google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday February 24, 2009 Willy A. Wiseman

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Feb 24, 2009

Tuesday February 24, 2009 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: Double O

17A: Kenny Loggins hit: FOOT LOOSE

22A: Handyman's space: TOOL ROOM

33A: Alternative to a T-top: MOON ROOF

40A: Chef's reading: COOKBOOK

49A: Make light of: POOH-POOH

59A: Handsomeness: GOOD LOOK

11D: Cereal brand: FROOT LOOPS

27D: Expectorant source: BLOODROOTS

I have never heard of BLOODROOTS before. They look so clean and innocent. I think I am more of a "Double O" CHOO-CHOO solver rather than a BLOODROOTS one. The clue "Expectorant" is too sophisticated for me to understand.

Too bad GOODEN (45D: Former Mets pitcher), the rotational partner for BOOBOO (5D: Child's injury), is not called GOO GOO, otherwise, We would have one more pair of theme answers.

Dwight GOODEN ruined his career with drug abuse. His rookie season is 1985, the same as Kirby Puckett's and Roger Clemens'. Now Kirby is dead, Clemens is implicated in steroid scandal.

Structurally this is an outstanding puzzle, with total 38 Os in the grid, easily smashed NY Time's 34 Os record created on Dec 16, 1993.

Also, there are 68 theme squares, that's about 35% of the total fills (Total: 191. And 34 blocks). I think that's the most I've encountered in a TMS puzzle.

But I was not excited about this puzzle at all. Too many Os confused me. I like daily puzzles with no more than 5 theme entries.

Across:

5A: A/C figures: BTUS (British Thermal Units). Memorized from doing the Xword. I don't really know what the heck BTU measures.

9A: To the most extreme degree: BY FAR. Really? I've never used "BY FAR" this way. Maybe I confuse BY FAR with SO FAR.

15A: Birthplace of Camembert: ORNE. No idea. ORNE is a department in the northwest of France, named named after the ORNE River. Every time I see Camembert, Dali's "Melting Clock"("The Persistence of Memory") pops into my head. He was inspired by the leftover Camembert cheese dissolving on a hot summer's day.

19A: Feel rapture: SWOON. Its rotational symmetrical partner is BROOD (58A: Hatch eggs). I would prefer BROOD clued as "Feel moody" to contrast "Feel rapture".

20A: Deprive of strength: ENFEEBLE. Thought of ENERVATE, which has 8 letters also.

21A: Fit in: BELONG. Embien, why "You BELONG with me" instead of "You BELONG to me"?

25A: Queen of the fairies: MAB. Coined by Shakespeare. MAB is supposedly "a tiny fairy who comes to people when they sleep. Then she haunts their dreams by making the person dream of what they want and cannot have." Sounds very cruel, doesn't it? Reminds me of Odin's wife Frigg. She has the prophecy power yet she never reveals to others what she knows.

37A: Le Mans lasses: abbr.: MLLES. Got the answer. Did not know where Le Mans is. Quite close to Paris. Host to the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans car race, whatever it is. Know nothing about Grand Prix or Formula One racing. Doubt I will ever be interested. What a mess! You, sir, should have resigned a year ago.

42A: Newton's fruit?: APPLE. Good clue. Could be FIG too.

47A: Shortened bk: ABR (Abridged)

52A: Freetown moola: LEONES. See these banknotes. Had no idea that Freetown is the capital of Sierra Leone. Now, there is word describing a Middle East sheik or some big potatoe. It spells similiar to moola. What is that word? This is really bothering me. It's not moula.

54A: Formal written defense: APOLOGIA. New word to me. Any famous one in history?

60A: MetLife rival: AETNA. Named after the Sicilian vocano I suppose.

63A: Stuffy-sounding: NASAL

Down:

2D: Carolina university: ELON. See this Phoenix Rising statue at ELON University. Their sports teams are called the Phoenix. Learned from doing Xword.

4D: Church coral work: MOTET. I forgot this word. It's "a composition based on a sacred text and usually sung without accompaniment". Rooted in French word "mot".

6D: Ogre associates: TROLLS. I once had a beautifully ugly Norwegian TROLL similar to this one. The real deal.

7D: Family of Indy winners: UNSER

9D: First, second or third infielder: BASEMAN. My favorite BASEMAN.

10D: Mournful wail: YOWL. In Chinese countryside, those villagers really YOWL at the funerals, as if the loudness of their YOWL is the measurement of their love for the deceased.

12D: Egyptian symbols: ATONS. Or ATENS. I am used to the "Egyptian sun god" clue. I have a question JD: If the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs contained only consonants and involved no vowels, why did the moderan interpreation become ATON/ATEN instead of ATIN/ATUN?

18D: Spinks and Ames: LEONS. Bill mentioned the boxer LEON Spinks last time, but I forgot. I also did not know the actor LEON Ames.

21D: Julius or Guy of golf: BOROS. Julius is in Golf HOF. Nothing extraordinary about his son Guy. I've never heard of their names before. Too obscure.

25D: 1700 in letters: MDCC

26D: Saab model: AERO. More often see AERO clued as "Prefix for dynamics".

41D: Two-footed: BIPEDAL. Only know BIPED.

44D: Place side by side: APPOSE. How is it different from juxtapose?

47D: Composer Berg: ALBAN. Why do keep I forgetting this Austrian composer?

48D: Suburb of Cleveland: BEREA. Bloody blue murder! No idea. What's so special about this suburb?

50D: Hawaiian word for foreign: HAOLE. Just learned this word a few days ago. It actually only refers to white people.

53D: Nine: pref.: NONA. As in nonagon. New to me. I only know NONET, the composition for group of nine. Our editor clued ENNEA as "Nine: pref: " before.

55D: Wound from a bullfight: GORE. Come on, this is really "The Assault on Reason", Mr. Editor. Why "Wound" when you have a Nobel Peace/Oscar winner as clue?

C.C.

56 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - the theme made this one pretty easy, right up to the SW and SE. The perps gave me previous unknowns, Alban Berg, Berea, Leones, Bloodroot and Haole. I also never knew 'aton' is another spelling of 'aten', which we see fairly frequently as a 'Sun God' answer.

And has anyone ever used 'enfeeble'? When I had 'en', I was expecting 'enervate'.

Today is National Tortilla Chip Day.

Today's Words of Wisdom: "Trying to hang on to youth, trying to hang on to what was really great twenty years ago, throws you totally off. You've got to go with it and seek the abundance that's in the new thing. If you hang on to the old thing, you will not experience the new." -- Scholar Joseph Campbell

And today's Fun Fact: The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

lois said...

Good morning CC, Dennis, et al., Enjoyed this puzzle a lot...except the SW corner. 27D 'roots' just couldn't show up...still don't get it. What a 'croc'! And I agree w/you, Dennis, 'enfeeble'? I'll 'pooh pooh' that one for now but learn to use it to my advantage later.

Dennis: loved the WoW and the FF today. Never knew that. I thought the straight part was for blowing out your engine.

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

Dennis,
So you knew BOROS? JD discussed about ATEN and ATON a while ago. I am glad the quote only said "new thing" rather than "new people". Seeking the "abundance that's in the new people" would be very dangerous!

Lemonade,
Thanks for TAWNY Kitaen. I remembered that beautiful video. Always wondered who the girl was. How interesting she was once married to Chuck Finley.

Wolfmom,
If ESNE is an Anglo-Saxon term, does it mean that there were no ESNES in old Rome & Athens? Only SERFS there then?

NYTAnonimo said...

Didn't know ALBAN, BOROS or GOODEN either. All the O's helped me to finish the puzzle faster-had put in FRuiTLOOP instead of FROOT before I figured out the theme. I guessed at BLOODROOTS. Liked your story about Dali's inspiration for "Melting Clock" C.C.

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

Lois,
Re: Diamond field yesterday. Sounds very expensive to hit a home run for (with) you.

Crockett,
TAWNY & Puma: So is yesterday's "Brownish orange" clue accurate? I don't see any orange color in the TAWNY link you guys provided.

Tommy,
Your OC Register puzzle yesterday (Get Going) is Universal Syndicate edited by Tim Parker. Totally different from ours.

Dick said...

Good morning CC and all,...a bit of a struggle today. I managed to wallow through all of the puzzle except the SW corner. I was not able to complete that area without help. I did not know 27D bloodrootts, 52A Freetown moola or 47D composer Berg. The NE corner slowed me down a bit as I had Howl in lieu of Yowl and this caused problems until I had the V8 moment.

Hope you all have a great Tuesday. Noo snow to plow today. Great!

Dick said...

CC I have the brother of your troll. I leave him at my camp to protect the property when I am not there.

Dick said...

@ Lois after our discussion of baseball etc yesterday you have given new meaning to "Hope Diamond."

Dennis said...

Dick, no snow for you means no snow for us either; a wonderful thing. I heard a rumor that it actually will get warm again someday.

I'm really sick of the cold stuff. Seems like a good time for another Lauderdale/Boca trip.

lois said...

CC: So I've been told, but well worth it. It's all in how you play the game and in how you work it.

Dick: LOL very cute!

Dennis: about that straight part
...it's also good for blowing out your pipes. I know what a fan you are of that. Adopted any highways lately?

Anonymous said...

C.C
A British Thermal Unit is the amount of energy needed to raise one pound of water 1 degree farinhiet from 59 to 60 degrees.

Lemonade714 said...

Good morning:

JULIUS BOROS is a pretty famous guy, as the oldest player to win a major golf tournament, and his son GUY is one of a very few sons of pros to win a PGA event. He also went to high school with my nephew (maybe this why I know so many different things, just lucky) and was a nice, but slightly wild child. If you liked ARGYLE's 5 ways to first trivia, we could discuss multi-generation golf families.

The O's made the puzzle very doable, though BLOODROOTS sounds ICKY. GOO GOO could have been clued baby talk for the balance, and we could have used MR. VIDAL for GORE.

LEON and Michael Spinks were the first brothers to ever win Olympic Gold medals in the 1976 Olympics. LEON is famous for losing his front teeth http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/boxing/articles/2005/12/21/riches_to_rags/.


ELON is also one of the very few American Universities where the sports teams nickname (the PHOENIX)are not a plural (i.e. like the Huskies, the Gators, my two alma maters).

Happy Fat Tuesday to all, be careful out there; it is chilly in Ft. Lauderdale this morning, with highs only in the low 70's, but there is room at the Inn.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

I got seriously bogged down in the NE corner after confidently putting in UTTER instead of BY FAR for 9A. I correctly put in AORTA for 16A, but I desperately wanted ANKHS for 12D and therefore took it back out. Once I finally corrected my mistake (and accepted that ATONS was actually a word), I then put FRUIT LOOPS instead of FROOT LOOPS for 11D, which bogged me down again. I usually associate SWOON with simple fainting, not feeling rapture, so it took me awhile to see the error of my ways. But I eventually got it all sorted out.

Unknowns today were ORNE, ATONS, BOROS, GOODEN, BLOOD ROOTS and BEREA. The SW corner would have killed me, except that I am familiar with the music of ALBAN Berg and remembered LEONES from a past puzzle. Similarly, the SE corner had the potential to be very sticky, except that I knew what APOLOGIA meant and remembered how to spell HAOLE for a change (I always want to spell it HAOLI).

Overall, a good puzzle. My only minor quibble was with ICKY. As an expression meaning, "That's Gross!" I think that ICK would be better. ICKY is more of an adjective to me. As I said, though, it's a minor quibble.

maria said...

good morning, all you literati

a struggle today but fun, ditto with Dennis on the unknowns and i howled like Dick . .

Dennis, thanks for the WoW and FFs
Lois. u funny. i also like to blow my engine or pipes as the case may be

Another sunny day in paradise ! (we need rain)

Anonymous said...

C.C.,

Bob gave a good definition for BTU. As an Electrical Engineer, I will convert the power consumed by electrical gear in a space to BTU's (1 Watt of load is 3.4 BTU's per hour) and pass that on to the mechanical engineer for determining cooling needs. He would most likely convert it into "Ton's" (12,000 BTU'/Hour=1 Ton), which is a measure of the cooling power of the HVAC equipement he will be specifing. The above conversions have little differences from the exact definition that Bob gave, but they work out in practical terms when designing a building.

A.R.E.

Frey said...

Kind of a quirky puzzle if you ask me... Never heard of APOLOGIA ???

CC and DENNIS: The Biz section of the Naples Daily News highlights the plight of struggling papers... Chapters 11 for Tribune Co., Star Tribune, Journal Register, Phila. Newspapers LLC... to include Philadlephia Inquirer, Daily News, Balitmore sun, Hartford Courant, Hew Haven Register, Daily Press, Orlando Sentinel, Sun Sentinel. I liked the quote from the owner of the Phillie papers: "This resturcturing is focused solely on our debt, not our operations"..."Our operations are sound and profitable"
In other words... we would be profitable if we did not have to pay our debts!!! Way to go Mr. Tierney. :-)

kazie said...

Joyeux mardi gras! Fröhliches Fasching!
The puzzle was a real downer for me. Not knowing FOOTLOOSE, ENFEEBLE, TSE, ABR, BLOODROOTS or LEONES didn't help my mood. I got GOODEN from perps and I completely missed BTUS, TROLLS and BY FAR (I had HOWL for YOWL). Despite having some of the letters in the misses and unknowns, for some reason I just couldn't come up with them. Overall, I didn't find it enjoyable, thought the theme certainly should have helped.

Argyle said...

All I'll say is that by the time I got to the SW corner, I didn't care anymore and let the computer(online) solve it. Didn't even bother to google.

Sea-She Sheila said...

Good morning, everyone. Just a historical note: Prior to becoming a university, the Elon Phoenix used to be the Elon College Fighting Christians with a mascot in a black suit, stovetop hat and scraggly beard--not an image that inspired enthusiastic cheering, though he did try. (I often wondered when sitting at sports events what it was like to be him.) Perhaps he was meant to put the fear of God into the opposing teams.

carol said...

Good morning C.C. and everyone...
Argyle, you said it all for me!

Our newspaper (The Oregonian) ran an article today stating that they are cutting back on the comics they purchase and for the readers to complete a voting survey listing 3 they like and 3 they dislike. I just wonder when they will get rid of the crossword that occupies a corner of the comic page. They gave the reason for the cutbacks as a cost savings measure...they don't want to pay for the strips and they say it also saves ink...but in the next paragraph, they say the daily comics will be in color! That doesn't seem like an ink savings to me. I'll bet the paper form will be gone in a year or 2.

Unknown said...

Hey, CC. What is the one blank space between solutions both ways called? bradvines2@yahoo.com

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Nothing new or different from me. The SW corner had me stumped on ALBAN, BEREA, BLOODROOTS and LEONES. Elsewhere, the perps helped me to complete the fills.

I don't have much time this morning for blogging. After my sick friend visit yesterday, there was art class and this morning we are headed to Costco for some pantry restock shopping.

We are trying to shop only twice a month, rather than once a week now. It saves on gas and it keeps us from buying stuff we don't really need. Everyone we know has cut back on expeditures to weather the economic storm. G.A.H. and I try to remind ourselves that we don't have to worry about a place to live or a steady income, but we know people who are getting very nervous money-wise.

California is really having a tough economic time. Not-too-far-away city Fresno is talking about declaring bankruptcy.

Carol, our local Modesto Bee has already "narrowed" the newspaper by one inch and has cut down on the number of comics, but like you said, strangely they are now in color. They said the new printing system was actually cheaper than black printing.

No movie today, there doesn't seem to be anything playing except horror and chick flicks.

WM said...

Morning C.C. and all...Basically I can just ditto BarryG. I do take exception to 11D, as FROOTLOOPS is a cereal NAME and not the BRAND...A cereal brand would would be General Mills, Kellogg's, etc...

C.C. Re Serf/Esne...I would have to look that up as I only really know things like that about the UK and France. There could certainly be similar land rights, but with diferent terminology. I can research a bit further, or perhaps Maria or Kazie has some input on that.

Dennis...Love the WoW today...that's me, running forward with my arms open wide for all that great new stuff out there.

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning, everyone! Had a hard time starting this one, and solved from the south upward. ORNE, LEONES, APOLOGIA, ATONS, APPOSE and NONA were on my list of unknowns/forgottens today. Like the fresh clue for TSE.

C.C., I am NOT a person to ask about subtle color differences. Just can't see them.

@brad I think it's a BLOCK. C.C. will definitely know!

@wolfmom Good catch on NAME/BRAND.

Anonymous said...

To Promise me this ...

I am not an expert by any means, but my understanding was that the distinction between a yawl and a ketch is the placement of the mizzen mast relative to the rudder post. It is placed to the rear on a yawl for balance and forward on a ketch for drive.

Seatle Sam

WM said...

C.C. Here is a partial answer to the SERF/ESNE question. It seems that the Normans were also a large presence in Italy, particulary the south from 1029-1220 when they were replaced by the German Hohenstaufen 1220-1266. A Feudal System similar to that in existence in France and England was established. Since the Normans held sway in both areas I suppose one could assume that the land rights for ESNE would be similar. I would also think it safe to say that serf-dom was also in full swing down there.

Maybe Maria has some more accurate terminolgy for those words and how they would have been applied...except for food words, my Italian is non-existant.

Hope that was helpful.

Anonymous said...

Sam - you are right - the technical distinction is for oe aft of the rudder post. Since one can't easily see the rudder post, the adage "yawl is small", meaning that the mizzen (aft) sail is usually much smaller on a yawl than on a similar ketch.

I enjoyed today's puzzle, but I had to Google to get Leones and Alban. I'm still not sure what atons are. And I would have loved to have seen "wooden indian" for gore. I wanted AFLAC at first instead of AETNA, HOWL insetad of YOWL, and had a really hard time getting BY FAR.

I think that HAOLE is meant to be very derogatory - similar to the "N" word, or Midget to a little person.

There is a Berea in Kentucky, noted for it's college that targets middle- and low-income students. Every student must work at least part time. Makes for a good education with little socioeconomic pressure.

Auntie Naomi said...

Good Afternoon C.C. and Co.,

This one was fairly easy for me. I got BOROS, ORNE, ELON, APOLOGIA and HAOLE from the fills. Other than that I had no real problems.
While living in Seattle, many years ago, I dated a very pretty Hawaiian girl. Her brother was fond of telling how Captain Cook came to Hawaii and told the locals, 'You will do this, this, this and this, you will not do this, this, this and that and, furthermore, you will be Christians' ... after which they murdered him on the beach. I makes me wonder if HAOLE is merely a corruption of A-HOLE.

C.C.,
Thank you for very interesting information about Dali's inspiration: Camembert.
I cannot think of the word related to 'sheik' off-hand. I will google it.

Some Oscars viewers would argue that Hugh Jackman is not, contrary to People magazine's assertion, the sexiest man alive. There are, no doubt, those who feel that Brad Pitt is sexier, BY FAR. Both are possessed of incredible GOOD LOOKS. I am not sure I could count high enough to measure their combined milliadonis. If I were the SWOONing type, either one would probably do the trick.

MAB? Really? Is that what they call her now?

Anonymous said...

Hi All,
Had a tough time today. I wanted howl 10d, did not know Julius or Guy.
We had an expected family death this weekend. Get your colons checked!
I will be in Florida for a month.
Long trip from Vancouver,will take the whole day and then some.

Will be checking in from time to time.
Best to all,
Geri

carol said...

Promise me at 12:39 LOL re Capt Hook, serves him right!

Geri, I am so sorry for the loss of your family member.

Crockett1947 said...

@geri Sorry for your loss. Even expected ones can be difficult. Keep the good memories and use them to get over the grieving. Travel safely and we'll be looking for your input when you can find the time.

Auntie Naomi said...

@carol, I have noticed that the Sun-Sentinel has taken to printing the comics in B&W every other day. If the paper goes by the wayside, I sure hope the Kindle 3 comes with a touchscreen for doing XWs.

@wolfmom, I believe that FROOTLOOPS is a brand.

@Seattle Sam, I, likewise, am certainly no expert. The Wikipedia page for yawl agrees with you while, at the same time, admitting that the issue is moot: "The common view is that a ketch has the mizzen mast forward of the rudder post whereas the mizzen on a yawl is aft of the rudder post".

@Reggie, My APOLOGIA. I love ya man. XOXOXOXO

@Geri, I take it you are driving down. I hope you have a safe journey and I am very sorry for your loss.

WM said...

Geri...I am so sorry. I am currently helping to get my mom through everything before surgery for the same problem...it has been a tough 4 mos. The upside...prognosis is very good. Take care and have a safe trip.

Another note: I was just looking up MAB and this particular Queen of the Fairies is from Romeo and Juliet(oddly enough , I did know her name for the xword). She is supposed to be the consort of Obereon, King of the Fairies...just got me wondering, because, in A Midsummer's Night Dream, Oberon, King of the Fairies is consorting and cavorting with Titania...Queen of the Fairies! Boy, those fairies do get around!

Mab was also possibly derived from the Celtic Medb or the Welsh Mabb.

Boomer said...

The puzzle was cool, it made me drool, and want to sit by the pool and act like a fool, but I had woork to doo. One of the cloos should have been MN Bowler, the answer? Boomer

Anonymous said...

Mullah (also seen as Mulla) is a term for a Muslim religious leader, usually the head of a mosque.

JD said...

Good morning CC and all,

1st time thru the c/w word today was so sketchy, but I went round and round and round some more to finally finish with a few minor spelling gaffs. mlles: knew answer but not abbrev.Had mogo (thought mojo) for logo.And shame on me for not remembering abr. I NEVER listen to abridged audio books.. have to have the whole book.Never heard of apologia, motet,and others where I guessed a letter or two.
Frootloops really threw me as I didn't get the theme, and that is not a brand.

I do not see atons as being the answer for that clue. The aton is the actual sun disc or sun god. Amenhotep changed his name to Akhenaton because he believed in only one god.

To answer your question about hieroglyphs: At 1st there were several hundred signs that stood for full words or for syllables. They could write nefer(good) with a single sign for the whole word, or 3 signs for the sounds n-f & r.Their so-called alphabet was made up of 24 sounds, and they did not have signs for vowels.. kind of like our license plates. We (although I don't know who we is) filled them in as we heard them with an e, u, or an a.Different books show different spelling with those vowels.Why not an i? I guess to us it didn't sound that way. I know they had a symbol for the sound ah as in father, but it may not have been in the original 24.

kazie said...

Geri and Wolfmom,
My sympathy to Geri, and best wishes to Wolfmom's mom. I lost my mother that way when she was 67, and I've had 5-yearly colonoscopies since I was about 37. It really pays to be checked regularly.

I have nothing to add to the serf/esne discussion. Languages are my forte, but history is a weaker point for me. Certain tidbits have tweaked my interest as I studied and grew older, but there are huge gaps in my knowledge.

WM said...

Ok..This is #4, then I have to go paint...

PromiseMe: Brand vs. Name...I suppose it could be argued either way...

But, If you buy Libby's canned peas, then Libby's is the brand, not the type of canned vegetable. So, if you follow that, Kellogg's is the Brand of cereal and Froot Loops is the name of cereal under the Kellogg's brand name. In the same way, APPLE is the brand name and iPod the product name.In the whole scheme of things it is probably not really important.

Auntie Naomi said...

According to Wikipedia Froot Loops is a brand of breakfast cereal. Also, the official Kellogg's page which lists their products by brand has a listing for Froot Loops.

Whenever I think of Froot Loops I recall a prank that I played on my poor mom. One evening, after having unsuccessfully attempted to reach her earlier in the day, I got her on the phone and told her, "Ah, you're home. I was trying to reach you earlier. I was with Regis Philbin and he was going to give me a million dollars if I could just tell him what 'Tater Tots' were. I had no idea, so I was going to use you as my lifeline." At this point she said, "Well gee I don't know either." I told her, "It turns out they are the children of couch potatoes. Who knew? It figures, though. It's what they do. They lie to us about our food. Like Froot Loops ... did you know that there is no fruit in Froot Loops?" Well it was about then that mom (bless her heart) finally caught on and said, "You're full of $#@!"

Dennis said...

Geri - sorry for your loss. I hope the warm Florida sun will both brighten your spirits and help ease your pain.

Wolfmom, good luck and think positive - I truly believe that helps. From reading your 11:14 post, you've definitely got the right attitude.

Frey, yes, it's hard to believe both our major papers could disappear. The bankruptcy is bad enough, but Tierney gave himself a $250K bonus a couple weeks before the filing. High moral character there.

Lemonade, what part of Lauderdale?

C.C., my Dfette friend, why would 'seeking the abundance that's in new people' be 'very dangerous'?

Lois, so many highways, so little time.

carol said...

Promise Me at 2:05 - you are a hoot! The things boys pull on their poor ol' Moms.
As to fruit in Froot Loops, the same is true of Grape Nuts..no grapes, no nuts!
About the newspapers, I really don't care about the comics, but since the c/w is on that page, I was hoping it would not be cut as well. It sounds like they are going to 1 page instead of the 2 they now have. Oh well, I can always go on line and print it out. I like doing the c/w with pen in hand. :)

Wolfmom at 2:05 - I agree with your explanation on brand names. Also, I wish your Mom well. As Dennis so wisely said, a good attitude is key.

Clear Ayes said...

I'm sorry to read about your family loss, Geri.

William Wordsworth had something particularly beautiful to say about loss and it even ties into today's WoW a little bit.

Splendour in the Grass

What though the radiance
which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass,
of glory in the flower,
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.

- William Wordsworth

Lemonade714 said...

Boomer:

For this puzzle, I would have used hockey great Geffrion, as my clue. Bernie was the inventor of the slap shot, which is where he receiveed his nickname BOOM BOOM. Sadly, he died a few years ago.

Dennis:
I live in Davie, and work mostly in the Port Royale area; though I also work out of Boca offices. Are there a number of other of Lauderdale denizens who are C. C. disciples?

I agree the whole idea of giving bonuses when your business is failing amazes me. Greed is truly the only deity left for many. I like money, but stealing is stealing.

Clear Ayes said...

Lemonade714, Your comments about Boom-Boom Geoffrion brought back a flood of great hockey memories. My family lived in Ontario from 1953 until 1960. Sure, Toronto had the Maple Leafs, but most of that time the Montreal Canadiens were the team to beat. We had come to Canada from California, which wasn't exactly "hockey savvy" at the time. My dad became quite a Canadiens fan and rooted for Boom-Boom, Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Jean Beliveau, Henri "Pocket Rocket" Richard, Doug Harvey and goalkeeper Jacques Plante. They were a real dream team. Even though most of the team members didn't have a front tooth between the bunch of them, they were revered as much as any Hollywood star.

Anonymous said...

Hi Everyone,
Thank you all for your kind thoughts.
It means a lot.

Good luck to your mom Wolfmom.

Dennis I liked the fun fact! I'll be watching for that.

I will fly from Vancouver to Huston then on to Jacksonville. It will be a long day.
After a couple of days rest, will do some touring.
Looking forward to the warm sunny weather.
Best,
Geri

Auntie Naomi said...

Geri, given the length of your travel time, I assumed that you were driving. I hope it is plenty sunny for you once you get down here.

ClearEyes, It looks like we have an abundance of hockey fans on this forum. The Panthers face the Bruins once again tonight. Here's hoping that they can stand up to them once again.

Lemonade,
I just became aware today that you live in Davie. I am on the advisory board of a terrific local organization that promotes modern jazz. Every month, during the arts season, the organization puts on a concert in Davie. I will be heading down to the Nova campus, once again, a week from next Saturday.

Argyle said...

PromiseMeThis, your new avatar captures the real you, doesn't it?

JD said...

Dennis, loved your fun fact.

Geri, so sorry about the death in your family. Enjoy the sun, but also enjoy the company of those you rarely see.

Wolfmom,being positive makes all bumps we meet in the road a little easier. You know we'll be pulling for a speedy recovery.

Boomer@1:33...clever!

Auntie Naomi said...

Argyle,
Since I am f^%$#@! innocent, I have no idea what your talking about.
Never-the-less, seeings how they are out ta get me, I do hope it is not possible to capture the real me.

Lemonade714 said...

PMT:

Thanks for the info on the Jazz, my youngest, Devin, who is the musician in my family, and I really enjoy live Jazz. I almost forgot, my nickname in high school was Jazz. Anyway, I am not sure we will be in town on the 7th, as "Blackfoot" is playing in Ormond Beach late on the 6th, but I will know more, as it also is the beginning of spring break for Devin and I am not sure where we are heading after the show, but we will be at Nova if we are in town. Do you plan on being there? I like the new avatar.

CA: I am glad you were a fan of BOOM BOOM; I grew up as a Black Hawk fan, Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull and Glenn Hall, but really could not but admire those Canadiens. I also learned to appreciate Geoffrion during his work as announcer and on the Miller Lite commercials.

Anonymous said...

Hey CC

I always post so late i never know if you read this. You guys are done with the puzzle at least half a day before I ever get to it.

I enjoy reading the blog though. Did you know that the online clue does not always match the newspaper clue? I like to do them in the paper, but sometimes will do them online. Today 31A was Lunch Locals in the newspaper, Sub Shops online. I thought that was interesting.

I didn't do a few puzzles last week as I was out of town. But you are all talking about the color "tawny" and I remember a book I read to my kids called "The Tawny Scrawny Lion", so I think of it as an orange like the color of a lion. My daughter used to like this book.

Just thought I would share!

Karen

Anonymous said...

try apologia pro vita sua; look it up

kazie said...

Hi Karen,
I know c.c. always reads everything, because they all go to her email box. I usually read all the new ones as they appear through the day and before bed at night--like now.

I think sub shops would have been easier for me--I had diner at first, but sub shop sounds a lot more like a deli to me.

kazie said...

Apology for one's own life? Life's excuses?

embien said...

13:49 today. I'm way late, no one will see this.

The link to the Chicago Tribune puzzle didn't work for several hours today (had to get to the puzzle via other means). Our local paper (The Oregonian) just announced they are cutting back on the comics they publish due to costs, and my subscription rate just went up 50% also. Tough times for the newspaper biz.

@c.c. 21A: Fit in: BELONG. Embien, why "You BELONG with me" instead of "You BELONG to me"?

You belong TO me implies some kind of possession or ownership. You belong WITH me is more like companionship or couples, IMHO.

Argyle said...

Don't worry, Embien, someone will always see your post.

@c.c. 21A: Fit in: BELONG. Embien, why "You BELONG with me" instead of "You BELONG to me"?

I watched her(Taylor Swift) video and she was telling some guy why he should belong with her instead of the bimbo he was currently with.