Theme: The Folly of Power
20A: Start of Napoleon quote: IN POLITICS, AN
39A: Part 2 of quote: ABSURDITY IS
56A: End of quote: NOT A HANDICAP
And a bonus fill EXILE (64A: Napoleon's fate).
I thought Napoleon said "In politics, stupidity is not a handicap." Whatever, I don't buy it. Look at what happened to Eliot Spitzer. What a stunning fall! He seems to be very happy with his Slate.com gig though.
I also found out this morning that Napoleon is the originator of "If you want a thing done well, do it yourself."
Very simple puzzle. I am really bored by some of the stale clues. "Nice summers?" for ETES (37D) does not feel nice to me any more. Why not "Are, in Paris" or a straightforward "Vous ____ ici"?
Across:
1A: Isinglass: MICA. According to Wikipedia, the #1 definition of "Isinglass" is a "substance obtained from the swimbladders of fish (esp Beluga sturgeon); used mainly for the clarification of wine and beer, it is a form of collagen".
5A: Olympic swimmer Janet?: EVANS. Unknown to me. I got her name from down fills.
10A: Body shops?: SPAS. I thought of GYMS first.
14A: Aphrodite's son: EROS. And another Greek god is ARES (38A: Belligerent deity).
29A: Archibald and Thurmond: NATES. NAT is also the nickname for Nathaniel, right?
45A: Night school subj.: ESL (English as a second language). I've never attended this "Night school".
50A: German state: HESSE. See this map. Is their state legislature called diet also? Just saw SENAT clued as "French diet" the other day.
54A: Argentine plain: LLANO. Is double L word common in Spanish?
65A: __ Levu, Fiji: VITI. Unknown to me. It's the largest island in Fiji. Its capital city Suva is on this island. I wonder what VITI Levu mean in local language.
66A: River through Dresden: ELBE. The river originates in Czech and flows northwest across German to the North Sea.
67A: Ink ingredient: ELEMI. No idea. Olschwang clued ELEMI as "Varnish ingredient" in his July 24 puzzle.
Down:
1D: Dillon of "A Christmas Story": MELINDA. I guessed. Have never heard this MELINDA. "A Christmas Story" is a very strange movie to me.
5D: Fancy needle case: ETUI
10D: Force to be a sailor: SHANGHAI. Interesting to see a word rooted in Chinese city SHANGHAI. I just can't stand men who speak Shanghai dialect.
22D: Islet: AIT
27D: Legal matter: RES. It's clued as "Notes of scales" the other day.
30D: August in Avignon: AOUT. July is juillet, and September is just septembre. March is mars. French months and days are not capitalized, but all German nouns are capitalized. Isn't it strange?
32D:Pooch on "Frasier": EDDIE. Learned this name from doing Xword.
40D: Fit in: BELONGED
41D: Traffic directive: YIELD
47D: Roller-coaster comparative: LOOPIER. Why?
49D: Brace amount: TWO. Both "Brace" and "Span" can mean "a pair". A brace/span of oxen.
55D: Lawrence Durrel novel: LIVIA. OK, here is the obscure book again. It's in John Underwood's Nov 18 puzzle. But his original clue is "Mother of Tiberius", which is equally mystifying to me.
Happy New Year everyone! I am going to stop obsessing about my eye wrinkles and wasting money on those miracle creams. What's your New Year's resolution?
C.C.
20A: Start of Napoleon quote: IN POLITICS, AN
39A: Part 2 of quote: ABSURDITY IS
56A: End of quote: NOT A HANDICAP
And a bonus fill EXILE (64A: Napoleon's fate).
I thought Napoleon said "In politics, stupidity is not a handicap." Whatever, I don't buy it. Look at what happened to Eliot Spitzer. What a stunning fall! He seems to be very happy with his Slate.com gig though.
I also found out this morning that Napoleon is the originator of "If you want a thing done well, do it yourself."
Very simple puzzle. I am really bored by some of the stale clues. "Nice summers?" for ETES (37D) does not feel nice to me any more. Why not "Are, in Paris" or a straightforward "Vous ____ ici"?
Across:
1A: Isinglass: MICA. According to Wikipedia, the #1 definition of "Isinglass" is a "substance obtained from the swimbladders of fish (esp Beluga sturgeon); used mainly for the clarification of wine and beer, it is a form of collagen".
5A: Olympic swimmer Janet?: EVANS. Unknown to me. I got her name from down fills.
10A: Body shops?: SPAS. I thought of GYMS first.
14A: Aphrodite's son: EROS. And another Greek god is ARES (38A: Belligerent deity).
29A: Archibald and Thurmond: NATES. NAT is also the nickname for Nathaniel, right?
45A: Night school subj.: ESL (English as a second language). I've never attended this "Night school".
50A: German state: HESSE. See this map. Is their state legislature called diet also? Just saw SENAT clued as "French diet" the other day.
54A: Argentine plain: LLANO. Is double L word common in Spanish?
65A: __ Levu, Fiji: VITI. Unknown to me. It's the largest island in Fiji. Its capital city Suva is on this island. I wonder what VITI Levu mean in local language.
66A: River through Dresden: ELBE. The river originates in Czech and flows northwest across German to the North Sea.
67A: Ink ingredient: ELEMI. No idea. Olschwang clued ELEMI as "Varnish ingredient" in his July 24 puzzle.
Down:
1D: Dillon of "A Christmas Story": MELINDA. I guessed. Have never heard this MELINDA. "A Christmas Story" is a very strange movie to me.
5D: Fancy needle case: ETUI
10D: Force to be a sailor: SHANGHAI. Interesting to see a word rooted in Chinese city SHANGHAI. I just can't stand men who speak Shanghai dialect.
22D: Islet: AIT
27D: Legal matter: RES. It's clued as "Notes of scales" the other day.
30D: August in Avignon: AOUT. July is juillet, and September is just septembre. March is mars. French months and days are not capitalized, but all German nouns are capitalized. Isn't it strange?
32D:Pooch on "Frasier": EDDIE. Learned this name from doing Xword.
40D: Fit in: BELONGED
41D: Traffic directive: YIELD
47D: Roller-coaster comparative: LOOPIER. Why?
49D: Brace amount: TWO. Both "Brace" and "Span" can mean "a pair". A brace/span of oxen.
55D: Lawrence Durrel novel: LIVIA. OK, here is the obscure book again. It's in John Underwood's Nov 18 puzzle. But his original clue is "Mother of Tiberius", which is equally mystifying to me.
Happy New Year everyone! I am going to stop obsessing about my eye wrinkles and wasting money on those miracle creams. What's your New Year's resolution?
C.C.
65 comments:
Happy New Year, CC.
The crossing of Livia and Viti got me.
I resolved to not make resolutions years ago and I haven't broken it yet.
Argyle,
Happy New Year! What did you have for breakfast earlier? Do you know why DOL is clued as "GI bill?"
Barry,
Interesting "jewel" origin.
Doreen,
Thanks for clarifying the "does them" confusion. I find those southern greens too bitter to eat.
Democrat,
In our tradition, red underwear is only for Spring Festival Eve.
Clear Ayes,
Thanks for the Yiddish word link.
Razzberry,
"STCC - What are some of your NY's traditions? Any polar bear clubbers amongst us?". What does STCC stand for?
Winfield,
What is "baloney drop"?
Do you know why DOL is clued as "GI bill?"
DOL as an abreviation of dollar?
What about today's ASSOC?
18 minutes 54 seconds
IN crosswords, ABSURDITY IS a big HANDICAP. Unknowns were EVANS, NATES, HESSE, LLANO, VITI, ELBE, ELEMI, MELINDA, ETUI, DDE, LIVIA. I had guessed ELLIE for EDDIE. I wanted either ATTN or ASAP for INRE. When I had PE??? for "Organ part" I thought "It couldn't be..."
C.C., I checked the Shanghai. Apparently sailors would be drugged and kidnapped and put on board a ship headed for Shanghai and they'd say they'd been "Shanghaied". It's ironic that "Shanghai" literally means "on the sea".
Martin
Argyle,
Thanks for DOL. ASSOC is legit, though ASSN is more common.
Martin,
Interesting, I've never analyzed the literal meaning of SHANGHAI before. I like the way you force to think.
Good Morning C.C. and all,
Had a couple of problems. Did not see horseracing for a track event at first, was thinking along the lines of a field and track meet. Ares supplied the missing letter. Pedal for organ part played havoac for a while as I was thinking of anatomy.
I usually associate the assoc. abbr. for associate instead of association. Oh, well off for the WV trip. Here is a hit from the Association. And I will also leave you with a couple of more. Just a Song Before I Go and Take Me Home Country Roads
Interesting connection between 30D and 55D. Lawrence Durrell lived in Avignon (in southern France). "Livia, or Buried Alive" was the second book in his Avignon Quintet series. Maybe he wrote it in aout(August).
Interesting, I've never analyzed the literal meaning of SHANGHAI before.
Wow, really? That makes we want to look at a map of Asia and see what the names of all the cities mean.
Beijing: "Northern capital"
Nanjing: "Southern capital"
Dongjing (Tokyo): "Eastern capital"
Taipei: "Taiwan, northern"
Taichung: "Taiwan, central"
Tainan: "Taiwan, southern"
Taidong: "Taiwan, eastern"
I can also see from looking at google maps that there is a Xining and a Nanning with xi being the character for west and nan being the character for south. I've heard it said that the "nam" in "Vietnam" also means "south". Then there's the island of Hainan which is south of the city of Haikou which literally means "Sea port". The "Kong" in Hong Kong is also Cantonese for "harbour", as you probably already knew.
In Taichung county where I live it gets ridiculous: there's a Beitun in the north a Xitun in the west and a Nantun in the south and the city itself is subdivided into the Zhong (central), Bei (north), Xi (west), Nan (south) and Dong (east) districts. There's also a Nantou county directly to the south of here.
Martin
Happy New Year! All the best to you and yours!!!
Chinese city SHANGHAI. DO you know what the building next to the NEC building is? (The one with X-Mas tree ornaments with a ladder between them.)
It's a building unlike any I have ever seen.
18:23 for me today CC. Good Morning CC and Jeannie.
Morning, folks! Happy 2009!
This was a relatively challenging puzzle for me. The quote didn't help much, since I couldn't guess it until I had almost all the letters. "AN ABSURDITY" is just not a phrase I would ever expect to see, and I'm sure C. C. is correct that the original phrase was actually "STUPIDITY."
I did not know EVANS, ELEMI, MELINDA or AOUT, but was able to get them via the perps. Or, at least, I thought I was able to. I just noticed I misspelled 60D as NEAL instead of NEIL, which gave me ELEMA instead of ELEMI. That's just carelessness on my part, though, and I can't blame the constructor for that.
What I can blame the constructor for, however, is the miserable crossing of VITI with LIVIA. It's just not kosher to have two obscure terms intersect like that. In the end, I guessed the "V" correctly, but it was just a guess. And it didn't matter after all, since I screwed up the ELEMI/NEIL crossing as I mentioned earlier.
Ah well....
C.C. and all,
Best wishes all and have a Happy New Year. My crossword skills have improved since viewing the blog.
from Mark, the retired navy guy. Soon to be CPA. Will work on the test after tax season
Happy New Year everyone!
My hang-ups began in the lower sections, first in the middle with ELEMI and AXLE (no freeways or tollways near us). But after I resolved that by creative guessing, I still had LIDIA instead of LIVIA, and I should have known better, having been to Fiji in 1974.
I enjoy relying on my own feeble memory as much as I can without google but it does fail me at times.
c.c.,
If you compare something to a roller coaster, you would perhaps say it was "loopier" if it had more loops.
Good morning CC and all. I guess our paper carrier had too much party last night as the paper has not been delivered yet. Guess I will go on line and work the c/w later.
I hope you all have had a grand Christmas and will enjoy a prosperous new year.
Good Morning All, I guess the non-partying people are checking in earliest today. The rest of the group must still be snoozing. I hope you all wake up without a headache.
Kazie and others have already mentioned the bottom section of the puzzle. In addition to ELEMI, AXLE, LIVIA and VITI, For 54A, I in LIANO at first, but IIVIA didn't look right and LLANO finally popped into my mind.
I do the puzzle online at the "Master Level"...LOL that sure is a laugh! When I am done, I check it out at the Regular Level with the Solve Option and see if I went wrong anywhere. Everything was OK today, but several of the fills were just "most probable" guesses.
C.C. "A Christmas Story" is a quintessential American story and represents many fond memories for Americans who grew up in the 30's, 40's and 50's. The parents, houses, parades, store Santas, elementary school, bullies, and so much more, are familiar to many of us. Although we didn't have the exact same things happen to us, the thoughts and emotions are right on the mark.
The last couple of days on C.C.'s blog have been very interesting, from 4th Century religion to Yiddish slang. I've only been here for six month or so, but I've been so impressed with the great discussions, jokes, DF comments, links and best of all, the bright, funny and friendly people. Thanks to everyone and especially to C.C.
Happy New Year Everyone!!!!
Screwed up SE corner when I penned in Hammer Throw for "track event".
Figured out my mistake pretty quick when I went to "Those were the days".
Have a good year and CC thank you for this great blog.
A.R.E.
Martin,
Thanks for the neat connections on Asian place names. Very interesting.
Dick,
Nice to "see" you.
c.c.,
I echo the comments of others on how great this blog has been to us solvers. You are truly amazing, and we all benefit from it. How addictive it has become!
I checked our map today, and it looks like nobody has been added in a few days. Are there any other lurkers out there as yet unplaced? Send Crockett an email if you'd like to join our google map to show how broadly placed we all are.
You say Bologna I say Baloney
Here's the scoop on baloney according to Wikepedia(probably more than you want to know)...
Bologna sausage (pronounced /bo'lo ni/) is an American sausage somewhat similar to the Italian mortadella, (a finely hashed/ground pork sausage containing cubes of lard that originated in the Italian city of Bologna). US Government regulations require American bologna to be finely ground, and it does not contain visible pieces of fat. Bologna can alternatively be made out of chicken, turkey, beef, or pork. It is commonly called bologna and often pronounced and/or spelled baloney. The origin of the name also comes from the origin of mortadella, which is native to Bologna
Bologna sausage is generally made from low quality scraps of meat cuts. Such may be the origin of the slang word baloney, meaning "nonsense". However, US Government regulations define what meats and byproducts can be legally included in bologna. No more than 3.5% non-meat binders and extenders (such as nonfat dry milk, cereal, or dried whole milk) or 2% isolated soy protein may be used, and they must be listed in the ingredients statement on the product label by their common names.
Bologna is usually served in round uniform slices pre-cut in a package or sliced at a deli. There are many bologna producers, including local delis and grocery store meat counters. A national brand, Oscar Mayer, had an advertising campaign in the 1970s with a jingle ("My bologna has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R..."). Some brands of Bologna have an outer layer of pork fat inside the casing.
Ring bologna is an ambiguous term with regional dependencies. One form is produced in two inch (5 cm) diameter sausages that are normally about a foot long (30 cm). These can often be found pickled in a combination of vinegar, salt, sugar and spices. The Pennsylvania Dutch product (popular brands are Berks, Hatfield, and Kunzler) is not at all like plain, beige bologna; it is variegated with variety meats (mainly heart) and small amounts of fat and contains more spices. Kunzler produces both kinds and distinguishes between city (its Juniata brand) and old-fashioned ring bologna.
As to Lebanon Pa - Famous for its baloney or bologna - They apparently drop a baloney(bologna) at 12 Midnight similar to the ball in Times Square...
News Item - Channel 8 WGAL - Susquehanna Valley TV Station:
Preparations are under way for the annual New Year's Eve bologna drop. The Kutztown bologna is being processed at Weaver's.
It will be dropped at midnight during festivities at Ninth and Cumberland streets in the city.
"This one's a little over 7 feet. It's the largest one we've ever made for the bologna drop," said Jerry Landuyt, of Kutztown Bologna.
After making the drop, the bologna will be donated to the Lebanon Rescue Mission.
Pa.
Hi all. The puzzle hung me up a bit today. After saying the other day that I tend to do fairly well on geography question come today I, like Argyle, I opted for LILIA and LITI rather than LIVIA and VITI. In my defense, I have never been to Fiji. I am sure it is quite beautiful, though.
C.C.,
It appears you are confusing ETE (summer) for ETRE (be).
Democrat in a Red State,
Do you mean this building? If so, that is the Oriental Pearl. It is the TV broadcast tower for Shanghai. It is the third tallest tower in the world and, if our guide was correct, the world's tallest broadcast tower.
Happy New Year C.C. and everyone!
Sort of a blah puzzle. Didn't know ELEMI, HESSE, AOUT, EDDIE, LOOPIER.
Well that was a first! I don't know what I hit but suddenly my comment was published - anyway, I had trouble understanding what a LOOPIER was. I have heard of a "LOOP D' LOOP". Maybe the one referred to was French :)
Argyle, I am with you on the resolutions, I never make them.
Dick, great picture!!
Good morning, everyone! Don't do New Year's resolutions, so I don't have one to share. Had no idea on VITI and had forgotten LIVIA, never heard of MELINDA, and need to check out ELEMI. I was thinking track and field for 25D, and could make HOP SKIP JUMP fit, bit that didn't stay long. I nailed MICA and EVANS and was off to the races. C.C., people who ride roller coasters like to compare how high, how fast, and how many loops the really big ones have, thus LOOPIER.
@argyle A man after my own heart!
@winfield Thanks for the baloney info. Interesting what one can find in this world, eh?
@c.c. I stiil don't know about that DOL/"GI bill" pairing. Where did you see that clue? Any idea who "princess" is?
Missed "Hesse" because there`s a story in my husband`s family that they are descendants of Hessian mercenaries hired to fight in the Revolutionary war. The story continues that, when the war was over, they were such thugs, Hessia would not repatriate them. I never let him forget it! :)((Hessia, Prussia, Austria, Bulgaria, all fit the "ia' pattern)
Happy New Year to everyone.
Already so much great information. This wasn't too bad, but I made it harder for myself with things like 3D COMPENSATES so ENSOWS didn't look right and 48A DWELL instead of DWELT...so TWO wasn't there. I haven't ever heard the word AIT(Islet?).
C.C. Isinglass is also (at least in the US) Mica. Wiki: Thin, transparent sheets used for peepholes in boilers and lanterns as it was less likely to shatter than glass at high heat. Also used in "isinglass curtains' in horse drawn carriages and early 20th century autos. There is a line from the song "Surry with the Fringe on Top..."the dashboard's leather, with isinglass curtains you can roll right down".
Martin, thanks for the Shanghai connection, knew the term but not the relationship.
Winfield, the bologna info was very interesting. I knew about the mortadella. There are some restaurants here in the SF Bay Area( and across the country) that are making their own salumis and they are wonderful! Do they really "drop" a 7 ft Bologna??? WOW
Clear Ayes...The Christmas Story is on our "list" of favorite Christmas movies...way above Miracle on 34th Street. So funny.
Since I am one of the new "kids" on the blog, I want to tell you all how much fun it is to intereact with such clever, funny people...you all are terrific. I really enjoy all the things I learn here...keeps me thinking new directions. Thank you for the shared knowledge.
promisemethis,
Your comment: "It appears you are confusing ETE (summer) for ETRE (be)". --c.c. was thinking the vous form of être: vous êtes, would look like étés in the puzzle, and she preferred it to be clued that other way.
Also, I see from your Fiji comment you learn geography the way I did--by going to the places. I find I'm quite ignorant of many places I have never seen.
Recipe for what my son calls "pea helper: (for the dry black-eyed peas).
Chop equal parts of onion, bell pepper, and ripe tomato. Dress with salad vinegar (red wine is best), s&p,garlic powder to taste and a soup con of sugar. Let marinate a couple hours. (note: depending on the venegar you use, it may foam...doesn`t hurt anything.)
I just finished writing "vinegar" 100 times! :)
Linda,
BTW, Hesse is the correct English name for it, not Hessia, unless that is an old fashioned form. In German it's Hessen. I guess English drops the "n" because of a French influence. But it's Wisconsin's sister state, and I ran our sister school program with a school there for 16 years and was always getting the German spelling tripped up by spellcheck which wanted Hesse.
CC - STCC is the acronym for your blog - Star Tribune Crossword Corner - I was just trying to be all inclusive with the question.
As far as the red thong, I think I will pass on that at least this year, maybe I can get the better-half into it (or maybe out of it ;~p )
Happy New Year - I wished it in studying the backside of my eyelids... Hope there are not too many hangovers lurking out there.
Hello,
Visiting my folks in the twin cities, doing the crossword, and had to google the Napoleon phrase and found this site.
I wonder if "absurdity" vs "stupidity" isn't a translation issue, depending on the thought process of the translator. Someone might think of absurdity as a waste of time, therefore stupidity, others may see it as the strange comedy of life, like that governor in Illinois.
LL is a common spanish combination: it's pronounced as a y sound. Me llama is pronounced "may yama" (my name). Me llama es Cristina.
I live in Portland Oregon and there are tunnels there called the Shanghai tunnels. The story is that early in the 20th century drunks in the bar above, or transients, whatever, would be kidnapped and thrown onto ships after being corralled into the tunnels. (to add a dimension to the shanghai conversation).
Happy new years all!!!
I thought this was going to be easy until I hit the SW side. It took me the longest time to see HORSERACING. Foiled again.
The quip seems particularly fitting for 2007. What happened to the economy is more absurd than stupid, Mind boggling absurd. IMO.
Didn’t know LIVIA, ELEME, ELBE, and as usual, the sports reference pistons and magic escaped me, so I didn’t see NBA.
We had a lot of (good) noise in our neighborhood last night; music and fireworks. This morning is unusually quiet. I imagine that’s pretty common around the country.
One of our local teachers voluntarily started evening ESL classes in our library. It’s been a very good experience for everyone, including librarians. Teaching is her second career, and it’s so much more than a job to her.
My New Years resolution is to do as she did; follow my dream.
Here is map for Viti Levu. It is the large island in the Fiji Island group.
I too have long ago given up on New Year resolutions. As I get older, I can't remember the darn things for more than a week or two anyway.
New Year’s Reality Check
Another year, another chance
To start our lives anew;
This time we’ll leap old barriers
To have a real breakthrough.
We’ll take one little step
And then we’ll take one more,
Our unlimited potential
We’ll totally explore.
We’ll show off all our talents
Everyone will be inspired;
(Hmm…while I’m writing this,
I’m getting very tired.)
We’ll give up all bad habits;
We’ll read and learn a lot,
All our goals will be accomplished,
Sigh...or maybe not.
- Joanna Fuchs
@anonymous(Cristina)@1:28 PM When you return home, continue to follow the blog. This is the same puzzle that we get in the Big O. You'll find a very diverse, witty, intelligent group of folks here. C.C. has created quite a community -- Thank You , C.C.
I watched the Rose Parade this morning. I can't seem to get out of the habit. It just seems like the only way to start off New Year's Day. HDTV does make it pretty spectacular.
I only went to the Rose Parade in person once. It was after a party on December 31, 1959. I was 17. My friends had stayed up all night and my energetic best friend wanted to make the hour long drive to Pasadena. She insisted that it would be fun and talked me into going with her. Her boyfriend and another boy I hardly knew (I was boyfriendless at the time.) wanted to go too.
We made it to the parade, but didn't have a place to sit. We stood behind about two rows of other standers and craned our necks, or had to jump up and down to see the floats. It wasn't the best way to (almost) see the parade!
The traffic leaving Pasadena was awful. I was exhausted. We hadn't had much to eat...I think we had half a bag of potato chips and a couple of warm Cokes, left over from the party. I was annoyed with the "boy I hardly knew", and I wasn't too thrilled with my best friend or her boyfriend either. I'm pretty sure they all felt the same way about me and each other. The resolution I made to never do that again is one I have kept for almost 50 years.
It is so much nicer to watch the parade on TV, plopped on the sofa, with a cup of coffee in one hand and a jammy croissant in the other.
clear ayes,
I thought you were going to end that story with saying you married the "boy you hardly knew"! Oh well...
As far as resolutions go, I agree with most views expressed here today. At our age who needs them? Or is it just that we've been there, done that, so often we know it won't work?
I also think that any day is as good as January 1st, if you really want to change a certain behavior, just as long as you pick the date far enough ahead to psych yourself up and become determined enough to do it on that day.
7:20 today. An easy-breezy puzzle for me but with MELINDA, AIT, ELEMI and VITI being unknown (gotten via the crosses).
@argyle: there is a typo in your link to the Fiji map. http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/maps/maps/fiji.jpg is the correct link.
Vijay Singh, the famous golfer is from this island (Viti Levu) in Fiji. He grew up in Nadi on that island, though he now lives in Florida. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijay_Singh.
I was able to get out my driveway to go to breakfast for the first time today since December 17. That means a steak dinner and bottle of merlot at the sports bar tonight for dinner. Yippee!
I must have missed the discussion of the Google map for the blog during the time I was without power (four days). Can someone provide a link to the info?
I'm 14. I did the whole cross word puzzle with my dad using google and 1-800-2 CHA CHA
@embien Since you were missing in action, I added you to the map as one of the first entries. I can't tell you how to access it though, since I'm the owner. I think kazie or clear ayes can point the way, though.
@anonymous @3:36. Way to go! What did you use the 1-800 number for?
Embien,
Clear ayes gave wonderful instructions a few days ago, but I didn't bookmark them. Maybe she or c.c. can lead you in the right direction. Crockett set it up, and is adding people when they ask, but if we try to link to the map, you just get the general googlemaps site.
good afternoon c.c. and all,
no original puzzle comments to make, but wanted to wish everyone an extraordinary new year, hope it is everything you want it to be.
@c.c.: I just can't stand men who speak Shanghai dialect. why not?
@bill: great pic.
@mark & cristina: welcome.
kazie:
Thanks for the Hesse info...I just assumed because they were called "Hessian mercenaries" that they came from "Hessia". (and if you`ve taken any education courses...you KNOW what the letters in "assume" stand for...)
Embien,
It's at :Clear Ayes, December 24 @12.45.
Linda,
I know what you mean. Actually, I found further down on that link that Hessia is a "variant", but it's pretty rare.
"Loopier" is being used as an adjective as in "That roller-coaster has more loops, therefor, it it loopier." Make sense now?
Democrat,
PromiseMe is right. It's the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.
PromiseMe,
Kazie was right about my ETES thinking.
Martin,
Hong is "fragrant" in Cantonese. Kong is "Harbor" as you said earlier. Hence, Hong Kong, the "Fragrant Harbor".
Kazie,
I really like your term "creative guessing".
Dick,
Great to "see" you finally!
Winfield,
Thanks for the "Bologna Drop". So exotic to me.
Carol,
What is a "LOOP D' LOOP"?
Clear Ayes,
So what's the best eye cream you've used?
Crockett,
"GI bill" & DOL is a clue I saw in an old NY Times puzzle. I thought the "princess" is for Jeannie (MN).
Linda,
Re: Hessian mercenaries : Which Revolutionary War were you talking about?
Wolfmom,
Thanks for Isinglass.
Razzberry,
Holy hotwick STCC!
Melissa,
Men just become so sissy when they speak in Shanghai dialect.
That antenna is what we will need in Feb to make those new DTV converters to work. I sure can't get alll the channels I get now with just a set of rabbit ears. I bought a UHF/VHF antenna and I still cannot get more than 3 channels and one of them is a 24 hr weather channel. I'm not able to get he CBS station so I will have to resort to watching David Letterman on You tube.
This was just a collusion of government and business so you will either have to buy a new TV, pay for cable or satellite or just quit watching TV altogether.
Hessian mercenaries : Which Revolutionary War were you talking about?
During the American Revolutionary War, Landgrave Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel (a principality in northern Hesse) and other German leaders hired out thousands of conscripted subjects as auxiliaries to Great Britain to fight against the American revolutionaries. About 30,000 of these soldiers were sold into service, and they came to be called Hessians, because 16,992 of the total 30,067 men came from Hesse-Kassel. Some were direct subjects of King George III; he ruled them as the Elector of Hanover. Other soldiers were sent by Count William of Hesse-Hanau; Duke Charles I of Brunswick-Lüneburg; Prince Frederick of Waldeck; Margrave Karl Alexander of Ansbach-Bayreuth; and Prince Frederick Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst.
The troops were not mercenaries in the modern sense of military professionals who voluntarily hire out their own services for money. As in most armies of the eighteenth century, the men were mainly conscripts, debtors, or the victims of impressment; some were also petty criminals. Pay was low; some soldiers apparently received nothing but their daily food. The officer corps usually consisted of career officers who had served in earlier European wars. The revenues realized from their service went back to the German royalty. Nevertheless, some Hessian units were respected for their discipline and excellent military skills.
Hessians comprised approximately one-quarter of the British forces in the Revolution. They included jäger, hussars, three artillery companies, and four battalions of grenadiers. Most of the infantry were chasseurs (sharpshooters), musketeers, and fusiliers. They were armed mainly with smoothbore muskets, while the Hessian artillery used 3-pounder cannon. Initially, the average regiment was made up of 500–600 men. Later in the war, the regiments had only 300–400 men.
About 18,000 Hessian troops arrived in the Thirteen Colonies in 1776, with more coming in later. They first landed at Staten Island on August 15, 1776, and their first engagement was in the Battle of Long Island. The Hessians fought in almost every battle, although after 1777 they were mainly used as garrison troops. An assortment of Hessians fought in the battles and campaigns in the southern states during 1778–80 (including Guilford Courthouse), and two regiments fought at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781.
George Washington and his armies defeated the Hessians at Trenton NJ 25 Dec 1776
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hessian_(soldiers)
Kazie, Thanks for checking back to December 24th at 12:45 for the blog map finder.
LOL about the "boy I hardly knew". That day was bad enough without having to remember it as the day I first went out with my ex.
I was trying to remember another term that means pretty much the same thing as shanghaiing. I finally remembered Impressment, which was practiced by the British Navy until 1814. Somehow (as with many things British) impressment sounds much more civilized than being shanghaied.
C.C. Eye cream? You don't need to worry about wrinkles for decades. Asian women usually have lovely complexions and don't wrinkle as early as those with European heritage.
I use Estee Lauder products. They are moderately pricey, but not up-in-the-stratosphere expensive. Considering the fact that I am still getting wrinkles, and don't think there is anything short of a facelift that will take them away, I don't see any reason to buy the super expensive stuff. If anybody knows of some magic potion, let us all hear about it!
Anonymous: Excellent history lesson...my husband`s ancestors (from Hessia) did fight in the American Revolutionary War. You wrote more thorough info. than I had ever heard.
CC:
My remedy for wrinkles: gain five pounds a year and keep your skin "smoothed-out."
Anonymous @5:38pm,
Thank you so much for the information. I will read it later.
Richshif,
Forgot to thank you for the song links. Have a safe trip!
Clear Ayes,
I do have tiny under eye wrinkles and I hate them.
Linda,
So true. Whenever I gain a few pounds, I find my skin gets better.
CC: Tiny, under-eye wrinkles COULD be from allergies...at least that`s what I`ve read...
Anonymous:Having taught Spanish (back when I could remember all of it) it is not necessary to say "me llamo ES Linda" because "me llamo" is an idiom which literally means "I call myself..." and you would not say "I call myself is..."sorry...the teacher is STILL in there...
Hello everyone! If you want to get onto the Blog Map, e-mail me (my address is in my profile), and I'll send you the instructions for finding the map that Clear Ayes did up for us at 12:45 On December 24. You can also just use the instructions to view the map -- you don't need to have a placemark. I put the placemarks in the general vicinity, and I will never use your e-mail addresses for anything beyond map questions.
Happy New Year all!
No new year resolutions, just "New Rules" which I make throughout the year when I have a routine behavior I am tired of and want to change.
C.C.> Napoleon was very smart. He calculated the angle of a canon to deliver its ammo to a specific target. He also devised the house numbering system we now use: even numbered houses on the South side of the street, and odd numbers on the North for East/West running streets--and even numbers on the West and odd numbers on the East side for North/South running streets.
As for the French not capitalizing Months, they also don't capitalize days of the week. Another cap. difference is used for book and movie titles. They cap. only the first letter of the first word. As a retired English teacher, that still looks strange to me even though I also taught French for a number of years. That may be because my first language is English, and I didn't learn French until I was in college. I just remembered they also don't cap. names of languages, just the name of the country, i.e., France, french (francais).
BODY SHOPS was totally misleading to me since my ex-husband owned a auto body and fender repair shop. My mind immediately went to cars. I love clues that do that. Really makes me think.
LINDA> You're right on. Once a teacher, always a teacher. "My name is" in French is also a reflexive verb (Je m'appelle Doreen), the same as in Spanish and Italian. Must be a Latin thing. I've forgotten my Latin.
Doreen
Oops. Correction: "an auto body shop." New Rule--proofread.
Doreen
Happy New Year everyone...I finally got around to doing the puzzle online tonight. Being an avid sailor, I have never heard the term Shanghai for "force to be a sailor" so that hung me up right away. Also didn't know an islet was known as an ait or August avignon an aout. Was this in another language today or did I have too much schnapps in the fish house today? By the way, we caught 4 walleyes and 6 crappies and a slight buzz. I also won about $5.00 in change playing poker. That's half of the fun of hanging out in a fish house! I'm curious, what other names do people have for fish houses? I grew up in MI where we called them "shanties". I called them that in MN when I moved here and noone knew what the heck I was talking about.
C.C. Loop D'Loop was an old expression for a roller coaster. I had never heard of Loopier in relation to roller coasters. I guess the 'loopier', the better. More loops, more queasy stomachs, more --- well, you get the picture.
Clear ayes, I totally agree on cosmetics. My Mom sold them at Best's (that was bought out by Nordstrom) and after attending several sales meetings, advised my sister and me to use Vaseline to remove our make up, it is good for skin and won't clog pores.
She said top name brands were the same quality as the lesser brands with the possible exception of Mary Kay, as they were really cheaply produced and used ingredients that were very harsh on skin. Don't waste money on all the hype you hear about products that will reduce lines and wrinkles. They don't work.
If people are vain, they can always get plastic surgery, but those results can be scary too..does anyone out there remember Sally Jessie Raphael?
Whoa! Nuff said.
Happy New Year to one and all!!
Had just begun c/w when family arrived, and so again I am late. I probably had the same problems as others.Loopier was my last fill. Llano,viti inre, and agar gave me pause.. more like a dead stop! Do I have the correct words: ensows and elemi??? Maybe hied isn't a real word either. I was very pleased with what I did remember though and it was fun.I'd like to go to Lake Mead some day.
Carol, add to your list Cher and Kenny Rogers. Yowch!!I'd rather have my wrinkles. Gaining weight doesn't seem to be working for me.And I think Vaseline is the best.It takes off makeup, moisturizes under your nose when you have one of those bad colds with the runny nose.
Did anyone know that there are awards for blogs? There doesn't seem to be one for c/w blogs although I checked and there are plenty for competition. You know this is the best. There is time to nominate @
http://2008.weblogawards.org
Thought for the day:
Life is what we make of it, always has been, always will be.
Grandma Moses
jeannie said at 9:31 PM
I'm curious, what other names do people have for fish houses? I grew up in MI where we called them "shanties".
Somewhere between Grandma Moses country(NY-VT border) and New Hampshire, ice shanties become bob houses.
JD, I think ensows was endows but hied is ok; it's Scotish.
Linda have ever seen the movie The Crossing. Jeff Daniels as George Washington
It was made by A & E and tells the story of Washington crossing the Delaware to defeat the Hessians.
Commodore 64
24:06 for me today 02 Jan 2009
I have some gripes but I will hold my tongue until after CC does the puzzle........................
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