Theme: Settle "Down"
4D: Down: FINE FEATHERS
8D: Down: NOT FUNCTIONING
14D: Down: SWALLOW QUICKLY
23D: Down: GRIDIRON PLAY
I am glad "Bear market's heading" is not part of the theme answers. It would definitely make me feel DOWN.
I think it would be very hard to make an ACROSS themed puzzle. Lots of possiblities with CROSS though: Symbol of Christianity; Peeved; X mark; Betray, etc.
Nice theme. Too many abbreviations for my taste. Some of them can be easily avoided:
10A: Pampering, briefly: TLC. I think this trio TLC is famous enough for a clue.
19A: Can. province: QUE. How about "What" in Spanish/French?
I like the clue for GRAINS (62A: Wood patterns). But the WHEAT clue (37A: Flour grain) definitely needs to be reworded.
Across:
1A: Pitch indicators: CLEFS. I was picturing a baseball catcher using his fingers to indicate the pitch location.
13A: Pinesap: ROSINS. Never know when to put ROSINS and when to put RESINS.
17A: Informercial tagline: ACT NOW. Lots of compound words today. I like I'M OK (39A: Reassuring response).
18A: Bill killer: VETO. I was thinking of Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill".
20A: Middle-of-the-road: MODERATE. This word reminds me of Tim Russert. I think a verb clueing would have pleased him.
22A: Diagram: FIGURE. Rather dull clue, isn't it? How about FIGURE Skating?
32A: Art style of '20s and '30s: DECO. ERTE is often clued as "Art DECO artist".
41A: Math text abbr.: QED
42A: State since '48: ISRAEL
44A: French waters: EAUX. The same with gâteau/chapeau/château, just add letter X for the plural form. The pronunication remains the same.
47A: Spanish pianist Jose: ITURBI. I forgot about him completely. Linked his Chopin Fantaisie-Impromptu last time. Wikipedia says that he played himself in the movie "Anchors Aweigh".
51A: Lung compartment: AIR SAC
52A: Election day survey: EXIT POLL
59A: Journalist Bly: NELLIE. How can I remember her name? I shudder everytime I see a "Bly" clue.
60A: Garment with straps: BRA. What's your favorite brand? I like Wacoal. Her body shape looks surreal.
63A: Japanese honorific: SAN. Just add SAN to the end of their given name or surname, regardless of gender or age.
Down:
3D: Cornerstone abbr.: ESTD
10D: Brimless hat: TOQUE. Do you know why chefs wear tall TOQUE?
11D: Gene Tierney classic: LAURA. I guessed. Have never heard of this movie before. The plot sounds interesting.
26D: Pinochle combo: MELD. Got the answer from the across fills. Not familiar with "Pinochle". I only played a very simple Chinese card game with my families during holiday seasons. My Dad liked to cheat.
29D: Minor League level: AAA. I like this clue. Much better than "Battery type" or "Motorist's org.". Rochester Red Wings Triple A is Twins affiliate.
30A: Half of UTEP: EL PASO. Maybe I will like this clue on another day. I got headache seeing so many abbreviations today.
33D: Online read: EMAG. The clue needs an abbreviation hint.
43D: Roofing specialists: SLATER. This reminds me of TILER. Our editor likes to clue it as "Masonic doorkeeper" rather than "Flooring specialist".
47D: Poetic feet: IAMBS. Is the B silent in pronunciation?
49D: Type of sprawl or renewal: URBAN
54D: "The Mod Squad" character: LINC. Got this name after I googled NELLIE Bly. Not familiar with "The Mod Squad". That girl looks so pretty.
55D: Reduced by: LESS. I believe in "Less is More". So many things are better left unsaid.
C.C.
4D: Down: FINE FEATHERS
8D: Down: NOT FUNCTIONING
14D: Down: SWALLOW QUICKLY
23D: Down: GRIDIRON PLAY
I am glad "Bear market's heading" is not part of the theme answers. It would definitely make me feel DOWN.
I think it would be very hard to make an ACROSS themed puzzle. Lots of possiblities with CROSS though: Symbol of Christianity; Peeved; X mark; Betray, etc.
Nice theme. Too many abbreviations for my taste. Some of them can be easily avoided:
10A: Pampering, briefly: TLC. I think this trio TLC is famous enough for a clue.
19A: Can. province: QUE. How about "What" in Spanish/French?
I like the clue for GRAINS (62A: Wood patterns). But the WHEAT clue (37A: Flour grain) definitely needs to be reworded.
Across:
1A: Pitch indicators: CLEFS. I was picturing a baseball catcher using his fingers to indicate the pitch location.
13A: Pinesap: ROSINS. Never know when to put ROSINS and when to put RESINS.
17A: Informercial tagline: ACT NOW. Lots of compound words today. I like I'M OK (39A: Reassuring response).
18A: Bill killer: VETO. I was thinking of Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill".
20A: Middle-of-the-road: MODERATE. This word reminds me of Tim Russert. I think a verb clueing would have pleased him.
22A: Diagram: FIGURE. Rather dull clue, isn't it? How about FIGURE Skating?
32A: Art style of '20s and '30s: DECO. ERTE is often clued as "Art DECO artist".
41A: Math text abbr.: QED
42A: State since '48: ISRAEL
44A: French waters: EAUX. The same with gâteau/chapeau/château, just add letter X for the plural form. The pronunication remains the same.
47A: Spanish pianist Jose: ITURBI. I forgot about him completely. Linked his Chopin Fantaisie-Impromptu last time. Wikipedia says that he played himself in the movie "Anchors Aweigh".
51A: Lung compartment: AIR SAC
52A: Election day survey: EXIT POLL
59A: Journalist Bly: NELLIE. How can I remember her name? I shudder everytime I see a "Bly" clue.
60A: Garment with straps: BRA. What's your favorite brand? I like Wacoal. Her body shape looks surreal.
63A: Japanese honorific: SAN. Just add SAN to the end of their given name or surname, regardless of gender or age.
Down:
3D: Cornerstone abbr.: ESTD
10D: Brimless hat: TOQUE. Do you know why chefs wear tall TOQUE?
11D: Gene Tierney classic: LAURA. I guessed. Have never heard of this movie before. The plot sounds interesting.
26D: Pinochle combo: MELD. Got the answer from the across fills. Not familiar with "Pinochle". I only played a very simple Chinese card game with my families during holiday seasons. My Dad liked to cheat.
29D: Minor League level: AAA. I like this clue. Much better than "Battery type" or "Motorist's org.". Rochester Red Wings Triple A is Twins affiliate.
30A: Half of UTEP: EL PASO. Maybe I will like this clue on another day. I got headache seeing so many abbreviations today.
33D: Online read: EMAG. The clue needs an abbreviation hint.
43D: Roofing specialists: SLATER. This reminds me of TILER. Our editor likes to clue it as "Masonic doorkeeper" rather than "Flooring specialist".
47D: Poetic feet: IAMBS. Is the B silent in pronunciation?
49D: Type of sprawl or renewal: URBAN
54D: "The Mod Squad" character: LINC. Got this name after I googled NELLIE Bly. Not familiar with "The Mod Squad". That girl looks so pretty.
55D: Reduced by: LESS. I believe in "Less is More". So many things are better left unsaid.
C.C.
63 comments:
Good morning CC etal,
Nice challenge for a Monday morning - NE & NW corners held out the longest for me (I had RESINS, ESTA, and BIRD FEATHERS in NE and couldn't get FIGURE or TLC for a while). Only needed to google ITURBI & NELLIE, though, so overall a decent success for me.
Best turkey I ever had was deep-fried - brown & crispy outside, moist & tender inside. Best part is it only takes about 45 minutes or so (2.5 min/pound) and it keeps the oven free for all the other goodies.
Hope everyone has a pleasant Monday!
Chris,
I think we are getting old and forgetful. Both ITURBI and NELLIE appeared in our puzzle not long ago.
Barry,
Thanks for ANOA (Celebes Ox) on Saturday. I hope you've enjoyed the company of your in-laws.
Kazie,
Thanks for the GARONNE map. Isn't it interesting that most of the rivers ending in E? Seine, Loire, Rhine, Nile, etc.
Kit,
Good to hear from you.
CC:
I agree, but so much other trivial knowledge crammed into our brains I suppose it's reasonable to expect some to "leak" out every now and again ;)
Ink,
I saw your point on DOABLE immediately after I made my comment. I learned about ULAN Bator and ULAN-Ude from doing Xword. I don't speak a word of Mongolian.
Clear Ayes,
I had no idea that teal, aqua, turquoise all belongs to the shade of CYAN. Great link, as always.
Dark Asteroid,
Thanks for the "Yummy" ELOI.
Good morning CC, DFs and DFettes...WOW did I have a lot of false starts today! I had resin and not rosin 13A, coy and not toy 21D, airway and not airsac 51A, and tunes and not syncs 65A. Needless to say with these mistakes it took a very long time to correct and complete. I also busted my memory trying to think of a US state that entered the union in 1948. I finally expanded my thinking and got this one when I saw slaters for 43D.
Hope you all have a great Monday. Good bye to Donovan McNabb???
And oh yes I had duck feathers for 4D
Morning, all!
Overall, a very easy puzzle for me -- the only unknown was LAURA. Like C. C., I had never hear of the movie, but it was easily guessable.
The only problems I had with this puzzle were my own fault. I initially had ITURBO instead of ITURBI (and I was so proud of myself for knowing it), which gave me SWALLOWQUO_____ for 14D. A lot of head scratching there until I got a few more perps and realized my error. Similarly, I confidently put ESTB instead of ESTD for 3D, which gave me MOB_____ for 20A. I was thinking MOBility or MOBrules, but couldn't get anything to fit until I grudgingly acknowledged my error and fixed it. Confidence can be a dangerous thing when misplaced.
I was surprised that C. C. didn't complain about 25A, since both the clue and the answer contained the same prefix. Maybe that's not an official no-no, but I would have preferred to see UNREAD clued as "Like not yet opened e-mail."
Oh, and C. C. -- you're very welcome about ANOA. It was a common in the NYT puzzles back during what's referred to as the "Maleska" era (named after the editor at the time), but it doesn't show up much anymore (thankfully). As for my in-laws, well, let's just say we're still adjusting....
Cc did you like the cross of the Canadian Provence QUE with the French hat TOQUE?
Barry,
I meant to beef about UNREAD, then I forgot. You need to have patience with Chinese in-laws.
Dick,
No, I don't have problem with QUE and TOQUE. I would have if they were of the same roots.
Chris et al,
Does anyone have problem accessing Hotmail via Firefox? I cannot open my Hotmail account any more.
CC:
I use Explorer - sorry, can't help.
Chris in LA: Me too! I only had to google ITURBI and NELLIE! I should have known TIARA though! I was thinking about the star that goes on top of the Christmas tree. That time of year is coming again.
I was fully expecting TRULY DEPRESSED to be one of the fills and when I realized it wasn't, I was. I remember thinking "This puzzle ISRAELly hard!" but it was just because my brain was NOT FUNCTIONING. Like C.C., I just couldn't SWALLOW all those abreviations in the clues and fills! Eventually, though, I was able to FIGURE it out with a minimum of googling.
Never know when to put ROSINS and when to put RESINS.
This is why it is always a good idea to switch to down clues when you're stumped by the across clues.
I take it ESTD is short for "Established". I got it from the across clues.
I wanted EXCON for FELON, GUY or MAN for MAC, RACE for DASH, ALASKA or HAWAII for ISRAEL (but then I got thinking about the date), BALONEY for BOLOGNA and SINGS for SYNCS.
C.C.: You asked about Zhang Ziyi. I'm sure Zhang Ziyi is a better actress than Hsu Qi: she has more range; she can be innocent in one role and menacing in the next. Hsu Qi is basically in her movies to just look pretty and smile... and yet she does that so well, doesn't she? I guess liking Hsu Qi (or, equivalently, Jessica Alba) makes me really shallow. Whatever. :)
Martin
I almost forgot! I wanted MEDIOCRE for MODERATE... and if CREED means "Set of beliefs" then what is CREDO? The Spanish equivalent of the same word?
Finally (because I think I've posted enough already), I feel ashamed to admit that the clue "Slip and slide" congered up some DF images in my head, images involving soap, oil or any sort of lubricant. Okay, now I've _definitely_ said too much.
Martin
Good Morning C.C., etal,
I had nonfunctioning instead of notfunctioning, so I convinced myself that Veno was the name of Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill". (She was only known as "The Bride".)
Also, the haunting theme from the movie, Laura
Another version of Laura sung by Dick Haymes: Laura. This much shorter but still has lovely pictures of Gene Tierney.
Good morning CC & DF's: A real thinker this morning. Glad to see Okla and related terms like 'wheat'
'grains', 'loco' (as in weed) and even 'skid' (with the ice storms) when you might need to call 'AAA' and yell "Whoa, 'Nellie'!" followed hopefully by "I'm OK". Laughed at a the thought of the 17A infomercial tagline selling a 'toy' 'box' for the 'not functioning' and a 'bra'of 'fine feathers' saying "'Act Now' and we'll all be tickled". I wouldn't 'swallow quickly' on that one though. Sounds like a bunch of 'balogna'to me. Go 'figure'.
Enjoy this gorgeous day.
Hi All!
Well, I think I got in as much of a mess with this as anyone, but finally got it out after googling 30A, 47A, 50A (I just couldn't remember--he's on too late for me), 34D.
Many others fell in after I got the intersects, like Israel. I was thinking there must be another US state for 1848 other than WI, which didn't fit. But you don't need to hear about them all.
It was fun once things started falling into place, but at first I was frustrated.
c.c.,
I wonder if the -e endings are true in the languages where those rivers are? Rhine is Rhein in German, for example. In French so many words end in -e anyway, that would influence those rivers, but English and Oz ones aren't that way too often. What I find weird in French is that they can be either gender. Other categories of words have a fixed gender: all trees are masculine, but not rivers.
c.c. and all:
Well, this one was a bit of a stumper but managed to finish it with no googling. I had to change Resins to Rosins, Mediocre to moderate, man to mac, race to dash, and credo to creed. Whew!
I also wanted to put in a United States state for 42A, but finally figured it out since no state that I knew of ended in an "L". I was looking for a clue to signify something with "sad" for being down, but that didn't happen either. Perhaps "Not fun to be with" (same amount of letters)
Well, my GATORS won on Saturday and now we must beat Florida State and then Alabama. Great to see we are #2 in the AP poll, but BCS we didn't move up, still at #4. Maybe they will get it right next week, lol!
Have a wonderful day everyone!
C.C.,
I give up. Why do chefs wear tall TOQUE?
I too had duck feathers, and never was able to get the NW corner because I just could not figure any other kind of down. And I gave up on 8D since I had no idea of mac (even tho I use one), and misspelled bologna. Didn't tumble to Israel til I read the blog because I had Cohn, not Coen.
Not a good Monday puzzle for me. I expected easy.
C.C. The b is not pronounced in iambs. If you think about it, your lips are already closed for make the m sound. So going on to s, you do make a slight b sound. But not a hard one.
fine featherS, i believe. ;)
NE corner very difficult for me ... Never got TLC but correctly guessed OAR. Had no idea what a Toque was (kept wanting beanie). Had never heard of IAMBS or ITURBI either, and of course LINC/NELLIE gave me some issues too.
Dr.G,
Origin of Chef's Hat.
Martin,
I don't know the difference between CREDO and Creed. I just discovered that CREDO is Latin for "I believe".
Argyle,
I meant to ask earlier. How can a girl named Gene? I thought it's a man's name.
Kazie,
I did not know that all trees in French are masculine, thanks. Vowels have such a powerful hold on Xword. I think they make up about 50% of an average grid.
Good morning C.C. and all, Sort of tough but I managed to get most of them. 47A was new to me. 51A stumped me completely.
I did remember what 10D was, but was unsure of the spelling until I got 19A.
Over all, a fun puzzle.
The 'clef's' in the chin of a handsome man could make me 'mona' lot! He could 'act now' and 'anoint' me. We would be in 'sync'. Nothin' like 'bologna' in 'box'. Then there is the 'exit pole'.
Sallie,
Thanks for IAMBS. I wonder why there are so many useless B's in the words when they are silent: climb, limb, dumb, bomb, jamb, etc.
Cay,
I've corrected my FEATHERS mistake. Thanks and a warm welcome!
Warren,
Just want to say "Thank you" for all the information you've been providing to me via emails.
Dick,
Since both Dennis and Dr. Dad have been missing, maybe you should provide us with "Today is the day...". I've been lost.
Good Morning All, I started off badly with 1A, when I didn't know what "pitch indicators" were. SIGNS from the catcher to the mound perhaps? I wanted BERET for 10D, and MAN for 31A. It took awhile to get ESTD and I had the same problem with ISRAEL as so many others. "UTEP" sounds like an Egyptian god to me, so I had to wait for the surrounds to rescue me.
I think I may be "vertically dyslexic"^_^. I have a tough time reading those long compound vertical answers. I often make the word breaks in the wrong places and the Aha moments don't come until the end.
I enjoyed Warren's link for the origin of TOQUE, but I'm pretty sure Henry VIII didn't have a cook beheaded for dropping a hair in his soup. The guy might have been excused from court, but the king didn't go around saying, "Off with his head". Now if the story had been about Alice In Wonderland's Red Queen, it would be believable.
LAURA was a great movie in the film noire genre. I didn't see it until quite a few years after it was released in 1944. My father had a big crush on Gene Tierney and the song, Laura (Thanks, Argyle), was a favorite of his. I think we had a Frank Sinatra record album with Laura on it.
BTW, I googled Gene Tierney and that was her real name. Maybe her parents really wanted a boy, or perhaps it was a family name.
Off subject, but Chris in LA is right about deep-fried turkey (or chicken, or pork loin). We have a deep fryer and use it regularly. My brother-in-law (the giant pumpkin guy) always prepares the deep-fried Christmas turkey with a cajun rub and injections of buttery sauce. Not oily at all and soooo good!
This was a bit more difficult puzzle than we have had in recent days, but I still worked it unaided and with no errors. Though I knew all the answers, they did not fall into place immediately. I had to skip around the puzzle a bit initially. Resins instead of ROSINS caused the upper, left to go a bit slowly. But it was the middle, just to the right of center that caused me the most problems. When I had NOT FUN in the 8D theme, I assumed “down” was being used in the sense of “sad”, so I tried to fit in something that started with “not funny”. Changing “man” to MAC and finally realizing ISRAEL was the “state since ‘48” helped me work that area out.
I had nonfunctioning instead of notfunctioning, so I convinced myself that Veno was the name of Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill". (She was only known as "The Bride".)
Just because I'm feeling particularly pedantic today, I'll point out that the name of Uma's character was actually revealed in Kill Bill: Part 2 to be Beatrice Kiddo.
Carol: LOL You give a whole new slant to 'poll' dancing! With a little TLC and some'rosins' on that 'poll' we could 'cram' another 'one'on and really have a 'ella' 'f a good time. Wonder if 'slaters' are good dancers.
Not exactly easy, but I enjoyed the puzzle today. The first theme line I caught was NOT FUNCTIONING. I thought that would make the others easy, but it didn’t. They all made me say DOH, and grin. I totally forgot ITURBI and QED.
I thought about baseball for ‘pitch indicators, and I kept thinking American state instead of ISRAEL. Should of thought more about the date given.
C.C. The figure skating picture is beautiful. I love to watch the couples. The most romantic couple ever on ice (for me) was Sergei Grinkovand Katrina Gordeeva. They were magic.
and
thanks for the link to ‘Winter Wind” yesterday. wow. I am always stunned that someone can play like that.
Speaking or useless b’s, my dad lived in Texas from birth to death, and never traveled farther than Louisiana for a fishing trip. He spelled – and said – the word chimney – chimbly. Don’t know why. My mom and aunts added extra letters too. They always shopped at K-MarK, and an ob-gyn examined your ‘nu-trus.’ It drove me crazy while they were alive, and now I miss hearing those words.
Lois, I'm sure 'slaters' could 'skid' down a pole with the best of 'em! Probably cut quite the 'figure' too. Maybe we should grab an 'airsac' full and give it a try!
C.C. said@10:58 AM...(Re: Gene Tierney)How can a girl named Gene? I thought it's a man's name.
Gene was named after a beloved uncle, who died young as told in her autobiography, Self-Portrait.
clear ayes,
Thanks for the photo of my home turf beach last night. I just went back to check if I'd missed any late posts, and there it was! I have many of my own too, but that one's a beaut. Just as I remember it on many a summer's day. I recently took a trip down memory lane via google earth, and went along the driveway behind the beach from end to end. The beach itself is a mile long. Thanks again.
Welcome to the newbies we're seeing here today--I don't remember seeing Warren or Cay before. This is addictive though, I warn you.
Thank you, Barry, I see she was called "Black Mamba" also.
Clear Ayes, I find I am often "vertically dyslexic", so I will either write it out, if doing the paper, or use my "word pad", if I'm doing it on line.
Martin, I also wanted CREDO for 12D. I think it is Latin and can be used interchangeably with CREED.
I am always in awe of non-native English speakers who can negotiate the language. Today we had homophonic "Down" definitions. C.C. deserves so much credit for her efforts.
C.C. Thanks for the photo of the pairs FIGURE skaters. Ice skating is my favorite TV watching sport.
I used to skate competitively (up until the time I seriously discovered boys at about 14). When I was involved, there wasn't the emphasis on difficult jumps, particularly for girls. Compulsory figures, which were patterns traced in the ice with the blades, counted for 60% of the total score. Figures were eliminated from competitions in the 1990's. Once in a while you can still hear skating commentator Dick Button bemoan the loss of the exacting and precise figures.
Barry, thanks for jogging our memories about Beatrice Kiddo.
Argyle, interesting information on the origin of Gene Tierney's name.
Wordpad...good idea.
Kazie, Bondi is amazing. Makes me want to hop on a plane!
Barb B, LOL, my 90 year old mother-in-law is from long-ago rural Oklahoma. She still crochets "africans" (afghans), eats fried "taters", and doesn't care for "eye-talian" opera.
Carol & Lois, I know a little TLC with some fine feathers will make me swallow quickly and mona bit!
Clear Ayes
OHHHHH! how could I have forgotten eye-talian's?
Carol: Eaux Yeah! I'm in! An 'air sac' isn't the only thing I'll be grabbin'. I'll nab an inflated 'toque' just in case I 'felon' some s'wheat' big 'mac' and make him 'less' of a man. I don't want to get on Santa's Very Bad list this close to Christmas. The last time I heard, I think 'Iamb' still being considered for a new 'toy'. But maybe I just need some new 'AAA's anyway. He'll 'figure' it out, won't ya, Santa Baby.
I hope today finds you all hail and hearty. Thanksgiving is coming up, a day I really love. No cards or gift giving; simply a day to rejoice in being an American and all of the "stuff(ing)" that went into our becoming independent from England.
I've been lurking and keeping an eye on you nitwits, and will comment on last weeks' puzzles. F, F, B, C, B, B. Barry Silk is always fun and he has the guts to show up and comment on his work. I think that really shows class.
Tough puzzle for a Monday, but muddled thru.
I was going to post a funny story about my history but today's blogs sent me in another direction. "Laura"!! What a great film, as Clearayes pointed out- a film noire classic. I fell in love with Gene Tierney when I saw first saw her. (It may have been "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir w/ Rex Harrison or maybe "Laura") I couldn't really explain why I found her so attractive. Then, on a MASH episode, "Hawkeye" said, while watching a Tierney film, "If he kisses away her overbite, I'll kill him!" That, and those unbelievable eyes, hooked me. (Her's blue, Sophia's brown. When asked if I'm a fanny and leg or breast man, I always reply - I'm an eyes man. "The windows to the sole". The butt and breasts may loose contourishness (Check Fred) but the eyes never lie!)
Then the music!! "Laura" is the only song I ever learned on a piano. Mysterious, haunting, simply a masterpiece, particularly when applied to the film. The lyrics are perfect. "Her eyes, how familiar they seem. She gave her very first kiss to you. That was Laura. BUT...she's only a dream".
There was always a vulnerability to Tierney, but also great strength and independence. My kind of lady.
Thank you, doctor. Can I get off the couch and go home now?
I must be off.
Lois, let's hope Santa isn't miserly this year as I was promised a spa treatment sans the bra that was to drive me loco.
A rough and tumble 15:02 today. I had so much trouble in the northwest: RESIN; DUCK FEATHERS, then BIRD FEATHERS, then TINY FEATHERS, before FINEly settling on the correct type of feathers; wrote in and erased ESTD at least twice in my travails. I'm guessing about half my 15:02 was spent floundering in that quadrant. Pretty amazing when you think that all that trouble was caused by five or six letters.
Speaking of "loquialisms???" ('taters and "eye-taluns"), in SW Ohio my family always called bell peppers "mangos". Anyone else?????
IMBO
buckeye, seems to me there was something we used to call "dairy pillows"....
re. Jean and Gene
In the 1920's a boy in my family was given the name Jean as a French name. But the family did not pronounce it as the French do, but as the English do. He had a miserable time with other boys calling him a sissy because of his name, and when he got old enough he had it legally changed.
I think there is more flexibility now.
Calef.
Dennis, you can rest assured that this midwestern gal has been corn fed.
For those who don't know, and c.c. is too modest to say anything, the blog just recently passed the ONE MILLION HIT mark.
One hell of an accomplishment; congratulations, c.c. - nice work.
Speaking of "loquialisms???" ('taters and "eye-taluns"), in SW Ohio my family always called bell peppers "mangos". Anyone else?????
I was actually just reading an article about this. Apparently, when mangoes were first introduced to the New World way back in the 1600s, they were pickled in order to preserve them for the long sea voyage. The problem is, a lot of people thought that the word "mango" referred to the pickling process and not the actual fruit. Later on, pickled peppers became very popular (remember Peter Piper who picked a peck of them?), and in some parts of the U.S. they were referred to as "mangoed peppers" due to this confusion. Over time, that got shortened back to just "mangoes."
Apparently, it's very common in Pennsylvania as well as Ohio.
Hi, all.
I managed to finish the puzzle without Googling, but many of the answers came from the fills. I can't believe that I missed the clue for CLEF. I was thinking along the lines of a gyroscope, not music! There were plenty of other slips like that, such as thinking UTEP referred to Utah. It came, finally, with that DUH! response. Groucho would have loved us all trying to make DUCK feathers work! *G* I wasted a lot of time reciting state names before it occurred to me that it didn't have to be one of the United State.
Argyle, thanks for the links to Laura. I turned up the sound so that my mother could hear the music.
Warren, thanks for the link on the history of the toque.
Actually, this wasn't too bad a puzzle, given how distracted I was. At 3:00 the painter came to begin the repairs on the main bathroom ceiling. He expects to be done by Wednesday afternoon. My mind really wasn't on the puzzle.
Dennis: never heard of dairy pillows...how udderly funny.
Maybe this is more universal than I thought, but in cattle country we had Rocky Mtn Oysters.
Congratulations CC. What a credit to you and your outstanding abilities! You are so awesome!
"sall" for saw.
"clouse-it" for closit
...so I've heard, and do you say berry or bury for bury? I used to say bury, but no one else did, except my family.
I don't know if these count as local colloquialisms but my parents (from England) never knew the word "omelet" so they would refer to an omelet as a "pancake egg". Oh and in England they call a "popsicle" an "ice lolly", ie a lollipop made from ice. When they first came to Canada and would ask for an "ice lolly" from an ice cream shop people would look at them as if they were nuts (so they said).
Martin
lois, I was just trying to milk some humor out of it. My mammary's dim on the last time I laughed out loud over the blog.
Dennis, I agree, but keep pumpin' and pullin'. The 'tit'ilation is just warmin' up and can make more wonderful mammaries...except this is my last post (# 5) for the night. I'll be 'nursing' my comments offline but lapping up your humor just the same.
c.c.- Congrats on 1m posts.
Barry- Thanks for the "mangoexplanationism". Us Penn/Ohio guys gotta stick together. German/Dutch influence????
Lois and Dennis. In my recent mammary, I can't recall from my rememberer two funnier folks than youse two. Keep it up and maybe I'll feel free enough to post more often.
ClearAyes; An original poem for you.
"I gazed upon a reflection of stars upon the snow; a message from you, within I saw myself".
Back to lurking.
IMBO
Lois and Dennis - thanks for the mammaries! I haven't laughed like this over your remarks for ages and it feels so good!
Buckeye, you add so much too, so keep 'em comin'!
I'll bet those 'dairy pillows' needed some good firm support.
C.C. congrats on your 1 million+ hits. Awesome job!
c.c.,
I'm adding my congrats on the million hits! What a great job you've done, continue to do and hopefully, will go on doing with this. Really impressive!
CC, CONGRATULATIONS! We all vodka you! What did we do with our time b.c.c.? I am so amazed at your energy,knowledge and patience.
I still have 2 open squares in my c/w. LXat, and ilXa. Iturbi and iambs gave me a problem. I knew iambic pentameter, but didn't put them together. I need to look up maven...new to me.
JD: you need an 's'...LSAT the prelaw exam that determines what level of law school you qualify for and Ilsa...Casablanca.
C.C. ahh, let's reflect...we met morel guys, learned what an ear pulling muffin breakfast of champions was, learned all kinds of wrestling holds, dissected all sorts of poems, learned a new word a day, a chemistry lesson or two, (Where the heck are you, Drdad?), shared some great recipes. Heck we even established a B&B,(where the heck are you xchefwalt?) and the original woodshed. We were baited and master baited. (You two know who you are) Knew what day the day stood for (played with that one every day) ie: wrestling day, remember the ice cream throwing day? (Clearayes). We've met some friends we'll probably have forever. You should be commended and very proud of what you have accomplished with this blog. I can't say I don't miss the old days though. I being a Minnesotan am very proud to be within your vicinity as I don't think there are too many of us Mn in this blog. I can only say thank you as this blog used to and sometimes does break up the monotony of my day seated at a desk looking at numbers. This is only my fourth post today, but the most important. Again, Congrats!
c.c.: Congrats on your 1,000,000th hit!!! Way to go!!!
c.c.:
Today is Evolution Day and
What Do You Love About America Day
Congratulations C.C
Awesome blog indeed!!
Geri
In western PA people say creak or crick for the word creek. Never knew this was wrong until I left the area.
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