas,
And leave me with my little boat,
For I long for the Hebrides.
--Alastair Alpin MacGregor
9:40 today. Believe it or not, WAC was my last fill. I thought maybe JAC (not seeing the obvious WOOL for goat hair). A real d'oh moment. No unknowns (I even got ANGIO and IMIDE, and I'm usually poor on the chemical/medical clues.)
So nice to see Barry C. Silk again so soon. He and I are on the same wavelength, it seems, and I find his puzzles very enjoyable (even when I don't get all the answers right).
c.c.: How about "Olympians" as the clue for ATHLETES? Maybe a bit of misdirection (to the Greek gods) to keep it interesting. Oops! I see razzberry beat me to that one.
@martin: four-letter art colony == TAOS in crosswordland.
dick: that joke about the old Indian was priceless! Thanks for sharing that, I was literally LOL.
Good afternoon CC & DF's:
Dick: did you ever hear of Brush Ranch near Santa Fe? Just wonderin'. My favorite camp when I was a kid. We would go into Santa Fe to shop, tour, whatever. Had a friend from Los Alamos there. Fun times. Loved your Indian story. Very funny.
Dennis: LOL I much prefer your DF take on today's celebration title. Funny guy!
Ken: it is such a small world. As a teen visiting a friend in GY, met a guy that I had been in 8th grade with in OK. He was dating my friend. Small world indeed!
Bill: where in VA are you going? Is this for a festival?
@JD... MY wife and I are going on a 10 day Panama Cruise over Christmas. I would be very interested in your opinion(s) when you return. When are you going and what line? We will be going on the Holland America line.
Lois, Martinsville for teh Sprint Cup race. We leave here on the 15th and will be back here on the 21st. One whole week of NOTHING to do!!!
If you're interested I may have a couple of tickets. I've got a buddy of mine that is supposed to go but I'm not sure if he'll make it.
C.C., Clear Ayes and Kazie. It gives me a daily lift to see someone else's taste in poetry. I've enjoyed Clear Ayes' submissions and Kazie's today.
This is not a good idea if I'm stepping on your toes, Clear Ayes.
But I wonder if we might have a rotating poem submission? If there were five of us, each might have one day of the work week? Of necessity, the poem would have to be relatively short.
I promise not to include mine. *S* True, it is a crossword blog, but yet it is so much more, methinks.
Kazie, I love your "The Call of the Hebrides." They are on my bucket list.
cokato, in that order? Also, glad you're feeling better.
lois, have you mellowed?
Bill: Wow, that is so nice of you... you are talking about the tickets and not the friend of yours, right? Sooo thoughtful of you and I honestly would LOVE to go. Never been. But there's this thing called work that gets in the way of my fun during the week and it's a critical time w/testing and stuff. But let me know every time you come this way. Someday our paths will cross...I'll be gentle, I promise. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Dick: I went through the Panama Canal in '64 on a submarine(surfaced!). However, we recently cruised to Alaska's South East peninsula on the Statendam, one of Holland's liners. It was very enjoyable with various entertainments while transiting and, for us, three different ports of call. The food in the buffet for breakfast and lunch was excellent and the dining room food was superb as you might expect.
I could get used to having my food prepared with no dishes to do and having my bedroom cleaned for me. *S*
clear ayes, yes, I sing, too. If I write "St. Olaf" does that give you an idea of the style? I am not presently in a group, but I may join the church choir, since I need to be taking my mother to church. I love 4-8 part harmony. I'm an alto.
cokato, it's good to hear that you're feeling better. Dear Husband brings our boat home Oct. 19th. This weekend will be his last sail of the season.
(grinning at dick) I could feel the windup coming! *G* I'll have to make it a point to visit Taos.
Carol, I get to the point where I click on "View Full Size" and I get one larger view, but no magnifying lens, so I can never increase it to the detail I'd like to see.
jd...what a relief! I ws hoping I wasn't going to have to say, "What a cute cat!" *G* Wasn't Alaska fabulous??
ken, we traveled on the Statendam, too! Glacier Bay, Sitka, Juneau, and Ketchikan. The Misty Fjords National Monument is awesome!
I'd like to return and spend some time in Skagway, and more time in Ketchikan.
We won one of the quizzes in the piano bar and still use our "Dam" mugs! *G*
@ Ken... My wife and I took the Princes Cruise Line to Alaska via the Inner Passage and loved every minute of it. As my friend and I stood on the balcony one evening I wondered aloud "I wonder how high we are"? To which my friend answered we are at seal level you dummy. Guess he was correct.
@Carol.. for me to enlarge a picture I must click on view full size under the picture. This will open the picture in "Image Expert Application". Then I right click and a menu comes up and I can zoom in or out. I could not get the method you described to work on my computer system. Anyway now people will have two methods to try.
@kittyb: I was in a choir workshop of 200 women and 100 men many years ago. We did some four and six part harmonies that took my breath away. I couldn't believe my off-key self was a part of something so glorious.
On the Statendam (speaking of small worlds) we had Beatle tunes as a piano bar quiz. I've never quite forgiven the Fab Four for killing the Peter, Paul and Mary and Limelighter era, so we didn't do well. We stopped in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, also spending a day in Glacier Bay.
We fell in love with a quartet of 4 Ukranian musicians, 3 fiddles and a cello. They called themselves "Dolce Vita." I speak enough Russand and Polish to schmmoze with them and bit.
@Dick: It looks like we had similar ports of call. It sounds like "I wonder how high we are" is a question you wished you hadn't asked. *S*
Good evening--time for dinner in Michigan. Taos was easy since I've been there a few times. In my early teens, my family went there when it was just getting known.
doesitinink, I've received two email invitations to participate in a recipe exchange. It sounds like fun if you want some new recipes, but I declined.
Golf Gal
Dick and Kittyb, I have Mozilla Firefox on my computer so maybe that is the difference and why you cannot use my method.
golf gal and ink, I have been through that recipe exchange because my sister sent it to me, but it did not work out very well...most did not know how to do it or did not have the time.
@ Carol... I also have Mozilla Firefox but I think it depends on what program you use to open pics. I could try some other programs but it is not worth the effort as the one I currently use is quite adequate. Which program do you use for pic?
Back from art class. It's lots of fun, but I don't think you will see any of my "work" in a gallery any time soon.
Doesitinink, I still like to cook, but with the advent of recipe sites on the internet, I usually google if I am looking for something new. Thank you for the invitation though, I appreciate it.
Kazie, that was a lovely poem today. The word "Hebrides" sounds so romantic to me. I know I have read another poem about the Hebrides, but I can't remember where or when.
Ken, If you or anyone else would like to take a day of the week to be the "poem-ster", please just pick a day and let the rest of us know. I have no problem with that. Or if you don't want to do it on a regular basis and you have a poem you'd like to share, just go ahead and post it for our enjoyment.
Kittyb, I don't know the "St Olaf" style of singing. Is it a cappella? Our chorus is not affiliated with a church. We sing whatever our talented director brings for us to sing. We have two concerts a year, one in June, which usually has a lot of show tunes and one in December, which has seasonal songs. BTW, I'm an alto too.
G.A.H. and I have been on three cruises. The first one was in the Caribbean. I won a set of two mugs for winning a "Movie Trivia" contest. As soon as the cruise director announced the subject of the game, I knew I was going to do well. Being a movie buff served me well there. LOL
Hi C.C. and Gang,
Another entire day in E.R., Husband had a kidney stone.
Clear Eyes, which cruise line do you prefer? I like Royal Caribbean. We've been on quite a few cruises, all to various parts of the Caribbean. We really want to go to Europe and Alaska. Maybe soon.
I'd like to the term "thin clads" for track team members.
Clear Ayes: I think your notion is better. Post as the spirit moves you as long as C.C. doesn't mind.
Hi Dick, This is Joe, Carol's husband, when you click view full size, then select Browse and Select a picture program to open it with and then when it opens use the programs plus or minus to enlarge or shrink. Typically they open in Windows picture and fax viewer program that you can use the plus and minus symbols on the bottom to enlarge or shrink the picture. But when you browse you can use any other picture program to do this with. All these picture programs allow you to enlarge pictures on one form or another.
Hi Dick(again) this is Carol, I hope that answers your question as I didn't have a clue! He's the computer expert.
Cokato, so glad you are feeling like yourself again! We missed you.
clear ayes, when I was in college, the choir at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, was known for the purity of their pitch, and for singing without vibrato. They are one of the premier a Capella choirs in the United States.
What I meant by referring to them was that I rarely sing with vibrato, and I enjoy singing a Capella. I have a good voice for group singing, but I'll never be a soloist.
Perhaps when I retire, I'll have the chance to do some of the things I miss doing. I love reading about the way you spend your retirement! *G*
Carol, I see my problem. I don't get the option to go to a browser when I click on "View Full Size." I'll have to talk to my in-house computer experts (my stepsons). Thanks for the information.
Dick- we are also cruising via Holland America on the Statendam...(same ship that we cruised on last August to AK). We leave from San Diego on the25th and return Nov. 10. I will e-mail you when we return.
. Did you go to the towel folding class...LoL?
Ken and Kittyb, sounds like we all took the same trip : Ketchikan, Juneau,Skagway,Glacier Bay, College Fjord,Seward and took the train to Denali Nat. Park.What a glorious place!!! I want to be a photographer when I grow up and get a super duper camera.
cokato- glad you are on the mend.I hate being sick, unless I'm not that sick and I can read.
kazie-lovely poem, but I had to look up dulse and seawrack. S'pose it was a gimme for all of you. Did you know it was seaweed?
embien- WAC was also my last fill. I looked all over for the name of goat hair, and then felt like an incompetent 5th grader
mama p, which Royal Caribbean ships have you been on? We swear by RCL, and have taken their ships 5 times now. Nordic Prince twice, Song of America, Song of Norway, and Sovereign of the Seas.
Do you have a favorite?
jd, Don't feel bad--I had to look them up too! But I'm glad a few of you liked the poem. I have a few humorous ones too that I could post every so often.
Dennis,
We sailed on Mariner of the Seas last time. Very nice, they keep getting bigger and better ships. Before that Enchantment and Ecstasy of the Seas.
We also sailed Carnival, nice but only okay. The Radisson Cruise we took was by far the best, and most expensive. Royal Caribbean has everything we like including specials for repeat Crown and Anchor members. What are your favorite ships and ports of call?
Dennis: Funny guy! Have I mellowed? 'Hardly', but it's all in the power of the situation, including what I'm drinkin' &/or smokin', the time of day/night, and who's nibblin' at the bait. It's all good.
mama p, favorite ports are st. john, antigua, st. martin and st. thomas. Obviously kinda partial to the caribbean.
Don't have a favorite ship, since the ones I was on are all retired in favor of even bigger ones. Any recommendations for the next cruise/ship?
Dennis,
Believe it or not, Key West! St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Cozumel and Caymans. I haven't been to Aruba, Belize, Antigua, St. Lucia, or St. Kitts. There is still so much to see. My favorite ships is the one I am one! I do want to go on a Mediterranean Cruise.
Oasis is the newest ship!
lois, great line - "who's nibbling at the bait" -- couldn't agree more.
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