google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday December 8, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

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Dec 8, 2008

Monday December 8, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: The Who

15A: Lendl playing badly?: IVAN THE TERRIBLE

37A: Namath serving drinks? JOE THE BARTENDER

58A: O'Donnel working construction? ROSIE THE RIVETER

I was thinking of JOE THE PLUMBER. Had never heard of JOE THE BARTENDER.

Besides BILLY THE KID and JACK THE RIPPER, who else do you think will be a great theme answer candidate? This constructor (Stan B. Whitten) is probably too modest to clue STAN THE MAN. Had our ex-governor JESSE "THE BODY" run for the senate seat in November, Minnesota probably would not have this messy recount now.

I adore this puzzle. Great theme and a rare action-filled "Do" puzzle. Lots of verbs, so unusual: GOOF, ERRS, EMBED, ELATES, ENJOY, REVERE, OGLE, SNEAK, STATE, OVERLAP, ELEVATE, STUNS, MOOED, and ROTATES.

Some of the fills can also be verbalized too: DETOUR (34A: Way around), LIVE (2D: In person), OUT (7D: On the market), FORCE OUTS (9D: Some failures to advance runners) and ENTER (62A: Key PC key). I think a simple "Go in" would be perfect for ENTER.

Across:

1A: Pixyish: ELFIN. I always thought the adjective for pixie is "pixie-like".

19A: Palm starch: SAGO. Is anyone suffering from gluten intolerance/sensitivity? SAGO flour is safe, so is rice flour of course.

16A: Govt. agents: T-MEN. I think the most famous movie about T-MEN is probably "The Untouchables". Kevin Costner plays Eliot Ness.

20A: Long-distance operators?: REMOTES. Nice clue.

21A: Spotted wildcats: OCELOTS. Do you know that cougar, puma, mountain lion and panther are the same thing?

24A: First wife?: EVE. I suppose you can also clue EVE as "First mother?/grandma?" or "First offender?". "Second name?" though.

28A: Clarinet relative: OBOE. Ah, the most popular "blow" instrument in Xword!

30A: Dr. Tim's drug: LSD. I sure don't believe "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" has anything to do with LSD.

44A: French movie: CINE. I always thought it's CINEMA.

64A: Scottish dagger: SNEE. Dirk is also "Scottish dagger". I don't know the difference between the two.

Down:

3D: "The Film-__ Man": FLAM. Here is clip. I've never seen the movie.

4D: Uncorrupted: INNOCENT. They are not really synonymous, are they?

10D: Subway gate: STILE. Good change. I am tired of the "Steps over a fence" clue.

11D: Early pulpit: AMBO. New word to me. This AMBO looks quite modern.

12D: Moolah: GELT. I wonder how many calories are in one of these GELT coins. Probably the same as in one clementine.

18D: Conditional contraction: HE'D. I don't think I would have got it without the across fills. Sometimes simple word stumps me.

27D: Afrikaners: BOERS. Taiwan was under the Dutch control from 1624 to 1662 (The Dutch Formosa).

29D: Cylinder diameter: BORE. I did not know this.

30D: Rock shelf: LEDGE. New definition to me also.

31D: Inscribed stone pillar: STELA. The plural is STELAE.

34D: Undies: DELICATES. That's why they should be hand-washed.

39D: Happening that didn't happen: NON-EVENT. I don't understand this clue. The event, though anticlimatic, did happen, right?

50D: Pitcher Hershiser: OREL. Wikipedia says OREL Hershiser is "the only player to receive the Cy Young award, the Championship Series MVP award, and the World Series MVP award in the same season (1988)."

51D: Lemming cousin: VOLE. What is he eating? Lemming is new to me.

53D: Unit of loudness: PHON. Learned from doing Xword. Looks like a sound prefix to me.

C.C.

72 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, c.c. and gang - very smooth puzzle this morning, with a very easy theme; once the first one became apparent, the other two were gimmes. No real posers to speak of.

Today is National Take It In The Ear Day.

Hope it's a great Monday for everyone.

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

Dennis,
What does "Take it in the Ear" mean? Why not "Take it by the ear"? What's the most sensuous dinner you've had? With whom?

Dr. Dad,
Where did you have your best meal? What were you served?

Embien,
Why did you stop cooking?

Martin,
Wow, how can milk shake contain melamine? To make it more smooth?

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

Kazie,
Thanks for addressing my questions yesterday. You are such a patient teacher. Yeah, I do feel espouse and estrange look related. Have you read "Les Misérables"?

Clear Ayes,
Outstanding Must "C" film titles yesterday!

Ink,
Is "Greek cafe" TAVERNA a feminine or neuter noun?

Outtree,
Two & half dozen roses to make just one drop of ATTAR? No wonder rose oil is so expensive. Thank you for the precious answer.

Dennis said...

c.c., I certainly have no idea what it could possibly mean....

And a detailed description of my most sensuous meal would result in my removal from the blog.

Anonymous said...

08 DEC 2008

18:57 today struggled in the bottom left and right corners UGH!

53 DOWN Unit of Loudness PHON

I never heard of that word before as a measure of sound.

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

Dennis,
You don't think it has anything to do with the ear muffin? As for the sensuous meal, I meant meal meal.

Democrat,
PHON has appeared in our puzzle before. How long have you been doing TMS & NY Times puzzles?

Barry & Sallie,
Did red grapefruit juice use to contain cochineal extract?

J.D.,
Do you have the apple galette recipe?

Dennis said...

c.c., no idea about the 'ear muffin'. And I knew what you meant; same answer.

Anonymous said...

I used to do the NYT puzzle but when I found out I can do the CT Daily online I dropped NYT puzzle & paper subscription in favor of the USA TODAY puzzle. NYT online puzzle is not free. but the USA TODAY is.

I'm doing the green thing by using online puzzles.

Phon may have been here before but I don't remember it.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Not a bad puzzle, although a bit thorny in spots. AMBO was completely unknown to me, and I always confuse SAGO (the starch) with SEGO (the lily). Fortunately, I guessed correctly, otherwise I would have ended up with EMBO (which looks just as reasonable as AMBO to me).

The only other spot that caused me momentary discomfort was when I confidently put SPEAK instead of STATE for 47A and then couldn't figure out why none of the perps worked. Since I knew that "The Greatest" just had to be ALI, though, I eventually accepted that SPEAK couldn't be right. Still, it took all the perps to finally get STATE (at which point, of course, it became blindingly obvious).

I have to admit, btw, that I wasn't all that enamored with the theme today. It just seemed awfully bland and not at all punny. Plus, the phrase JOE THE BARTENDER meant nothing to me. Ah well...

Barry & Sallie,
Did red grapefruit juice use to contain cochineal extract?


As far as I know, "Ruby Red" grapefruit juice still does (at least the version sold by Ocean Spray). That's why I don't drink it.

Chris in LA said...

@ Barry G,

I happen to have a bottle of Ocean Spray Ruby Red grapefruit juice on my counter - contents list Red 40 which is NOT made from bugs - it's made (as link indicates) from coal - which I'm not sure is a whole lot more appetizing, but there ya' go. Just thought I'd share as you piqued my curiosity...

Jeanne said...

Morning all,
Nice way to start the week; no Googling, and some guesses that worked out well.

@C.C. I always considered a nonevent as one that didn't live up to expectations. Read yesterday's blog and noticed you never had salami. Growing up in an Italian family, salami was a staple and thus my high cholesterol. Love it, but have to live without it. I just bought a box of Clementine oranges and they are my favorites. Just enough for a quick snack, sweet and seedless and I don't want to know the calories.

I saw an interview recently with comedian, Bill Cosby, who said he went into the voting booth and yelled out loud, "How do you spell plumber?". Seems like everyone knows Joe the Plumber.

Martin said...

C.C., some milk products from China were exported containing melamine. Sad, but true. I'm surprised it didn't make the news in the U.S.

A few unknowns today: SAGO, AMBO, STELA, AKC, OREL, VOLE and ATTU. Not very many but I suppose I could have forgotten one or two. SAGO and AMBO were the only ones that crossed so I had to google one or the other: I googled both just to make sure. I also googled STILE while I was there because even though we had had the word before it was not in this context: in this context it is usually called a turnstile, although I guess that's just a stile that turns. Fine.

Words that could be verbs? Don't forget BORE: a teacher can be boring and students will be bored. Not in my class, of course! I make too many jokes! Oh and don't worry: not all my jokes are "disfunctional". That would be a good way to get fired.

BORE can also we a verb in the sense of "make a hole". *Insert DF joke here.*

Oh and I almost forgot! I wanted DBEL (decibel) for "Unit of loudness". Apparently a decibel differs from a phon in that a decibel measures the loudness of sound as heard by the human ear whereas a phon measures the level of sound energy: 1 phon is equal to 1 dB of SPL (=sound pressure level) at a frequency of 1 kHz.

That was the simplified version. If you google SPL you get a page of math. I'm not joking.

Martin

Argyle said...

Good Morning, one(c.c.) and all(DF's)

Touble in the SW; mole for vole, and sone for phon. I need an engineer to explain the difference between tne last two.

Joe The Bartender was a Jackie Gleason character. So set 'em up, Joe

g8rmomx2 said...

Hi c.c. and all,

Easy puzzle today, although I would not have gotten Ambo, Gelt (even though I know we have had that clue before),Vole, and Phon without the perps.

clear ayes: I was trying to come up with some "C" movies, but when I read yours I decided I could'nt come up with anything better! Great job!!!

Well, as you all know the GATORS are going to the championship game, Horray! My daughter and my husband are going to that game and the Orange Bowl. Dang, I wish now we had bought another ticket for me. My daughter wishes she had bought two more tickets and then sold them so their tickets would end up being free! Oh well, hind sight is always great.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

KittyB said...

Good morning, all!

PHON and AMBO were words I didn't know. The rest was reasonably easy. I got the first names of all the long clues, and then realized it had to be ROSIE THE RIVETER so the other two dropped into place.

My mother has been buying clementines for years, and I have just ignored them. I bought a box of them for her last month, realizing that I'd have to eat some of them, and discovered they are really good! Too bad I waited so long to try them. They peel easily and are seedless, and citrus-y sweet. They are a perfect way to finish off dinner, or for a snack. And, NO, I'm not on the National Clementine Board! *G*

Thank you to all who wished my mother a Happy Birthday. She has really enjoyed all the recognition.

"Take it in the ear"...what an odd phrase.

Alas, I have nothing more to share with you this morning than my opinion on clementines, so I'll be on my way. Stay warm!

Dr. Dad said...

Good morning. A bit late today.

Forgot sago and never heard of ambo and gelt. Also, phon was unknown. The rest fell right into place, no problem.

C.C. - can't recall the restaurant but it was in Hangzhou. The Peking Duck was fabulous. Also, the "hot pot" I had in Anshan was great but there were so many things in it and we ate so fast, I can't tell you all the things that were in it. It tasted good, though.

Today is National Brownie Day. Go and eat one! Calm down you DF's. It is also Stick It In The Ear Day (Dennis mentioned it as "Take It In The Ear Day"). Maybe we can combine the two and have a "Stick a Brownie In Your Ear Day."

Dr. Dad said...

Dennis - I went pretty risque a while back with a certain photo so I doubt if your description would result in your removal.

Dr. Dad said...

g8rmomx2 - Being from Nebraska I never thought I would say this but (since I cannot stand the gators) - GO SOONERS!!!!!!!!!

Dang, I've used up three of my five.

kazie said...

Hi all!
Easy one today. I thought I was going to have to g'spot some names but ended up unassisted, despite not knowing PHON or AMBO. I, like Barry, hesitated on SAGO, but then remembered which it was.

c.c.,
No, I haven't read Les Misérables. I have trouble with long depressing tomes. Just the title was enough to discourage me on that one.

We have more snow predicted today and through tomorrow, so I have to hit the grocery store before I get snowed in! I'll check in again later. BFN

DoesItinInk said...

An easy puzzle that I completed over a quick breakfast. The only new words for me are AMBO and PHON.

@cc: The NYT’s crossword puzzle for 3 February clued SNEE as “old dirk”. I do know if that is the complete distinction. I am familiar with SNEE from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado where there is mention of a “snickersnee” which is a large, sword-like knife.

carol said...

Good morning C.C.and all, Nice, fast one today, I amazed myself by getting the first one of the theme immediately and then the others just as fast. Only hang up was over AMBO and PHON. In reading everyone's comments so far, it looks like I am not the only one. I know we had GELT recently but I couldn't remember it.

Jeanne - Go ahead and enjoy a few little Clementines - very good for you and low in calories. Consider a regular sized orange only has 60.

Funny "Day": Take it in the Ear ?? I don't understand that so much, if it were Take it in the Shorts Day, maybe. Who decides these things? :)

Hope all your meals are sensuous!

JIMBO said...

Good morning C.C. and etal,

Fairly easy puzzle for me today. My hang-up was in the NE corner. Sago, Ambo and Gelt: Also 53d Phon.
The rest I managed in not quite "Dennis time".

C.C. Our league bowls once a week on Thursdays.
My high game (224) came about just prior to my rib accident. I Think it was the last game I played and that was about a month ago. Hopefully, I will be able to rejoin the team within the next week or so. The wound is healing nicely.

As to the "Ner" question from a while back, I am doing some research and I think I know the answer but want to be able to show more evidence. (If you are still interested).

I will be working in the hospital this afternoon so must start getting ready.

VCD

DoesItinInk said...

@cc: Taverna in Greek is feminine.

Anonymous said...

Hi C.C.
"Take it in the ear day"

"Since it is December, it could mean that we take the occasional snowball
thrown at us in the ear... one of my least favorite places for them to land.
It could be a theoretical ear, and we are supposed to speak our minds to
someone who deserves it today? Maybe we are just supposed to explore our
ears, or our friends ears. I would not however, encourage wet willies today.
It's too freaking cold in Utah for that; the spit might freeze inside. EEEWWW!!!!"

Anonymous said...

Joe the Bartender was an old time character on the Jackie Gleason Show back in the 60's.

Paul

winfield said...

Joe the Bartender was usually the final sketch on one of the many versions of the Jackie Gleason Show and was always set in Joe the Bartender's saloon, with Joe singing "My Gal Sal" and greeting his regular customer, the unseen Mr. Dennehy whom he kibitzed (is this a word??) with about his or worldly "problems". There was another version of Joe The Bartender.. He did an occasional skit with Frank Fontaine, who in the bit played his "Crazy Guggenheim" character, then generally sang a song. He had a great voice...
Here is a YouTube version that combines both...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGPCHT_NAus

Barb B said...

Lots of fun this morning; I loved the theme clues. Some new words for me; AMBO, GELT, STELE, OREL Hershiser, ATTU and PHON. May have seen some before, but have a hard time remembering.

C.C.
I like your clues for EVE – expecially first offender. It’s deliciously mis-directive.
Chocolate coins were always a favorite stocking stuffer in our family; I just didn’t know they were also called GELTs. Thanks for the pic.

AMBO is a Greek word meaning mountain or elevation. So I think that would qualify as and early pulpit; crowds often gathered outdoors.

Martin said...

Argyle, the sone is equivalent to 40 phons.

It's 1:00 am here. I can't sleep.

Martin

Anonymous said...

In honor of "Take it in the Ear Day" I will add my two cents worth about the PHON.

Martin almost had it right, but ROTATED. The DB-SPL-Flat represents a sound pressure level as a logarithmic ratio referenced to a known standard. This standard is 20 micro-Pascals (which equates to 20 micro-Newtons per meter squared). The flat designation differentiates this from the commonly used A and C weightings which take into account how the human ear actually perceives the loudness at different frequencies (this is where the PHON comes in).

The PHON scale was developed to equate how the human ear perceives sound loudness as both a function of frequency and relative sound pressure level. Definitive experiments were done in 1956 by Robinson and Dadson in England that determined the PHON loudness curves (see Human Response to Sound
). Because of this perceived loudness effect, many different types of weighting systems were developed to make the DB-SPL measurements more meaningful to human measurers. Two of these being the DB-SPL-A and DB-SPL-C scales. The above reference article goes into much more detail for those interested.

Happy “Take it in the Ear Day” to all,

Signed A.R. Engineer

dougl said...

Hi C.C. et al,

29D: Cylinder diameter: BORE. I did not know this.

This refers to engine cylinders, the size of which is calculated from Bore (diameter -- maybe they're drilled out??) and Stroke (length the cylinder moves), which are used to calculate Displacement (the engine size you usually see, in liters or cubic inches).

Would be nice to see Bore and Boer as intersecting answers.

39D: Happening that didn't happen: NON-EVENT. I don't understand this clue. The event, though anticlimatic, did happen, right?

I agree -- faulty clue in my mind. Could've been "No big deal"

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, As with many of you, the new words for me were AMBO and PHON.

Here is the hills we are very familiar with VOLES. G.A.H. has a running battle with them every summer.

Still on COCHINEAL. According to good old Wikipedia, "The average human consumes one to two drops of carminic acid (cochineal) each year with food."

We eat a lot more bugs in other foodstuffs (think flour and grains) on a regular basis. We just don't like to think about that. Cochineal is not toxic or carcinogenic. The only reason I can see to avoid it is if you are allergic, a vegan, or an observant Jew or Muslim. It is also used extensively in cosmetics like lipstick, powder and blush.

JD, Yesterday's story about Elbow Grease made me laugh.

Doesitinink, Sadly, no Slumdog Millionare around here. I'll have to wait until it is out on DVD. but I've already put it on my Netflix wish list.

G8rmomx2, Thanks.

Jeanne, Last week, I brought home a flat of clementines from Costco. They are almost gone already!

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning, everyone! The only real unknown today was AMBO. Caught on to the theme early and that helped a lot. I like the "Second name?" clue for EVE. That would be difficult to get just by itself.

@a.r.engineer Say What?

Have a great Monday!

Clear Ayes said...

NONEVENT Dictionary definition - "An anticipated or highly publicized event that does not occur or proves anticlimactic or boring."

Examples -

In 1986, Geraldo Rivera hosted a two hour TV special, where Al Capone's secret vault was opened. I didn't watch it and was glad I didn't fall for the hype. Nothing other than dirt and a couple of empty bottles were found. Talk about a boring nonevent!

Televised for two hours, motorcycle daredevil Robbie Knievel's first attempt to jump the Grand Canyon in April 1999 was canceled at the last minute because of the weather. G.A.H. was a fan at the time and we watched the show. Since it had been recorded earlier in the day, everyone involved knew the results and the show was pure nonevent. G.A.H. watched Knievel's successful jump in May, but I didn't bother.

Anonymous said...

Crockett1947:

Being an A*** Retentive Engineer, I have a hard time expressing myself in Layman's terms (just ask my long suffering wife). It's in my nature go with Fridays "just the facts maam".

What I think I'm trying to say in my previous post is that you cannot measure PHON's directly. You need to measure DB-SPL-Flat and then use the the Figure 1 chart of curves (see the figure 1 in the link given in my previous post) to determine the equivilent PHON value.

Also, Martin has given a "special" definition of the relationship of PHON to SONE where it is valid only at 40 PHON (or 40 DB-SPL-Flat).

Another "special" relationship of SONE to PHON (when dealing with single tones or within a narrow band of frequencies) is S = 2 raised to the power of (PHON-40)/10.
For the "general" solution, the math is a little more difficult and it allows you to add together different frequencies together in a meaningful manner.

Signed

A.R. Engineer

Martin said...

@a.r.engineer Say What?

I think a.r.e. is telling me that I had it backwards: decibels measure sound energy and phons measure the perceived loudness.

I guess this is my way of celebrating take it in the ear day.

Martin

Crockett1947 said...

@a.r.e. Thanks. Since I have three brother-in-law engineers, I've come to believe that A.R. and "engineer" are close to being redundant, LOL!

Argyle said...

In this case, the clue, Unit of loudness, could refer to either phone or sone? And db's also?

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

Jeanne & Carol,
One clementine has about 35 calories, the same as a nectarine.

Dr. Dad,
What does "mine" mean in your field? Melamine, carmine, both sound so bad.

Martin,
Nice BORE. What keeps you awake?

Argyle,
I like your one c. c. greeting earlier. DF is back? Not former any more?

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

Kazie,
What's the difference between "an inspired poem" and "an inspiring poem"?

Ink,
Thanks for snickersnee and TAVERNA.

Jimbo,
I hope you have more 200 games when you are back. Yeah, I am still interested in who NER is.

Winfield,
Nice to see you back. Once again, thanks for the Carol Wayne information the other day. Very well written.

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

Well-versed,
No verse lately?

Barb B,
Thanks for the mountain/elevation connection on AMBO.

Engineer @ 11:29am,
I need time to digest what you've written. What does A. R . mean? What Retentive?

Dougl,
Hmm, BORE and BOER, I've never thought of this anagram. And ROBE.

Clear Ayes,
Thanks for the examples on NONEVENTS.

Anonymous said...

Martin,

Yes!, sort of. Don't get me started on the difference between sound pressure level and the energy (and the measurement of energy)contained within sound waves.

Crockett, you are correct on the redunancy between A.R.E. and E. (LOL).

Speaking of the power of sound, did anyone notice the news reports on how sound waves were used to "Repel Boarders" in one of the recent Pirating attempts. It's a really cool military technology and quite effective. Pirates Attack


Still celebrating "Take it in the ear day"

Signed

A.R. Engineer

Clear Ayes said...

C.C. Here you are......

"Take it in the ear" It's when a man put his penis in a woman's ear to have sex. If I were a guy, I wouldn't brag about it. He would have to be pretty darn small for this to work successfully.

"Stick it in your ear" is a disparaging slang phrase. If someone says something you vehemently disagree with, you might say, "Aww, stick it in your ear!" Not a polite thing to say. I've probably heard it most often when people are talking about their favorite sport teams. Nobody on this blog would be so rude to use it.

The best advice about either phrase is the same as doctors advise, "don't stick anything smaller than your elbow in your ear."....but people will try! LOL about everything in this post.

kazie said...

Back from shopping--crazy. Usually here before a snowstorm there are a lot of shoppers, but Mondays are normally slow. I think the staff at my favorite grocery store were a bit surprised at the rush of business for a Monday.

c.c.,
"inspired" implies that the poet's thoughts were infused with something wonderful, or somehow deep and unusual. "Inspiring" may be the result for the reader of such a poem--something that makes you feel you've gained hope from what is expressed, the poet's inspiration would be "inspiring". I would assume that the poet was telling us of something that was an inspiration to him/her. The root of these words means "to breathe life into".--A lengthy explanation, I hope it helped.

Mr. Ed said...

Good morning C.C. & all - What a way to start the week; a nice relatively easy puzzle. My only momentary stumble was in the deep south at the phon-snee intersection. I only vaguely remembered snee from xwords. But, getting snee filled in phon which raised my eyebrows. If I recall correctly, phon is actually a measurement of sound that was proposed but never adopted. I didn't believe the accuracy until I looked it up. So, without getting technical, I guess it's correct enough for an xword.

I hope you all have a nice day no matter where it takes you.

ttfn

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

Clear Ayes,
What? Oh my God.

Mark in BA,
Why did you mention E.T. the other day?

Kazie,
Is "inspired" & "inspiring" similar to "excited" & "exciting"?

Anonymous said...

C.C.

I have enjoyed your Blog for quite some time now and I contribute a little bit from time to time. Mostly on nautical items (see difference between Flank speed and AMAIN and between Submarines and Ships).

I like the handle A.R. Engineer when ever I post about something dealing with physics/engineering because it recognizes the know-it-all quality that we engineers seem to have (I think it is a mental defect of some kind, again, you could ask my wife about that). As to its true meaning, and being blunt and to the point, the A stands for Anal. The Wiki defination fits to a TEE:

The term anal-retentive (or anally retentive, anal retentive), commonly abbreviated to "anal", is used conversationally to describe a person with such attention to detail that the obsession becomes an annoyance to others, and can be carried out to the detriment of the anal-retentive person. The term derives from Freudian psychoanalysis.


Any way, have a great "take it in the ear day"

Signed

A.R. Engineer

Anonymous said...

Take it in the ear day

Clear Ayes has an active imagination

Anonymous said...

Given the above discussions, maybe its pirate speak for take it in the rear?

Clear Ayes said...

Anon@1:17, Actually I am pretty down to earth. I've just been around long enough to have heard about most sexual activities, even if I haven't participated. Today's celebration(?) is beyond my experience. I just "calls 'em as I see 'em".
Take It. Don't be concerned about watching this video. It is not porno, just a couple of goofy kids with active imaginations.

Jeannie said...

Clearayes, my, my. I just choked on my glass of water! Being the adventurous type, I never even considered the ear. As for your reference to size, I don't think I would want to either.

Dennis said...

Certainly gives new meaning to the expression, "I could hear him coming"...

Jeannie said...

Dennis, also the expression "I don't like the sound of that"....

kazie said...

D.F. is definitely back! (If it ever left!)

Dr. Dad said...

Cochineal was also a valuable dyestuff in colonial times. I did demonstrations for National Chemistry Week that involved extracting it from the bugs and dyeing some fabrics with it. The deep red color was used in the British Redcoats uniforms.

JD said...

Good afternoon C.C. and all,

I found today's puzzle to be fairly easy for me.Joe the bartender did not come as quickly as the other 2.Only had to G sago and gelt; other unknowns (ambo,this def. of bore, and phon) fell into place.Also, I had forgotten about the Boers. I thought phon was just a greek root meaning voice or sound (not a word), but I got much more stuffed in my ear about phon.

Our 1st dog was a white German Shepherd and remember being upset because the AKC would not accept them as a breed. I believe they are now recognized.

@Barb, your explanation of ambo made sense to me..thanks.

@Warren, that was a enjoyable site. I will go there again.Is it always the same writer? Great sense of humor

Dr. Dad said...

C.C. - it's not so much the "mine" in melamine that is bad - it's the amine that is bad. Melamine is a bad one and was responsible for the Chinese contaminations we read about recently. The melamine combined with cyanuric acid to form melamine cyanurate. On the other hand, when you combine it with formaldehyde it makes melamine resin which is not harmful and is a thermoplastic resin that is used for Formica.

Carmine is a name of a pigment that is used in many coatings and paints. Not necessarily toxic but I don't think anyone is interested in eating paint.

Anonymous said...

Argyle,
Thanks for the momories re:
Joe the Bartender
Geri

kazie said...

Sorry, c.c., I forgot I was going to answer your question. too much excitement!

Inspiration is not so much excitement as something thought provoking. It makes you reflect, and perhaps come up with a new slant on life. Great writers create their works because of their unique inspiration on everything.

kazie said...

c.c.,
Or did you mean the difference between the -ed and the -ing endings? Yes, then they would be similar, having the same difference between the two.

embien said...

@c.c.: Embien,
Why did you stop cooking?


The simple answer: I lost the passion for it, and I'm not sure why that happened. There was no real necessity for me to continue cooking when I was enjoying it less (only my wife and I to feed), so I stopped.

The more complicated answer: We were having to drive into town every weekday (for medical treatments), a distance of some 35 miles each way. It was easier to eat dinner before returning home, so that's what we did--sampling some 40 different restaurants over a period of two months (I should have blogged it--I did keep a log). After the treatments were over, we just continued to eat out, and still do so today.

Puzzle blog entry to follow shortly.

Clear Ayes said...

Dennis@5:45 and 5:57, You could rival Gregory Hines LOL

Dennis@2:05 and Jeannie@2:18, Funny comments.

Where is Buckeye? I need some backup here.

Moving on....

Here's what I think is the ultimate "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" inspirational poem. The poet wrote it after his foot was amputated due to tubercular infection.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

-William Ernest Henley

Now I'm going to finish decorating the Christmas tree.

kazie said...

Just heard on CNN that the Tribune News complex is on the point of declaring bankrupcy. I hope that soesn't mean the end of our crosswords?!

embien said...

9:19 today. AMBO was my unknown and I had forgotten completely the Jackie Gleason "Joe the Bartender" bits, though I watched the show many times.

I didn't fall for the theme for the longest time because the first theme entry "IVAN THE TERRIBLE" didn't come to me (the tennis player and the Russian tsar are pronounced differently). Then the second theme entry is JOE THE BARTENDER, which I also didn't recognize at first.

Suffice to say my confusion slowed me down considerably. My last fill was the A at the crossing of SAGO and AMBO.

DoesItinInk said...

@kazie...I wouldn't panic yet. The Tribune Corporation wants to reorganize under Chapter 11, not go out of business. The Chicago Tribune is only one of their holdings, but as with many print news sources, the newspaper is heavily in debt. The Tribune Corp is trying to sell the Cubs and Wrigley Field. Despite the bad economy, they expect to sell it sometime next year, and that should provide an infusion of capital. I could suggest some other cost-saving measures, cutting Robin Baumgarten from the Channel 9 tv news being the first on my list. She is sooooooooo irritating!

kazie said...

Doesit,
Don't you wish they would take our advice on those things sometimes! Thanks for the encouragement.

Anonymous said...

@ Chris in LA said...I happen to have a bottle of Ocean Spray Ruby Red grapefruit juice on my counter - contents list Red 40 which is NOT made from bugs - it's made (as link indicates) from coal - which I'm not sure is a whole lot more appetizing, but there ya' go. Just thought I'd share as you piqued my curiosity...
December 8, 2008 7:10 AM
Chris, thank you so much for that information. I am hooked on Ruby Red Squirt -- it's great with Blackberry Brandy, Vodka with twist of lemon, and just plain over ice. I would die if I had to give it up because of the insect story. Coal sure sounds better than bugs. YUK

Martin said...

Honey bought me coffee. Okay, that sounds bad. She bought coffee for me and brought it to class. Of course I drank it: I was thirsty.

I have classes until 2:30 today. Then I want to spend an hour or so trying to understand that link a.r.e. posted.

Martin

lois said...

Good evening CC et al, fun puzzle. Just missed sago so one 'goof' isn't bad for the 'state' I'm in... the state of confusion mostly.

Martin & A.R.Engineer thank you for the clarificationish...almost explanation...of decibel and phon. I fully almost kind of got it. In the words of JC, "I did not know that".

DFness is alive and well. Clear Ayes, you rock!

Dennis, Twa'd'you say? Something's in my ear. Couldn't quite get it out in time.

G8trmom: Congratulations on the win. Your 'Gators' will be playing my Alma Mater. I will be wearin' new alligator boots Sooner than expected and doin' the boot scootin' boogie with a little side-step come game day. It ought to be a really good game.

drdad: I'm glad for your Sooner support...for whatever reason.

Enjoy your night.

carol said...

Clear ayes at 1:00...guess you could say he was nuts over her!

Argyle said...

HELP! What does it mean?

theme: CD COLLECTION

Quip: I'm not feeling very well. I need a doctor. Ring the nearest golf course - Groucho Marx

Martin said...

Okay, I took another look at the link a.r.e. provided.

Hmm.

Feynmann said that if you can't explain things in simple terms so that anybody can understand it then you don't really understand yourself.

Hmm.

I guess I don't really understand it then.

Now that that's settled I will go on with my life. :)

Martin

Anonymous said...

Hello jeannie

It's nice to meet you.