google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday October 9, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

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Oct 9, 2008

Thursday October 9, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Cut Losses

21A: Start of Molly Irvin quote: THE FIRST RULE OF

28A: Part 2 of quote: HOLES:

34A: Part 3 of quote: WHEN YOU

47A: Part 4 of quote: ARE IN

51A: End of quote: ONE, STOP DIGGING

Is this an original quote from Molly Irvin?

Too many 3-letter words for my taste. I guess the constructor has no other way to get around unless he shortens 21A into "THE FIRST RULE" and move "OF" into the next line. But then he will have difficulty grid the remaining quotes symmetrically.

I don't know. I do remember reading it somewhere that the theme answers for Quote/Quip puzzle do not have to follow the 180-degree rule, though all of them should be structured in all Across instead of Down.

Across:

1A: FDR Program: WPA. It's shut down in 1943 as WWII created lots of jobs in the military.

7A: Fella: BUB. I penned in BUD.

15A: Candler of Coca-Cola: ASA. It could also be clued as "Happy ____ clam" if partial fill is allowed in our puzzle. I don't understand why our editor stubbornly eschews this. Remember Barry Silk said last time that this actually makes it harder to construct for TMS than for other papers?

18A: Bad in Sedan or Limousin: MAL. Sedan is town in Northern France, and Limousin is one of the 26 regions in central France. I had never heard of them before. Very clever clue though.

19A: One with lots to offer?: REALTOR

30A: Rhyming verse: POESY. New word to me. I only know POETRY.

36A: Mike of talk radio: MALLOY. His name is foreign to me.

41A: Christiania today: OSLO. Wiki says "it's called Christiania from 1624 to 1878, and Kristiania from 1878 to 1924."

45A: With all one's might: AMAIN. I forgot this word.

50A: Site of ancient games: NEMEA. I've never heard of this place before. Doesitinink probably will give us more information about this site.

54A: Inhuman being: ANDROID. What is the difference between a ANDROID and robot?

56A: Eerie poet: POE. Very nice "Annabel Lee" interpretation.

57A: Douglas' tree?: FIR. It's also the state tree for OREG (41D: Neighbor of Calif.)

60A: Basic of edu: RRR. Mine was ABC. What is RRR again?

61A: Scottish river: TAY. The longest river in Scotland.

Down:

1D: Huh?: WHAT THE. Shouldn't "Huh" be in quotation mark?

2D: Haystack odd one out?: A NEEDLE. Is this playing on "needle in a haystack"? What does "odd one out" mean?

4D: Negligent: REMISS

6D: Pimento: ALLSPICE. Yes, no need for you to check again, Bill. Pimento is a synonym for ALLSPICE.

9D: Ancient fertility god: BAAL. I was thinking of Isis, the Egyptian goddess of fertility.

11D: Abundant: PROFUSE. So many *FUSE word: diffuse, defuse, confuse, infuse, refuse, effuse, etc. I suppose they are all of the same root.

20D: Strung along: LED ON. I did not know this "deceive" meaning of "String along".

23D: Overland excursion, perhaps: TRAIN TRIP

27D: Sweat shop?: GYM. Do you walk, jog or go to the GYM for exercise?

30D: City near Lourdes: PAU. I forgot all about PAU. Last time Mr. Olschwang clued CES as "Pau pronoun". See this map. It's a winter resort.

35D: Inclined to give in: YIELDING. It's so hard not to yield to certain temptations in life.

37D: Pungent gas: AMMONIA. Both AMIDE and IMIDE are AMMONIA compound, right?

38D: Hamper collection: LAUNDRY. Do you wash your bras in the washing machines? I don't. Never.

39D: Metric unit: LITER

42D: Part-time athlete: SEMIPRO. Amateur has the same number of letters as SEMIPRO.

43D: Some claimants: LIENORS. "claimant" is a new word to me.

44D: Wild Asian asses: ONAGERS. I forgot. Here is a picture. Its spelling reminds me of grilled eel UNAGI. Delicious!

46D: __ oo!: TOODLE. New to me. I've never heard of "chin chin" as "ta ta" either.

49D: Steps over a fence: STILE. This "fense" is easier for me to grok. I really had difficulty understanding the "Steps over a wall" clue yesterday.

52D: Peau de ___ (soft silk): SOIE. French for silk. "peau" is skin. "mal dans sa peau" is "Ill at ease."

C.C.

93 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, c.c. and gang -- not a full hammer today, but certainly more than a love tap. Thought the quote could've used "is" since there's no punctuation possible. Kinda had to circle around the puzzle in order to finish it; nibbled at the edges (something the DFettes will understand) before I got into the middle of it. No G-spot, but all of 10 minutes.

cokato, I'm glad I'm not the only one who realizes that it's c.c. who is the master baiter. BTW, having a banana and nuts this morning? On that same topic, any of the DFettes have good ear pics they want to share?

Back in the upper 70s here today; life is good. Hope it's a great day for everyone.

Dick said...

Good morning Cc, DFs and DFettes...Today was not quite a hammer but I sure found it difficult especially the SE corner. Once I got the quip I enjoyed it but I struggled to complete it

I did not know 9D but got it from the perps but I had BUD for 7A and this was an error and I got a brain fade on 9D for the longest time. For 33D I kept trying to put "tri" something for the bicycle.

@Cc the 3 Rs are Readin, ritin and rithmatic.

Dick said...

Cc I never wash my bra in the washing machine but I do put my wife's bras in the machine. However, never never put the bras in with panty hose as they create knots that are nearly impossible to get out.

Dick said...

For my 5:50 post make that 33A for the bicycle clue.

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

Dennis,
I just don't feel this quote is suitable & breakable for a crossword. I don't think ONE should be in the same line as STOP DIGGING. As you said, without the "is", it's hard to understand.

Dick,
Thanks for the RRR. Dr. Dad mentioned it before, but I forgot. You should hand wash your wife's bras.

Carl,
Happy Birthday!

The whoo,
Your woodshed punishment is self-imposed.

Jeanne,
You walk, not jog, for 2 miles a day, right?

Katherine,
Where are you?

Martin said...

It was a tough one for me: took me 40 minutes plus. And I had to enter in some random letters to finish. I wasn't happy with the spelling of LITER: should be LITRE. Americans don't even use the metric system so why the alternative spelling? "Part of B.S." should have been clued as "Part of B.Sc.": the constructor was baiting us to try to put in either BULL or SH*T.

Doing it online I could see my mistakes right away: I wanted TRANSPORT for TRAINTRIP, WHATSUP for WHATTHE, PREP for TECH, MONSTER for ANDROID and ANAL for EKES. (Some medication is provided as an anal supplement.)

Funny to see BAAL today. BAAL is a Hebrew word meaning "Lord". Ishtar's husband was known as BAAL in the old testament. They are mentioned together in Judges 2:13,
Judges 10:6, Samuel 7:4 and Samuel 12:10. Heavens no, I didn't memorize the Bible: I'm just very, very good at googling.

C.C., an android is anything that looks like a man and moves like a man but it is not necessarily a robot as it could be biological and robots are machines. Some robots are androids but most robots are built for function rather than appearance. In terms of Star Wars, C3PO was an adroid but R2D2 is a just robot, even though both were refered to as "droids".

Kudos to whoever explained the difference between IMIDE and AMIDE the other day!

Martin

Martin said...

P.S.: C.C. will never allow to post here again if I say what came to mind when I read "Wild Asian asses".

Martin

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

Martin,
Dangerous comment @ 6:18am! Do you want to head for woodshed also? Your Ishtar comment last time made me think of ISIS for BAAL today. Is the movie "Ishtar" related to the Egyptian goddess Ishtar? Dr. Dad explained AMIDE and IMIDE last time. But I don't think I understood what he said.

KittyB said...

Good morning, C.C. and all.

C.C., dick really sounds like he knows what he's talking about! lol Maybe we should explain about the net bags for washing delicates.

I finished this puzzle by simply making a "Wild Ass" guess and putting an "A" where ONAGER and NEMEA crossed. I was also able to guess at MALLOY, once some of the perps were in place.

I have never heard of AMAIN.

I liked the quip; it sounds like something Molly Irvin would have said, but it probably was around long before her time.

Did you notice MOTORED and TRAINTRIP?

This c/w went better than I expected, probably because of the plethora of short words. I feel as though I was given an easy out.

Well, onward and upward! Carl...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, hon, and may you complete years of puzzles with the speed of lightning!

Have a great day, DFs, DFettes, and all!

Dennis said...

c.c., you're right about the quote - it's not a natural fit.

martin, I had no problem with 'liter' - it is a correct word in this country.

carl, Happy Birthday, and many, many more.

Martin said...

C.C.,

You have no idea how many times I have censored myself for fear of being sent to the woodshed! Whatever goes on there, it doesn't sound like it would be anything I would enjoy.

By the way, just for fun, I googled "Wild Asian asses" and got... onager. I then went to google images and got pictures of... onagers. I then chose "Safe Search Off" and the results were much, much more interesting.

Martin

Barry G. said...

Morning, folks!

Yup, today was definitely a bit on the challenging side, although I was able to muddle through unassisted. For a change, I actually needed to figure out the quip in order to get some of the perps instead of the other way around. The tortured grammar of the quip (and yes, the original surely had an "is" in there) made that task even more challenging.

Anyway, my list of unknowns today included NEMEA, PAU, SOIE (I think I've seen this in a puzzle before, but forgot) and TAY. I'm not sure I know who ASA Candler is, but for some reason I was able to guess it right away, so it must be buried somewhere back in the deep crevices (or is that crevasses?) of my brain.

In other news, I knew who BAAL was, but had no idea he/she/it was a "fertility" god. Live and learn. Also, I resisted putting in LIENORS for the longest time because it just didn't look like a real word (even though it makes perfect sense). And finally, do geneticists actually study RNA? I figured they studies genes or, by extension, DNA, but RNA? Really?

I see Martin has already got you covered with a definition for ANDROID, so I'm just gonna wish you all a great day and toddle off to my day job...

Dr. Dad said...

Good morning. This was sort of a hammer for me. Had to "G" a couple and also check after filling in to see if they were words.

A robot is a mechanical "man/woman" if you will but it does not necessarily have to look human. Also, robots can be automated machines (like the ones on car assembly lines) and those certainly bear no resemblance to a human. Androids are robots, so to speak, that are made to resemble human beings. Examples of Sci-Fi Robots are Robbie the Robot and the robot from "Lost in Space." The best known Sci-Fi example of an android is Lieutenant Commander Data of Star Trek.

I'm looking over the various muffins this morning. Want to make sure I pick one that is good to eat.

RRR is "Reading, 'Riting (writing), and 'Rithmetic (arithmetic)."

Huh? was okay because "What the - - - ?" is a phrase with no ending meaning something like no idea what something is and at a loss to describe it.

Amides and imides are compounds based on ammonia. C.C. you are correct. Here is an Amide link followed by an Imide link. Hope this helps you to understand the difference, C.C.

I must have missed something. Dick, even though you state that you don't wash YOUR bra, are you implying that YOU have/own them? I for one may take my wife's bra off but I will use my hands for something else after that and it won't be washing the bra.

Today is Leif Ericson Day and Moldy Cheese Day. The first telephone conversation took place on this day in 1876.

Have a great Thursday.

Dick said...

@Cc I tried to hand wash her bras but I never wanted to wait until she took them off.

Dick said...

@ Carl have a Happy Birthday today and may we all be here to wish you Happy Birthday next year.

Dr. Dad said...

Liter is U.S. spelling. Litre is the spelling used by the U.K. and other countries of the European Union (maybe also Australia, New Zealand, etc.). All through my chemistry career in the states, it has always been spelled liter.

Dr. Dad said...

No Dennis, I didn't take speed this morning - just commenting a bit much before I am out for most of the day. Wanted to mention that a "female" android is called a "gynoid."

Dick said...

drdad guess I should have explained my bra is on the front of my car.

Bill said...

CC, 6d; Believe it or not, I didn't even remember it! I had to wait for the other fills and then it was D'oh!!!
This was a slow plodding affair for me. Once I figured out the "Quote", (Which, as others said, did not string together)
it went a little better.POESY and PAU? The "P" didn't appear till I got here. Never heard NEMEA before. And, I've dealt with a lot of SOOT in my time and never heard the word SMUT connected to it. BUT, I have the word SMUT connected to lots of .......... Well, let's just forget that one!!!

CY'all Later

Anonymous said...

RRR stands for the 3 Rs (Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic). I was stumbling today.. Had to google a lot.

Barry G. said...

I forgot to mention that MALLOY was another unknown for me and, while I do not wash my bras in the washing machine, I do wash my wife's bras there. In cold water and on the delicate setting...

Dick said...

drdad It has been too many years ago that chemistry was part of my life and not much remains in my head about the subject. Thanks for the links to amide and imide. Everything is perfectly clear now.

Jeanne said...

Morning all,
My feel good mood totally dissipated this a.m. with this puzzle. Had to google too often to truly enjoy the puzzle. Second cup of coffee didn't help either. In the future, I will not forget allspice, I will not forget, I will not ....

C.C. I walk two miles, 4x/wk. not jog. If there was a big chocolate bar awaiting me, then maybe I would run!! I also carry a 3lb. weight and do curls, etc. May have to join a gym for those cold snowy months coming too soon.

Have a good one.

Dick said...

Jeanne what area of PA do you live in?

Jeanne said...

@Dick, I live in Berks Co. which is north and west of Philly. We have many beautiful paths some of which we have just discovered. Looking forward to walking some of those paths. We got hooked when we were on vacation in Zion National Park. Beautiful scenery takes away some of the boredom.

kazie said...

Good morning all!

Well I had the same difficulties already referred to here--didn't know NEMEA, had GUY and then BUD for 7A for a while, and didn't like the missing "is" from the quote. Also had ABC instead of RRR for the longest time.

I do wash bras and hose in the machine, but in separate netting bags, and lately I've been using the cold setting for everything except sheets and towels. It works just as well if I remember to pretreat spots. I never put the bagged items in the dryer, however.

kazie said...

Forgot to share something interesting about the French départements, of which Limousin is not one (I thought it was when I started this): they are all numbered according to the alphabetical list of them, and those numbers appear as part of car license plates, to ease identifying their place of origin if needed. Montpellier, where I was is in Hérault, which is 34. See
the map and the list

Also, litre is the accepted spelling throughout the British Commonwealth countries, including Oz and NZ. It's liter here and in Germany.

Ken said...

Good morning, C.C., et al. I had to work for this morning's solution which I got with a couple helps from google. I had GUY for 7A which really slowed me down.
I didn't know Malloy, but the fills helped.

@KittyB. I have never heard of amain either.

I googled Molly to check on the quote and it is cited there, punctuated with a colon after Holes. Perhaps the online source is wrong.
Molly Ivins was one of the great political columnists. Writing for the Fort Worth newspaper, she regularly dissected the TX legislature. Her nickname for President Bush was "shrub." She has several books, based on her columns and is well worth perusal.

Word of the day: indagate: to investigate or look into. The detective indagated the bloodstains on the car seat.
I've never heard of this one, first appearing in 1623.
It is a rarely used synonym of investigate, which antedates indagate by 100 years.
Checking out the Latin root indagare, one finds it means "to trail, especially using hunting dogs."

Carl: A Polish "Sto Lat" to you; may you live 100 years."

Short poem

Flying feet
Fussy gulls flapping
Dog laughing

A great day to all.

Razz said...

So Kazie just how do you dry those "bagged" items???? Hmmmmmm...

Dennis said...

razz, I prefer my underwear blow-dried.

And c.c., I am NOT explaining that one...

kazie said...

I pull them out of the bags and hang them up. Am I missing a deeper meaning here? If so it could be painful...

Razz said...

Kazie...Although we probably have a few DFs on this site that may prefer your method...I think the majority would enjoy the method that Dennis suggests...And no I'm not explaining either...

kazie said...

I suspected as much! I think I'd go more for Dennis' method too. After getting thrown around and half drowned in the washer the other way would be just too much!

Ken --interesting reference to Molly Ivins' use of "shrub". That's what my hubby calls him as well, and I'm sure he's never read anything of hers.

Jeannie said...

I thought this was a lame puzzle. I hate quote puzzles and this is a good example of why.

Dennis, as a matter of fact I did have a banana and nuts for breakfast this morning. Mighty tasty too I might add. I see xchefwalt poked his head in here last night around 8:39pm, that weasel. Regarding your underwear drying method. I am not covering for you today too!

And bras? what bras?

Barb B said...

Puzzle today didn’t flow well; it just kind of jerked along like a commuter train. I kept losing the place for part of the quote (ARE IN) so One Stop Digging showed up, and of course that makes no sense at all.

I knew of Molly Ivins, a great Texas political critic; very funny. I liked her earlier work best; she became more jaded over time, or so it seems to me.

I didn’t know Limousin as a place, only as a breed of cattle.

I loved the Annabel Lee interpretation, C.C. Thanks.

Carl,
This is your birthday song,
It isn’t very long,
HEY!

melissa bee said...

good morning c.c. and all,

i notice that the bottom half is often harder for me than the top, and today was no exception. the first part of the quote 'the first rule of holes,' had me thinking, what the..? but the completed quote was wise advice, i thought.

never heard smut defined as 'sooty matter,' but i did remember allspice and baal.

c.c. i liked the annabel lee link .. so moody. you are correct about the reference to needle in a haystack. 'odd one out' is just another way of saying 'the one that is different,' similar to using 'third wheel' to describe someone who tags along with a couple. i agree that the 3 letter words were excessive.

@carl: happy birthday!

oh, and all delicates should be hand washed.

Anonymous said...

mark - Buenos Aires

Do men wash their partner´s bras in cold water to enhance the "peanut" effect?

kazie said...

I think Limousin is also where we get limousines from--originally a style of coach preceding those vehicles we know now as limos.

Those French Département numbers also serve as zip codes as well as being part of the car license numbers.

In WI we have Holstein cattle, but in Britain and Oz they're called Friesians. Both areas are close to each other in northern Germany--just to point out that a lot of things are named after where they're from, but sometimes differently interpreted.

JIMBO said...

Morning all,

Well, I told you I am sub-par and this one proves it.
Even though I am pretty good at getting the quotes if I have a few letters to work with: This one just did not make sense to me until C.C. filled in the missing blanks.

Had a hard time with 3d (Haystack odd one out) but finally guessed "needle" and got it right. Still don't understand it.

Did'nt know Nemea, Amain and Malloy. Also Christiania.

Got most of the puzzle but had to have help to finish.
Dang me---

Vaya con Dios

Jeannie said...

Carl, in honor of your birthday, would you like me to do the spanking in the woodshed?

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, As quips go, today's wasn't bad. I liked Molly Ivins a lot, so I was glad to see her name on a Thursday quip. Here's a short Molly Ivins Tribute, which includes today's quip. The only difference is the "If" at the beginning.

I didn't know ASA Candler, or Mike MALLOY. AMAIN and NEMEA were both new to me. I bet our Oregonians weren't too keen on OREG as an abbreviation of their beautiful State. I was surprised to see STILE show up two days in a row.

Ken, I thought that "Indagate" referred to horse racing, when the horses are "In Da Gate". (Okay, that was pretty corny.) Keep up with the words. It is great to add to our "learn a new thing every day".

The two movies about ANDROIDs that come to mind are 2001's "A.I." and 1982's "Blade Runner". Both of them were excellent movies and addressed the question of what it is that makes us human.

Kazie, and any Nicole Kidman or Hugh Jackman (hubba hubba) fans. G.A.H. and I saw a trailer for the new movie "Australia". It will be opening in November. We don't know if it will be a good story, but we are sure to see a lot of sweeping Australian vistas.

Happy birthday, Carl. Have a great day!

We have quite a few cat fanciers on the blog. Here's a poem that pays tribute to that most mysterious of domesticated animals.

To a Cat

Mirrors are not more wrapt in silences
nor the arriving dawn more secretive ;
you, in the moonlight, are that panther figure
which we can only spy at from a distance.
By the mysterious functioning of some
divine decree, we seek you out in vain ;
remoter than the Ganges or the sunset,
yours is the solitude, yours is the secret.
Your back allows the tentative caress
my hand extends. And you have condescended,
since that forever, now oblivion,
to take love from a flattering human hand.
you live in other time, lord of your realm -
a world as closed and separate as dream.

- Jorge Luis Borges

Anonymous said...

Hello All! Been reading the post and comments for several weeks now and decided to join in. Had a hard time with today's puzzle, especially SE corner. Have a good day!

Clear Ayes said...

I just realized that Molly Ivins name was incorrectly spelled as "Irvin". I'm sure she would have made a joke of it.

So sad that she died of breast cancer at 62.

I hope C.C. will indulge me here with a little seriousness. I was watching TV yesterday and saw a segment about a new national program that is being instituted to identify the causes of breast cancer. (There won't be a cure until we know the causes.) The Love/Avon Foundation needs a data base of one million women who might be willing to volunteer for questionnaires and research projects. Women of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and former and current cancer patients are asked to sign up. Please take a minute and look at the following link. Army of Women

kazie said...

clear ayes, thanks for the heads up about the new film--I bet you're right about the vistas--will probably make me homesick.

Good cat poem too!

Dr. Dad said...

Welcome to dairygal.

Dr. Dad said...

And - Happy Birthday, Carl.

JD said...

Good morning C.C. and all,

Way too many unknowns for me today to enjoy the crossword;I had to G way too much, but loved the Annabelle Lee poem, C.C. The abbreviations and acronyms give my eraser a headache!

Merci to doesitinink for the stile photo, to Golf Gal for the Mother Goose rhyme, and to Carl for the Serendipity Singers.No one should ever forget that one.I must have missed the allspice/pimento talk.

Cokato- you are always so informative; the ear muffin will be a fun research project..or any muffin

mamap- forgot to thank you for the ET explanation. Yes, I should have remembered.

Martin- Yes, in the version that I read, Ishtar had Tammuz killed, but like in the Greek myth about Persephone, he is allowed to come back to earth for part of the year, and that is why we have spring.( Tammuz comes from an earlier form, Dumuzi,meaning faithful son, so was he her son or lover...or both?) There are so many variations of these myths, legends, fairy tales. I have over 50 different versions of Cinderella.Anyway, I love how you explain things.

Since I do not know how to link YET ( Clear Ayes has given me instructions that I shall brave one day),type in BS and read the list that Wikipedia has. I had guessed the correct answer, but I just wanted to see what else was out there: Barbra Streisand?

Hose? No one wears hose in California; they would interfere and cover-up the thong

Carl- have a great birthday

Ken said...

Clear Ayes: I've watched a few horses in-da-gate with my money on them stay in-da-gate when da gate flew open. (yes, your pun is corny but cute)

Thank you for the breast cancer link. I'm launching a new cribbage tournament, hopefully in December that will sponsor a charity and that will in be the breast cancer research area. Ruth is a survivor and we have several friends that are survivors. We'll pass the word. I used to get a "click for breast cancer" daily message and I just realized I don't get it any longer. Hmmm.

Great poem on cats; we both have our own, hers is all white, mine is black and white.

I like doing the word of the day. I think we can all gain a bit of mental acuteness by stretchiing our vocabulary even if we don't use the word becasue no one would know what we're saying. *S*

carol said...

Good morning C.C.,DF;s,DFettes & all,
Weird little quote today, did not make much sense to me at first due to the punctuation, but I finally saw the light.
Had to google Wild Asian asses and guess what I found???? I thought maybe those sites would be listed...I hope those of you with children have a "filter" on your computers because one click would give them an education that they may not be ready for.

This brings me to "SMUT" and I know none of you will believe me when I say the first thing that came to mind was the disease of plants, esp the cereal grasses. ok, ok, I did think of the other definition too, just not at first.
Also, to me, "needle in a haystack" means something hard to find, not an odd one out.

Carl, a very Happy Birthday to you. Please do not spend it in the woodshed, unless maybe Cokato joins you in there and then you can enjoy it. She could also give you your birthday "whacks"/wax...oops, maybe I'll be in there too - ah, a mennage a trois, what fun!

Clear ayes, I apologize for being a dummy on the "tag" game, I just "lost the plot" for a senior moment. :)

DoesItinInk said...

This puzzle is the challenge we have not had for some time! I managed to complete it without Google or red squares, but it involved a lot of skipping around and a few d’uh moments to get it all filled in.

I loved Molly Ivins and was very sad when she died. She was a scathing critic of George W and likely would have plenty to say about McCain and Palin were she still writing.

I have traveled around much of the Peloponnese including Corinth but am unfamiliar with NEMEA. Looking at a map of Greece, I can guess that I missed it when I turned off the main road to go to ancient Argos. When I traveled the Peloponnese I tried to visit all the sites mentioned in the Iliad and Odyssey to give my voyage a focus. The same trip took me to ancient Troy (Ilium) in Turkey. All this was done B.C. (before children), of course!

cc: I will have to wait until I get home to see your “steps over a wall”…the server at my client’s location is blocking is blocking me with the strong message FORBIDDEN.

Jeannie said...

Carl, you can check with Dennis. Carol and I handled his birthday just fine. Didn't hurt a bit did it Dennis?

xchefwalt said...

Good afternoon c.c., DF’s and all! It’s starting to calm down here, what with both VP candidates here in the last 72 hours, there have been more cops on the street than ever before, they’ve been doling out mandatory death penalties for parking violations it’s been so strict. Today is better; they must all have the day off.

I’m sorry I haven’t been around more often, but I’ve been working with a Pillsbury rep learning how to make a better muffin and I’m covered in FLOUR (not really, now they come in frozen pucks that you can mix and match into any color or position- delightful!)- the muffin- it’s not just for breakfast anymore!

I also need to announce that due to the current economic downturn, I’ve been forced to assume all laundry positions at the B&B. As this is an environmentally friendly B&B, EVERYTHING is to be washed by hand.

Happy b-day Carl! I hope you get to enjoy some of those margaritas you so love (and try to stay out of château bow-wow- ok?).

BTW- I’ve given up on these silly quip puzzles until they start quoting people I’ve actually heard of.

Be well everyone.

Mr. Ed said...

Good morning C.C. & all

Got held up a day waiting for the last of my 'stuff' so I had to check in. Why in the @#$%& couldn't it all have come in ONE crate. There, I feel much better now. Thanks to all on the b'day greets. MUCHAS GRACIAS to all. Ken, does the 100 years mean I've outstayed my welcome... oh, wait... I've still got years, it's the mileage that's.... what was I talking about???

@all Your comments on the Molly Ivins quote got me curious. IMHO, I believe the quote actually is: "The first rule of digging holes is: when you're in one stop digging". So, the xword is inaccurate with the 'you are'. She was a Texan with a sharp wit. Another of her quotes was (paraphrased) 'I still believe in hope because there's no place called Fingers Crossed Arkansas'. She left this world last year but her wit remains. C.C., I would list her as a 'female' curmudgeon.

@kittyb Sorry 'bout yesterday's mislocation. That's what I get for doing this from a laptop 4000 miles from home. I believe if my memory serves me, (and it's probably still on Malibu) your boat is a real nice shallow draft daysailer? When I sail(canvas), it's saltwater with friends. I'd be dead without my Cummins power. But, I've cruised a few times with Princess... Tahiti last year on the Tahitian... Mediterranean the year before. Great way to become 'totally' spoiled. My XYL loves cruising. I empathise with your motion problem. Have you tried scopolamine? I have a friend who can't sail without it but says coming off the patch is worse than the original problem.

@cokato... anytime!!! But use the delicate setting please. And, (whisper) my ears are burning... and it's really dark here in the shed... and I hear things moving in the darkness! OOOOh! This could be....

carol said...

C.C. I get the same message as Doesitinink, I am blocked from seeing "steps over a wall". My Joe has put lots of protections on this laptop.

Dairygal, welcome to our topsy, turvy world. Hope you stay with us.

"Of all the things I've ever lost, I miss my mind the most" :)

melissa bee said...

@clear ayes, et. al.,

there certainly are alot of cat fanciers here, i liked the poem. it made me think of a great song about, uh .. felines ..

inside out cat

inside, outside,
you go where you please.
i give you love,
you just give me fleas.

once not long ago,
you were the only one.
now there's others,
and you don't come around.

she's got diamonds,
on her neck,
makin' me a
perfect wreck.

inside out cat,
you're so fine.
wish you were a
friend of mine.
you're so distant,
and so cold.
purr for me,
before you go.

scratch me ...

-rick fisk

Anonymous said...

Even when I completed the puzzle, I wasn't sure that I had the quote right due to the necessary omission of the punctuation. This quote has been reused by so many others that I was not aware it originated with Mz. Ivins. Don't you find it relevant to today's economic environment?

c.c., with the wonderfull outdoors here, I see no reason to go into a gym for walking, jogging or biking (even with our wettish climate). I do go to the gym regularly for strength training however.

Seattle John

xchefwalt said...

All right- I can’t resist- the greatest cat song ever! Great music and brilliant lyrics.

Year of the Cat

Clear Ayes said...

Melissabee, Great cat song. I sometimes think that humans are their pets instead of the other way around.

Xchefwalt, Al Stewart's Year of the Cat, not exactly about a four-legged feline, but definitely a Cat Woman.

Hi Dairygal, Are you a fan of dairy products, a dairy owner, or both?

JD is right. Panty hose is just about extinct here in California. I don't think First Lady Maria Schriver ever wears them. I have a pair stashed away for funerals or a future meeting with the Queen of England.

Try linking, JD. It's fun and easy.

Seattle John, The quote is SO relevant!

I tried to find a poem about ears for Dennis, the Whoo, Carl, Xchefwalt, and all the ladies, but I couldn't find one.

Carol, Yesterday it was "ear muffin" ignorance, and today's SMUT made you (me too LOL) think of plant diseases.

I think we may be secret "babes in the woods"..sigh. Got to work harder at dysfunctionality. You're so much better at it than I am. Your offer to help Cokato in the woodshed is a step (STILE?) in the right direction back to DFette-ness. The best I could do was measure my ears and wonder about the cause/effect.

Jeannie said...

clearayes, you don't need to measure your ears, just the G.A.H.
Hah! And believe me, Carol hasn't lost any of her DFetteness, and whether you want to believe it or not, you have plenty. You don't think we all believe you when you throw down the grandma card.

xchefwalt said...

@Clear ayes- I know Al wasn’t referring to the four legged cat (he very rarely is talking about of which he is speaking)- his gift of lyric writing is unmatched in music.

Dr. Dad said...

clear ayes - no "ears" for me? I'm hurt. I think I'll go eat worms.

Jeannie said...

yr of the cat lyrics

Clear Ayes said...

Xchefwalt, I agree, great lyrics.

Cokato, Thanks for the vote of DF confidence. It's all in fun and always fun around here!

Jeannie said...

drdad, by the sound of how much you like muffins, I am sure your ears are plenty long. Nutrition is important for growth.

Clear Ayes said...

Drdad, I didn't mean to omit you from the "ears" contingent. I apologize...that goes to anybody else who is an ear aficionado. I'm going back to the internet again to see if I can find an appropriate ear poem (one that we can print on this site).

carol said...

Geez, and here I thought long ears on a man were a sign of intelligence!!! Who knew!! Guess that's why they are called stud muffins, huh??

Cokato, thanks for the support (and I'm not talking hosiery). Speaking of that, who on here wears panty hose anymore? Guys? Anyone? Victoria's Secret has some wicked looking things that go thigh high
without the pesky garter belt...much more comfortable!

Jeannie said...

I only wear hose in the fall/winter if I have to go to a business meeting and wear a skirt. In the spring/summer it is bare legs with skirts/dresses.

Anonymous said...

36A: Mike of talk radio: MALLOY. His name is foreign to me.

www.novamradio.com

he is on 1480 KPHX The Valleys progressive talk. Phoenix AZ

Dick said...

@ melissa bee your 10:44 post "I notice that the bottom half is often harder for me than the top". I have exactly the same situation.

Anonymous said...

Hi cokato,

What is the name of your blog, I would like to read it.

melissa bee said...

@dick: i was wondering if anyone was going to respond to that ...

Anonymous said...

Hi All,
Here in B.C is breast cancer month. My mother was recently diagnoised with breast cancer, she is 93 years old. She is having her breast removed Oct 16, and has a bit of dementia as well.
She has never been sick in her life.
We are luckey to have had her for so long and the DR's are hopeful that she will be around for a few more yrs.
love this blog and read everyday.
Geri

kazie said...

Welcome Geri, and hopefully your mother will come through very well. It's got to be hard on a person that age to have surgery like that. We wish her the best.

carol said...

Geri, welcome, I am sorry about your Mother. I hope all goes well with her surgery, they are doing remarkable things with older patients now. All the best, and keep posting.

Jeannie said...

anti-war democrat, I don't have my own blog. This is the only blog I have ever been a part of. You can read my profile, that pretty much is me in a nutshell.

Melissabee, I caught it, just couldn't respond as my bottom half is definitely not harder than the top.

Dick said...

@ Geri... Sorry to hear about your mother and hope things work out for all of you. My mother passed at 97 and fortunately we never had any serious health problems but did have to deal with dementia in the last few years. She had a good life as I hope your mother also had the same. God Bless

Jeannie said...

whoo, good to see you are out of the woodshed.

Carl, how are you doing in there after Carol and my visit? We tried to make your birthday somewhat enjoyable considering your dismal surroundings. Somehow, xchefwalt who started a whole discussion here yesterday without even posting gets the luxurious B&B. Go figure.

RichShif said...

Hi C.C. and all,

Had a difficult time with this one. Finally got through it with a dictionary. Decided to check the site and see how everybody else did and find that we are now on bras, panty hose, and underwear!

Yesterday ears, today bras and undergarments. What is a guy to do.

RichShif said...

Oh BTW, I almost forgot. Dennis' comment yesterday about being over 100 comments confused me. After researching the site I finally found that C.C. wants to limit the comments to 100.

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

Barb B,
Regarding the "Yipiyuk" poem you got for Dennis on Tuesday, what is "yipiyuk"? And what is "mudglumps"?
Is the poem about temptation? Or what?

Clear Ayes et al,
I solved a puzzle with 3 theme answers:

WATERING HOLE
ICE CREAM CAKE
STEAM ROLLER

Theme title is "State Archive". I don't understand it. Why "Archive"?

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

Clear Ayes,

Quote from "My Fair Lady":

"Higgins has to admit that rather than being a "a millstone around my neck... now you're a tower of strength, a consort battleship. I like you this way".

What is "a consort battleship"?

carol said...

Melissabee, I caught the "harder bottom half" thingy too, but seems like we covered that a month or more ago..seems like it would be past time to review our opportunities, huh? Let's see I believe I said that a "hard man is good to find" and with that, I'll join Carl in the woodshed..whoo hoo!!

KittyB said...

clear ayes, I'd be willing to see "Australia." I've seen the X-Men movies, the all-English cast remake of "Oklahoma," "Kate and Leopold," and I've even suffered through "Van Helsing," just because Hugh Jackman was in it. "Australia" has to be an improvement over "Van Helsing."

"To A Cat" is wonderful!

Welcome, dairygal!

Carol,I have the same take on the definition of "needle in a haystack"?..."hard to find."

Carl, the Arr! is a shallow draft coastal sailer.

Melissa bee, "Inside Out Cat" sure sounds like my old black cat, Edward Scissorhands!

xchef, I was surprised to learn that Dear Husband, who goes around whistling Mozart, knew "Year of the Cat," while I don't remember ever hearing it before. Thanks for the lyrics, cokato!

Clear ayes, I can hear the refrain, "the muffin man, the muffin man" going through my head!

Jeannie said...

kittyb and clearayes, I have met the muffin man, and he lives on drury lane. Too funny that would jump in your head, and even funnier, that I would know those lyrics. I guess not so funny afterall.

Clear Ayes said...

C.C. Due to my parents' playing the Broadway LP of My Fair Lady practically endlessly when I was a kid, I know all the lyrics and most of the between song dialogue.

Prof. Higgin's reference was to Prince Consort class battleships They were iron-clad ships that were named for Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert. Higgin's was a old-fashioned Victorian kind of guy in the Edwardian era. Although the consort battleships had been replaced by newer, faster ships, he probably admired their solid strength and impenetrable hulls. For Higgin, calling Eliza a consort battleship was high praise indeed.

Kittyb, Any movie with Hugh Jackman can't be all bad....even Van Helsing!

Kittyb and Cokato, LOL, Yes, I know that song too. Do You Know The Muffin Man

Got to get ready for chorus practice this evening. Have a good evening everyone.

DoesItinInk said...

cc: Even at home I continue to get the Forbidden message on the Wall link. It seems it has more to do with the site itself, some sort of registration or permission required perhaps?

Martin said...

Jd,

Oh I'm sure that, as a seriously p*ssed off queen of the ancient world, she had her husband killed. This was also implied in the Epic of Gilgamesh when Ishtar (now a Goddess) asked Gilgamesh to be her husband and Gilgamesh refused, saying "not after what you did to Dumuzi". I can only imagine that the kings of Babylon (then Sumer) were being ceremonially married to the goddess Ishtar in order to symbolically continue the traditional matriarchy which had already evolved into a patriarchy.

I just looked at the Wikipedia article on Tammuz (Dumuzi) and it says that Ishtar "set demons" against him when she found him "richly dressed and sitting on her throne". The article also mentions "Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi" which is a text that was only recently tranlated and published (back in 1983). It's of interest because 1) it's one of the oldest stories ever written and 2) it graphically describes sexual acts, including her "blow drying" and "hand washing" his "delicates".

Martin

Barb B said...

C.C.
Yipiyuks and Mudglumps are just silly words the poet made up. He had a genius for silliness that delighted kids of all ages. I don't think he intended any hidden meaning.

Of course, when I googled, I did find someone who used the poem as a metaphor for lust in a religious context. Go figure. When I try to be df, I just sound silly. When I try to be silly, I'm df. Someone give me a map!

Personally, I don't like using the delightful yipiyuk for proving anything serious. I need to be just plain silly and laugh - often.

That's why I come here every day. We all know the serious stuff, and the community and laughter are great antidotes.

Clear Ayes said...

C.C. Just another quick look at

"WATERING HOLE
ICE CREAM CAKE
STEAM ROLLER

Theme title is "State Archive". I don't understand it. Why "Archive"?"

I looked at this earlier and then when I got home from chorus practice. Other than the relationship between WATER, ICE and STEAM, I don't see anything that would connect them to either "State" or "Archive".

If they are anagrams, or another type of word puzzle, maybe Mark or Doesitinink can help you. They are much better at those kind of puzzles than I am.

Mr. Ed said...

I'm stuck here in paradise for yet another day... parts never arrived. So, I'm slippin' out the side door of the shed... Btw, thanks Carol... I wondered... all those hands... and it was soooo dark!

@richshif
Re: your 5:59pm.... The answer is obvious.... don't get caught wearing her unmentionables... Ok, Ok!!! I'm headed back into the shed.

Joe Schreiber said...

the answer to 32(A) I thought was Boy. The clue is: part of B. S.
Apparantly the clue has a meaning that I am not aware of. Would Please tell me what the B. S. stands for?

Anonymous said...

Joe,
SCI: Bachelor of Science

Anonymous said...

C.C.
"odd one out" means the one that is different from the rest. For example, my 3 friends wanted to go to the movies, but I wanted to go bowling. I was the odd one (or man) out. We all went to the movies.
So, all the pieces of the haystack were hay, except the 1 needle, thus the "odd one out".
I really liked todays c/w because of its 2 clues of Molly Ivins and Mike Malloy. Molly was an insightful, witty democrat and I listen to Mike nightly. One can listen to him for great political talk online from 9pm-12am M-F here:
Mike Malloy/Nova M radio
or Mike Malloy/WINZ 940
or Mike Malloy/KPHX 1480