Theme: PRE - eminent
20A: Undercover cop?: LEGAL PRETENDER (legal tender)
25A: Introduction to "SeinLanguage"?: FUNNY PREFACE (funny face)
47A: Words to rouse an oversleeping ecclesiastic?: GET UP PRELATE (get up late)
54A: Cannery worker's credo?: BORN TO PRESERVE (born to serve)
I was unaware of Jerry Seinfeld's "SeinLanguage". Kazie mentioned two days ago that SEIN is German for "To be", so I was thinking maybe "SeinLanguage" is a German dialact or something.
This puzzle is quite similar to yesterday's, only a few real unknown words. But I struggled once again. Might take me a couple of months to get into Rich Norris' wavelength. I am optimistic though. After all, he can only fool me once with "Little butter?". Shame on - shame on you. Fool me - I won't be fooled again.
I don't understand the apostrophe for clue CHI (44A: T'ai __). No need/reason for that. There is a apostrophe in my hometown name Xi'an because without that mark Xian will become a totally different word. Xi'an has two syllables, Xian has one.
I am so proud that I got AIDA (53A: Musical with the song "The Gods Love Nubia"). Lots of discussions on Nubia on blog Comments section last time when we have the "Nile region" clue.
MULCT stumped quite a few solvers yesterday. But it also appeared in TMS puzzle not long ago and there were some discussions between Mark in Buenos Aires & Kazie regarding the Spanish and Latin root words. Multa is Spanish for "fine".
Here is Kazie's original post: "A couple of additional ideas on MULCT. First, I looked it up in my OED, and the original root is Latin (mulcta), often with the "c" omitted. So it makes sense that the Spanish word Mark suggested earlier would be related. Secondly, I wonder if the slang expression "to milk something" might be related too, since in Latin one form of the verb to milk is "mulctum". Latin for "woman" is "muler"--maybe that's why they've been trying to milk us for all we're worth throughout history!"
Across:
1A: Place for storage: SHED. I was thinking of SILO.
9A: PBS's "The __ Gourmet TV Show": HIPPY. Totally unaware of this show. Used to watch Rachel Ray of Food Network. Unfortunately I can't stand her EVOO.
14A: Pamplona runner: TORO. Spanish for bull. TORO the lawnmower manufacturer is based here in Minnesota.
17A: Quaff: SWIG. Noun or verb here?
19A: Inspector on the telly: MORSE. Unknown to me. Cool name though. Wikipedia says his first name is Endeavor.
23A: Drama award: OBIE. Off-Broadway award. "Drama" made me think of TNT's "We Know Drama". So I thought of EMMY first. Was used to "Theater Award" for OBIE/TONY.
24A: Storytelling slave: REMUS. Uncle REMUS. Was always stumped by BR'ER clue before.
31A: Who, in Quebec: QUI. Add one letter, we have quid, quip, quit & quiz.
37A: Vue and Aura, in the auto world: SATURNS. No idea. Know nothing about car models/prices.
41A: Gp. with Bucks and Bobcats: NBA. Got it from down fills. Both Bucks and Bobcats are such general names, they can be the mascots for any team/sport.
45A: Weakened: WANED. I don't like this clue. 4 letter repetion. "Lost energy" is better.
60A: Mope: SULK. I like K, F ending words. Tell me what kind of bird is this.
61A: "60 quartet member: MAMA. MAMA Cass I suppose.
63A: It can pick up a plane: RADAR. Is there a special term for this kind of "It ..." clue? Yesterday RIATA was clued as "It's twirled in a rodeo".
64A: Catalina, e.g.: ISLE. The same as Catalina Island?
65A: Placekicker Jason: ELAM. Sigh. I forgot this guy's name again. Wikipedia says he won two Super Bowl rings with the Broncos. And he wrote a book called "Monday Night Jihad".
67A: Roe source: SHAD. Plural can be SHAD or SHADS.
66A: __ vu: DEJA. Remember our "Jamais vu" & "Presque vu" discussions a while ago? If you haven't, you should really click on Comments at the end of my blog entry. (beside the envelope mark). Lots of informative and entertaining discussions there.
Down:
1D: Elm et al: Abbr.: STS. I was thinking of Elm tree.
2D: React to a kneeslapper: HOWL. New "laugh" defintion to me. Only know wolves' HOWL.
3D: Part of a wet quintet: ERIE. Great clue. HOMES.
4D: Dad-blasted: DOGGONE. "Dad-blasted" is a new slang to me. I was picturing a woman who blasted her ex-husband because he failed to pay child support.
5D: A right may cause one: FAT LIP. I thought "right" might be a typo. "A fight may cause one" sounds plausible. Then I checked Dictionary and found out it's a boxing term, meaning "a blow delivered by the right hand".
6D: One skipping church?: ELOPER. Oh well, I skipped church, and I was not an ELOPER. Needs a "maybe". I was acturally thinking of ATHEIST.
8D: "Smooth Operator" singer: SADE. Ah, SADE, "The Sweetest Taboo". SADE's sister is a singer too.
9D: Domestic class, briefly: HOME EC. Home Economics?
10D: Triathletes: IRONMEN. I don't understand this one. They are not synonymous to me.
11D: Concealed: PERDU. The only time I've seen PERDU is Proust's "A La Recherche Du Temps PERDU" ("Remembrance of Things Past").
12D: Models: POSES. Verb.
13D: Belgian river: YSER. This has become a gimme.
21D: Deep chasm: ABYSS
22D: Bride follower: TRAIN. Of course. But AISLE came to me first. I don't know what I was thinking.
25D: One who used to spend markkaa: FINN. Easy guess. Here is a banknote. Finnish for mark.
27D: His__: big shot: NIBS. See the word origin. Brings back yesterday's TAI-Pan, Cantonese slang for "big shot".
29D: Pelt: FUR. Stumper for me. I was in the verb direction, thinking of HIT.
34D: "Yeah, right!": I BET. And ACT SO ("38D: "Don't ___ surprised"). Lots of colloquial expressions in Rich Norris' puzzle.
35D: Diminish: FADE
39D: Holy day.: abbr.: THU. Is it because Jesus was crucified on Thursday?
40D: Any ABBA singer: SWEDE. Oh by the way, the vegetable SWEDE (rutabaga) is often pickled in China.
46D: Protected, as a home: ALARMED. Surprising clue for me.
48D: Walks on stage: ENTERS. "Walks onto a stage", right?
49D: Spanish stewlike dish: PAELLA. Literally "frying pan" in Catalan, an official language in Spain, isn't it? Sounds like a crossing of Spanish and French.
50D: Put on the line: RISKED. I was thinking of FISHED.
55D: Greek letters: PSIS. PSI looks like this. Pronounced like "sigh".
56D: Compensate for oversleeping: RUSH. I've forgotten what "oversleeping" feels like. Have to get up early for the blog.
57D: Low-lying area: VALE. So many 4-letter "Low-lying areas": VALE, dale, glen, dell.
58D: Key with four sharps: Abbr.: E MAJ. Guessed. You know, I can never understand why musical education was considered bourgeois and forbidden during Chinese Cultural Revolution.
Complete Answer Grid.
C.C.
20A: Undercover cop?: LEGAL PRETENDER (legal tender)
25A: Introduction to "SeinLanguage"?: FUNNY PREFACE (funny face)
47A: Words to rouse an oversleeping ecclesiastic?: GET UP PRELATE (get up late)
54A: Cannery worker's credo?: BORN TO PRESERVE (born to serve)
I was unaware of Jerry Seinfeld's "SeinLanguage". Kazie mentioned two days ago that SEIN is German for "To be", so I was thinking maybe "SeinLanguage" is a German dialact or something.
This puzzle is quite similar to yesterday's, only a few real unknown words. But I struggled once again. Might take me a couple of months to get into Rich Norris' wavelength. I am optimistic though. After all, he can only fool me once with "Little butter?". Shame on - shame on you. Fool me - I won't be fooled again.
I don't understand the apostrophe for clue CHI (44A: T'ai __). No need/reason for that. There is a apostrophe in my hometown name Xi'an because without that mark Xian will become a totally different word. Xi'an has two syllables, Xian has one.
I am so proud that I got AIDA (53A: Musical with the song "The Gods Love Nubia"). Lots of discussions on Nubia on blog Comments section last time when we have the "Nile region" clue.
MULCT stumped quite a few solvers yesterday. But it also appeared in TMS puzzle not long ago and there were some discussions between Mark in Buenos Aires & Kazie regarding the Spanish and Latin root words. Multa is Spanish for "fine".
Here is Kazie's original post: "A couple of additional ideas on MULCT. First, I looked it up in my OED, and the original root is Latin (mulcta), often with the "c" omitted. So it makes sense that the Spanish word Mark suggested earlier would be related. Secondly, I wonder if the slang expression "to milk something" might be related too, since in Latin one form of the verb to milk is "mulctum". Latin for "woman" is "muler"--maybe that's why they've been trying to milk us for all we're worth throughout history!"
Across:
1A: Place for storage: SHED. I was thinking of SILO.
9A: PBS's "The __ Gourmet TV Show": HIPPY. Totally unaware of this show. Used to watch Rachel Ray of Food Network. Unfortunately I can't stand her EVOO.
14A: Pamplona runner: TORO. Spanish for bull. TORO the lawnmower manufacturer is based here in Minnesota.
17A: Quaff: SWIG. Noun or verb here?
19A: Inspector on the telly: MORSE. Unknown to me. Cool name though. Wikipedia says his first name is Endeavor.
23A: Drama award: OBIE. Off-Broadway award. "Drama" made me think of TNT's "We Know Drama". So I thought of EMMY first. Was used to "Theater Award" for OBIE/TONY.
24A: Storytelling slave: REMUS. Uncle REMUS. Was always stumped by BR'ER clue before.
31A: Who, in Quebec: QUI. Add one letter, we have quid, quip, quit & quiz.
37A: Vue and Aura, in the auto world: SATURNS. No idea. Know nothing about car models/prices.
41A: Gp. with Bucks and Bobcats: NBA. Got it from down fills. Both Bucks and Bobcats are such general names, they can be the mascots for any team/sport.
45A: Weakened: WANED. I don't like this clue. 4 letter repetion. "Lost energy" is better.
60A: Mope: SULK. I like K, F ending words. Tell me what kind of bird is this.
61A: "60 quartet member: MAMA. MAMA Cass I suppose.
63A: It can pick up a plane: RADAR. Is there a special term for this kind of "It ..." clue? Yesterday RIATA was clued as "It's twirled in a rodeo".
64A: Catalina, e.g.: ISLE. The same as Catalina Island?
65A: Placekicker Jason: ELAM. Sigh. I forgot this guy's name again. Wikipedia says he won two Super Bowl rings with the Broncos. And he wrote a book called "Monday Night Jihad".
67A: Roe source: SHAD. Plural can be SHAD or SHADS.
66A: __ vu: DEJA. Remember our "Jamais vu" & "Presque vu" discussions a while ago? If you haven't, you should really click on Comments at the end of my blog entry. (beside the envelope mark). Lots of informative and entertaining discussions there.
Down:
1D: Elm et al: Abbr.: STS. I was thinking of Elm tree.
2D: React to a kneeslapper: HOWL. New "laugh" defintion to me. Only know wolves' HOWL.
3D: Part of a wet quintet: ERIE. Great clue. HOMES.
4D: Dad-blasted: DOGGONE. "Dad-blasted" is a new slang to me. I was picturing a woman who blasted her ex-husband because he failed to pay child support.
5D: A right may cause one: FAT LIP. I thought "right" might be a typo. "A fight may cause one" sounds plausible. Then I checked Dictionary and found out it's a boxing term, meaning "a blow delivered by the right hand".
6D: One skipping church?: ELOPER. Oh well, I skipped church, and I was not an ELOPER. Needs a "maybe". I was acturally thinking of ATHEIST.
8D: "Smooth Operator" singer: SADE. Ah, SADE, "The Sweetest Taboo". SADE's sister is a singer too.
9D: Domestic class, briefly: HOME EC. Home Economics?
10D: Triathletes: IRONMEN. I don't understand this one. They are not synonymous to me.
11D: Concealed: PERDU. The only time I've seen PERDU is Proust's "A La Recherche Du Temps PERDU" ("Remembrance of Things Past").
12D: Models: POSES. Verb.
13D: Belgian river: YSER. This has become a gimme.
21D: Deep chasm: ABYSS
22D: Bride follower: TRAIN. Of course. But AISLE came to me first. I don't know what I was thinking.
25D: One who used to spend markkaa: FINN. Easy guess. Here is a banknote. Finnish for mark.
27D: His__: big shot: NIBS. See the word origin. Brings back yesterday's TAI-Pan, Cantonese slang for "big shot".
29D: Pelt: FUR. Stumper for me. I was in the verb direction, thinking of HIT.
34D: "Yeah, right!": I BET. And ACT SO ("38D: "Don't ___ surprised"). Lots of colloquial expressions in Rich Norris' puzzle.
35D: Diminish: FADE
39D: Holy day.: abbr.: THU. Is it because Jesus was crucified on Thursday?
40D: Any ABBA singer: SWEDE. Oh by the way, the vegetable SWEDE (rutabaga) is often pickled in China.
46D: Protected, as a home: ALARMED. Surprising clue for me.
48D: Walks on stage: ENTERS. "Walks onto a stage", right?
49D: Spanish stewlike dish: PAELLA. Literally "frying pan" in Catalan, an official language in Spain, isn't it? Sounds like a crossing of Spanish and French.
50D: Put on the line: RISKED. I was thinking of FISHED.
55D: Greek letters: PSIS. PSI looks like this. Pronounced like "sigh".
56D: Compensate for oversleeping: RUSH. I've forgotten what "oversleeping" feels like. Have to get up early for the blog.
57D: Low-lying area: VALE. So many 4-letter "Low-lying areas": VALE, dale, glen, dell.
58D: Key with four sharps: Abbr.: E MAJ. Guessed. You know, I can never understand why musical education was considered bourgeois and forbidden during Chinese Cultural Revolution.
Complete Answer Grid.
C.C.
102 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - Well, this was more like what we were expecting, huh? I had stumbling blocks all over the place, but surprised myself by getting through without tugging on the g-string. I'd have been SOL had it not been for the perps and the theme. Didn't know 'Author Quindlen', the musical from 'Gods Love Nubia', and all I could think of initially for PBS' 'gourmet' was 'frugal'. Cleverest clue, for me, was 'It can pick up a plane'.
Today is National "Joe" Day. It's evidently a chance to change your name (to Joe, of course), if only for a day.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "Never have I enjoyed youth so thoroughly as I have in my old age." -- Writer George Santayana
More Fun Facts:
- The Asiatic Huns punished convicted male rapists and adulterers with castration. Female adulterers were merely cut in two.
- In Uzbekistan, it's legal to marry a yak, as long as it's of the opposite sex.
- The average child recognizes more than 200 company logos by the time he or she enters elementary school.
Dennis,
My Mandarin name Zhou is pronounced like Joe. So I will be happy to enjoy this "National Joe Day". As for the Asiatic Huns treatment for the adulterers, does it mean that the females were killed? So cruel! Is that why Attila the Hun is called "Scourge of God"? What a sick law in Uzbekistan!
Carol,
Happy Joe Day!
Kazie & Martin,
I finally got YADA, thanks.
Lemonade,
I think you should strive to be #100 every day. And let Jeannie have her favorite #69.
Kazie,
Re: MULCT. Good memory. It's clued as "Penalize by fining" in our puzzle last time.
SaminMiam,
Welcome! Hope to hear from you regularly.
Elissa,
Dictionary.com #2 definition for CABALA is "Any occult or secret doctrine or science". So the clue is fine. What's the answer for the question: "What do you call a lawyer with an IQ of 50? Your Honor." IPSE dixit?
Wolfmom,
What did Salinger's niece say about him?
C.C., yes, typically people cut in half are considered dead people. I think Atilla earned his 'Scourge of God' title for many reasons, this among them.
I think your bird is an auk.
Off to the gym.
Dennis,
Oh, I had the suspicion that the female sex organ was cut into two. You sure know your birds.
Lola,
"Come in sans T" is a clever made-up clue. Not legit though.
Razzberry,
You did "Annoy the Hell Out of Me" yesterday. Thanks.
Laura,
Welcome! How do you feel about the Newsday puzzles? Do you like them better than the old TMS Daily? I hope you give LA Times a try.
Clear Ayes,
Why do you want to go to Tibet? Nice to see the Rick Roll link again.
PromiseMe,
No, I've never seen "The Tudors". Thanks for Yafo and Jaffa. Very clever ENER clue.
Tobylee,
Great ENER clue too.
Karen Q,
I have no relationship with Star Tribune. Have a good trip!
Windover,
What is "President Coolidge and his wife visit the duck farm" effect?
I’ve just been lurking for a while, giving all the wonderful new people a chance to talk. I’ve always been more of an observer than participant. But I just had to say what a pleasant surprise the new puzzles are.
I think Mr. Norris is giving us some special puzzles to ease the transition. Not easy, but do-able and intriguing. I haven’t needed the g-spot yet, but only because I’m using the red letter helps online. My first look at the puzzle makes me feel hopeless, but I love (so far) a lot of the clues and I can actually guess the theme words. Wow. I’m having a lot more fun this week than last. And my name is in today’s puzzle (54D), linked to Bless. Whoo Hoo!! My blessings on all of you, for what they’re worth. ☺
I wanted Groom for BRIDE FOLLOWER, and I think the clueing for NASA is clever.
I like the idea of national Joe day, but I’m calling it Joey day, for my wonderful grandson.
Embien
Oh no, now you got me confused with PSE dixit and IPSO factor.
Mainiac,
Do you cook every day? What is G & T? I am so sorry about your dog.
Zac,
I am going to conduct a survey next Monday. Will be interested to see how others feel about the switch.
Richshif,
Nice to see you comment here regularly now.
Barb B,
Great to see you again. More fun to be a participant! Don't go back lurking again. You were deeply missed.
Warren,
Seeing your post last night put a big smile on my face.
Barry G,
Loved your 7:00pm comment.
Linda,
"Gize" prefix for ENER won't work. Gize is not a stand-alone word. Clever IPSE dixit remark.
Ink,
Congratulations on the new project! Who was the Ma Clampet you were thinking about last night?
Finally, coming out after a lenthy lucking....
Hello,
Really enjoying this along with all commments as I tend to wake up around 3:00 am (I'm in CA)
I can promise I can participate more from now on...
One comment on 61A - I believe the clue means Mamas & Papas...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mamas_and_the_Papas
Good morning all,
CC, you said:
6D: One skipping church?: ELOPER. Oh well, I skipped church, and I was not an ELOPER. Needs a "maybe". I was actually thinking of ATHEIST.
Maybe that's what the question mark in the clue was for -- to take the place of 'maybe.'
That must be what a Friday/Saturday clue looks like.
Thanks for your welcome note, CC. I like it here.
JOE (in honor of the day)
Just not quite clicking in with this puzzle yet but I am getting there. I guessed at the Pre theme but could only get BORN TO PRESERVE. That left me struggling with the upper part of the puzzle. I usually fold up the newspaper and work the grid. Once I'm stuck I come here. In order to get in sync with this one I'm going to start working it on line before I get here. Maybe that will help.
Thanks all for the condolences. I'm not sure when but more than likely we'll be heading to the SPCA at some point.
CC, My cooking depends on my schedule. If its a busy week I generally make a big pot of something Sunday night which we eat throughout the week, breaking it up with "quickie meals" (grilled something, rice and a veggie)
My kids Love breakfast for dinner. We do that so the wife and I can eat some more eclectic dishes on the weekend. We've been doing it frequently enough that my 10 year old asked if we were running out of money. Gotta get that kid back on some meat and potatoes!
Toby, Actually its a new house that I'm trying to finish. A buddy of mine gives me shit that all I need is a couple of cows and some yard birds and I'd be a farmer. He jokingly calls my house the homestead.
Barry, glad to hear from you!
Sleet and snow for a bit this AM. Getting some work done so I can hit the gym.
Have a good one!!
I wanted SAFE for SHED: BARN and SILO work too. I also wanted WEARY for WANED, SURE for I BET, GUARDED for ALARMED. I actually did fairly well but never quite got the clue: PRE appeared four times due to the perps and when I got BORN TO (PRE)SERVE I figured they were all going to be puns but I didn't quite figure it out; for FUNNY PREFACE, for example, I had JERRY PREFACE, missing the point entirely. I also had GET UP PREISTY for a while. :)
For "T'ai ___" I was thinking WAN, NAN or PAN and didn't think of CHI. The reason for the T' is because a lot of people still use Wade Giles romanisation, especially here in Taiwan. I find it really annoying because the sounds j, q, zh, and ch all become ch or ch' which makles it almost impossible to know how to pronounce the original Chinese correctly. Some people here, however, resist using Pinyin romanisation because they see it as a "concession to the Chinese Communist Party" to do so.
Martin
Oh, I almost forgot! I didn't like the clue for PERDU ("Concealed") because PERDU in French means "lost" not "hidden". I only got it from the perps.
I did like the clue for MORSE ("Inspector on the telly") because "telly" is British slang for TV show so I knew right away that this was somebody on a British TV show.
Yes, I do realise that priest is spelt "priest".
Martin
I did better than I thought I would do on this puzzle... I had BULL instead of TORO which of course made the NW a flop for me. There are certainly a lot of clever clues in the LAT... HOME EC, RADAR, FAT LIP etc. Compared to the former TMS ones it is a lot of use of slang and kind of a TV Guide style to it. Monday through Wednesday were too easy... Thursday OK... and Friday to Cute for me. Give me Barry Silk or even Jo Vita anyday.
Our local paper has a steady stream of letters to the editor complaining about puzzle change. Changing could not have saved them anything. Why did they do it?
A fun but very tricky puzzle, I especially enjoyed ALARMED, even though I have never heard the word used that way. The theme was really well done, but I could not get going until I filled GET UP PRELATE, after which the other theme answers made sense. Having many relatives who can, I also liked the BORN TO PRESERVE. When I was a child, there was a saying among the New England farmers, "We eat what we can, and what we can't, we can."
PERDU is a French word; that will irritate some of our solvers.
ELOPERS, also was a stretch, but I can't think of another clue for those letters.
Jason ELAM also is hardly a household name; he does share the record for the longest field goal in NFL history with TOM DEMPSEY, and many other kicking records. He is still playing, I believe in Atlanta, now.
SWIG is a verb, drinking quickly.
The challenge to Triathletes which long has had them referred to as IRONMEN, of cycling, swimming and running does qualify them for this title. Triathalon
It is great to have 100 posts a day, so yes, I will try. Happy Friday.
Barb B, just great to see you again - hopefully you'll stay with us now.
Lemonade, isn't 'swig' a noun also, as in, "I took a big swig of whiskey"?
SJ from SJ, welcome to the zoo.
C.C. said, You sure know your birds.
On this blog, I'm certainly not the only one...
Hey, folks!
Took a look at this one online and thought I'd pop in for a few seconds. Overall, I found it surprisingly easy, given what I'd heard about late week puzzles. But there were two isolated sections that destroyed me. The first was the NE corner, where I couldn't come up with HIPPY to save my life, couldn't make heads nor tails out of _ERDU, and went through every letter of the alphabet without being able to figure out the P in POSERS.
Oh -- and I looked up PERDU after the fact and discovered that it is a proper English word and not a French one after all. It's just a completely obsolete word which has no business being in a crossword puzzle without some sort of indication to that fact...
The other section was right in the middle. As C. C. pointed out, there's no need for the apostrophe in Tai CHI and seeing it there totally threw me off. I know what Tai CHI is -- my inlaws practice every morning in our backyard. But I just didn't realize that was what the clue was looking for due to that damned apostrophe. And it just didn't occur to me that a holy day might be something as generic as THU. So that intersecting square got left blank.
As for the rest of the puzzle, no unknowns and the clues weren't terribly obscure. In fact, they seemed a little overly helpful in spots. Did we really need "in the auto world" appended to 37A? Maybe on a Monday or a Tuesday, but not on a Friday...
OK, that was more than a few seconds. Fortunately, I type fast! ^_^
Toads live on land frogs in ponds.
Toads live on land frogs in ponds.
Good morning CC and all,...another very interesting puzzle today. I tried to force silo for 1A which made it difficult to figure out the down clues in that section. I left that corner unfilled and worked on the remainder of the puzzle. Getting the theme early on really helped to get other fills. I was doing well until the SE corner. There the hammer fell and I could not complete that section without help.
After a few trips to the coffee pot I erased silo, got dog gone, finally recognized shed and the rest is history.
The clues I liked were Vue and Aura, Houston shuttle letters, It can pick up a plane and Cannery worker's credo.
I hope you all have a great Friday and week end.
Linda - sorry I missed your question the first time... I'm afraid somedays I don't follow up... :-(
but, no I don't know Kris Allen. Conway's a pretty good sized town (50,000+) and I'd never heard of him before his American Idol adventure. I have heard comments from a few who do know him and they say he's a real nice guy and the "real deal".
I posted this on Thursday's comment section but I was afraid you might not get it so I put it on Friday's too... to the rest of you: sorry for the duplication... ;-)
It was with much relief that I was able to complete today's puzzle with a minimum of googling... I had to have help on a few things that just slipped under my radar... I had never seen or heard of the Hippy Gourmet and guessed that SA????? might be Saturns, but wanted to make sure (since I use ink... ;-) - I vaguely remember "PERDU" and had forgotten completely about "Alta Vista". The bottom line? I think I'm going to enjoy the Rich Norris era!! I'm looking forward to the Saturday level - although it may be over my head!!
CC:
I was hoping to get Dennis or Lois to answer your question, but here goes. The story may or may not be true; doesn't really matter.
Pres. & Mrs. Coolidge were visiting a farm, and being given a tour, separately. When Mrs. C. Was in the vicinity of the duck yard, the drake was engaged in, let's say, 'pleasuring' one of the ducks, and then another. Mrs. C asked the guide, "how many times can he do that in a day"? " Quite a few", said the guide. "Be sure and tell Mr. Coolidge that", and later the guide did so. "is it always the same duck?" asked the Pres. "No" , said the guide. "be sure and tell Mrs. Coolidge that", said Calvin.
I think you can apply that to Lemonades (facetious) claim yesterday. I know Carol, Jeannie, Lois, and Dennis can, and if further explanation is needed they can supply it.
BTW, a better translation of Proust's title is "In Search
Of Lost Time". His original English translator was not very accurate.
Windhover
20 A was confusing how is an undercover cop legal (pre)tender?
47A: Words to rouse an oversleeping ecclesiastic?: GET UP PRELATE
pre means before so if you are late you can't be prior to being late.
If you are supposed to start work at 9 AM and awaken @ 9:45 if you do that often enough you won't have a job.
I really hate the crossword clues that end in a "?" It gives them a license to be cute. You can't google them or use one across dot com either.
THE MONKEYS DEAD THE SHOWS OVER SUE YA!
Good morning to all.
I thought yesterday's puzzle was worse than today's. No "G-ing" and the perps helped with those I didn't know right off the bat.
National Joe Day. Joe the Plumber? Or a cup of Joe?
Kept thinking about a "class" like elite for "Domestic Class". Forgot about that darn Home Economics course I HAD to take in high school.
Remus brings to mind Romulus and Remus, the supposed founders of Rome. Going back a bit further you can find mythology says they are descendants of Aeneis, the Greek hero of Virgil's (I think) Aeneid. He survived the Trojan War. Of course, Star Trek fans will think of the two planets that are the home worlds of the Romulan Star Empire.
Never heard of perdu for concealed. All I found was for a soldier sent on a dangerous mission. Is the soldier concealed?
Denny Doherty, John Phillips, Michele Phillips, and Cass Elliot - The Mamas & The Papas. Mama Cass was the best known.
63 yard field goal (10/25/98) by Jason Elam (Denver Broncos) tied the NFL record set by Tom Dempsey of the New Orleans Saints (11/08/70).
The Iron Man Triathlon is one of the most famous triathlon (running, biking, swimming) events.
Maundy Thursday (also called Holy Thursday) is the day on which Jesus had the Last Supper. He was crucified on Good Friday.
Enough babbling. Have a great Friday.
c.c.,
The bird is a tufted puffin. We saw them in the Seward Sea Life Center in Alaska. Sorry Dennis!
Thanks for digging up my earlier research on MULCT. Believe it or not, I'd forgotten most of it!
I enjoyed this puzzle but it was definitely a mind stretcher. I googled all the names, and then was able to get most of it out unassisted. If I'd been online with red help it would have gone faster, but not as satisfying, I think.
Kazie, you're right. It is, at least, part of the auk family.
DrDad, how did you have to take Home Ec?
Anon@8:51, I think the nice part about the '?' clues is that it forces you to think outside the box; they're usually pretty clever clues.
Windhover, that's a great story; I'm sure the DFettes can handle any further explanation if necessary.
Barry, you're right about 'perdu'; should have (obs.) as part of the clue.
Sigh, not my best effort today. Hippy and Legal Pretender did me in. Think I'll have another cuppa Joe - way too much wine way too late last nite - as good as an excuse as any for not focusing. Wonder what the Huns would have done with convicted Uzbekistan yak adulterers?
Has anyone ever seen "The Hippy Gourmet" - sounds like an oxymoron.
The powers that be in high school found (in their eternal wisdom) that it was necessary for us to take a quarter (at least it wasn't a whole semester or year) of Home Ec in order to graduate. I took that in my freshman year and got it out of the way so I could concentrate on more important things - like CHEMISTRY AND MATHEMATICS!!!!!!!! What a complete waste of time taking that Nimrod course. I was able to use it more as a study hall because you didn't need to take notes or study to pass the damn thing.
Attila is known in Western history and tradition as the grim flagellum dei (Latin: "Scourge of God"), and his name has become a byword for cruelty and barbarism. Some of this may have arisen from confusion between him and later steppe warlords such as Genghis Khan and Timur (Tamerlane). All are considered to be cruel, clever, and blood-thirsty lovers of battle and pillage.
Morning, all,
I am writing this before reading every ones' posts, so if I duplicate some comments, forgive me. I knew I had a problem with bull in the NW corner, and as soon as I had a V8 moment and changed to toro, things got a lot easier. I was able to solve about two thirds of the puzzle before going to an early meeting, and just finished the rest.
This was not as hard as I had expected and was fun. I liked the clue for Morse as I was a big fan of his on PBS. I believe John Thaw has gone the way of all flesh. The clue about the wet quintet was new to me and clever, I thought.
Now I will see what you all had to say.
Good morning CC et al., if this is the hammer, it's all good, unless, like Barb B said - we're getting eased in. If so, then I might be looking for a flame thrower soon. I hate 22D -bride train. Would rather gravy, wagon..anything but bride. And disliked Eloper -weak. Liked 3D -wet quintet -cute.
TGIF! 'I bet' I'll end up in the
wood 'shed' (or behind it) tonight b/c I intend to check out the 'nibs' of some ironmen, kissing some toads in the process, and blessing the swigs that enhance the fun... actually may experience Deja Vu all over again, as Yogi said. It's all good, repeatedly.
Windhover: hilarious story and well done! So glad you fielded that one.
Barb B: good to see you back. Stay.
CC 5:57: LMAO Yeah, 'Denis' sure should know his birds! He's nailed them on land, sea and in air... I personally would christen him the 'birdman' from Jersey and toast to his prowess every chance I get... Cheers, 'Denis' with the 4inch thumbs...you're the MAN!
Enjoy your day.
Dennis said:
"Cleverest clue, for me, was 'It can pick up a plane'."
I agree! By far my favorite of the day.
I was good everywhere except the NW corner, oddly enough. I did like "part of a wet quintet" as a clue though.
Took me longer to finish than the M-W puzzle this week, but not as long as the Thus. puzzle. There are several clues I wouldn't have gotten at all had it not been for perps, like "PERDU" and "NAIF" (though I thought the cluing for that one quite clever).
I'm not sure, though, that most Spaniards would consider PAELLA to be a "stewlike dish" - at least it never was in any of the places in Spain I ate it. When I hear "stewlike" I think of something quite wet and juicy. I think paella isn't so much.
C.C.
I don't know if "It..." type clues have a name but I love solving them and I love putting them in puzzles. It is both a very general and very specific clue at the same time.
The clue "one skipping church" for ELOPER didn't have a "maybe" after it because it was a Friday puzzle. Earlier in the week it would have "maybe" appended to it.
C.C. The answer is "Your Honor", which is what you call a judge. Lawyers often think that judges are not so smart - like whenever the judge doesn't agree with them.
This puzzle definitely made me think and struggle. I can't seem to remember YSER even when I already had yse, having gotten HIPPY from Google. Never heard of that show. SWIG came easily after just seeing it. I quickly switched bull to TORO when I got STS. PERDU - never heard of it. I thought 'pelt' was a verb and 'models' was a noun, so FUR and POSES were slow in coming. I already had "AI" filled in so I thought bride follower was "SMAID". My favorite clue was "wet quintet".
I loved the Inspector Morse TV show and books and did not know his first name was Endeavor. He is always called "Morse", even by his love interests. He dies in the last episode/book "The Remorseful Day" and it really effected me. I could hardly read the words for the tears. I gave the book to my husband to read on a business trip. He said the woman sitting next to him asked him if he was okay, because the tears were running down his cheeks as he read, which you just don't expect when you see a 6'2" 220 lb fully bearded man reading.
I actually thought this was a pretty easy puzzle for a Friday. I usually struggle a lot more. I didn't have to google much and the answers flowed fairly easily (for a Friday).
CC: To (mis)quote Psalms 119:99, "I have less understanding than all my teachers..." hence the wrong cluing using "GIZE." Live and (hopefully) learn. You should write a book about "XW Puzzle Cluing Etiquette".
Mr. Norris keeps me off balance (with simple, straight-forward clues mixed in with clever, mis-direction ones) and I like it! (although I may yet drown in correcting ink!)
Concerning Mama Cass: We always heard that she died from choking on a sandwich...true?
Duglesmack: Thanks for the info on Kris Allen. I`ve heard the same. We`re all hoping "Rottenwood" doesn`t corrupt him (and that he`ll be like Joseph in Egypt.)
jeannie: Did you get my last post on Thursday?
I have a husband who studies economics as if his life depended on it ( and it does! )
He saw the "writing on the wall" 3 years ago and got out of the market. He says real estate is the one investment that has stayed relatively "safe" in this recession-bordering-on-depression,
and was the same for the last (Great) one. There are good tax breaks associated with up-keep on said investments. This was for we "numbers-challenged, just-beginning-to-understand-how-it-all-works, works-xws-to-get-our-minds-off-it people out there.
You know who you are.
MY fun fact for the day:
David cut off the giant`s head with the giant`s own sword, proving that he knew how to get ahead in this world! (snort guffaw, chortle!)
Boyd,
I agree about paella, more a risotto with plenty of goodies in it.
Also "babe in the woods" took me a while to switch from FAWN to NAIF, only after going back to IRONMEN.
c.c.,
I had the same thought about seinLanguage too, but didn't see any way to work German into it.
In addition to National "Joe" Day. (everyone who hates their name can be called Joe today), Ii is also Fly a Kite Day, Celebrate Exchange Day, Education & Sharing Day, Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day, and Viagra Day (FDA approved Viagra on this day in 1998 - what a rise that created!!!!).
I just couldn't resist on that last one. Lois will be ever so happy.
Good morning, c.c. and all
Happy Joe day to you !
Did not fare too well, had to come here for all the long ones.
Perdu, was not fair, did not connect it to Concealed.
BarryG, Did we really need "in the auto world" ? Give me a break, i need all the clues i can get ! LoL
Well, today was hammer for me for sure, i' ll just keep on plugging .
Windhover, enjoyed the Coolidge story .
Lois, you are hilarious, thanks for being you
My horoscope in today’s paper reads “Put everything into order, both down and across. Focus on the details, and the puzzle falls into place.” Good advice.
Today’s puzzle was either easier than yesterdays, or I am getting more accustomed to this editors cluing. The clue for 6D “one skipping church?” was very clever as was 3D “part of a wet quintet”. I got the theme early on (remove ‘pre’ to create a familiar phrase) but was curious how cc would name it. “PRE-eminent” is excellent! Unlike anonymous @8:51, I like these type of “cute” themes precisely because you cannot Google them. It makes the puzzle a bit more of a challenge.
I was a bit confused though by the clue for 11D. PERDU is the French work meaning lost. “Concealed” has a slightly different meaning to me.
John Thaw as Morse in the PBS series of Mystery Theatre was a favorite of mine. Morse drove a classic Jaguar, loved poetry and Wagner. His character was created by author Colin Dexter. Morse was known only by Morse. His nickname from college was Pagan. His Christian name was revealed only after his death…Endeavor! John Thaw died in 2002.
@cc…The initial P in the Greek letter PSI is also pronounced, so it is really sounds like “psee” (long e sound).
@Dennis..Yak is a male; dri is a female.
@cc…The Clampetts (I misspelled it yesterday as Clampet) was the family in the awful tv series The Beverly Hillbillies. I thought Jed Clampett called his mother MA. Really, I was just desperately trying to think of an answer for the MA clue that started with a “C”.
And thanks for your congratulations on my new project. I would really have preferred another month or two off, but in this market especially, it behooves me to take what I can get when I can get it.
Very funny Mr. Dad,
Joe the Plumber ! and Viagra . . .
I would not touch that with a ten foot pole !
A tricky puzzle for me, Hippy Gourmet? Perdu? I finally made a bookmark for the LA times crossword and used the online puzzle to guess at letters that way --
RE: Mama Cass? I found this article that says she died of a heart attack.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Elliot
;-)
--Warren
I noticed that you didn't recognize 45D, Sha, in Thursday's puzzle. It is Sha-Na-Na, not Sha-La-La. It is also the name of a singing group from the fifty's.
Good day all,
I got stuck in a few areas but a good challenge today. Hippy and Perdue completely stumped me, and once I got those with some g spotting I still couldn't figure out what home ec really was. A little slow today I guess.
Had to look up Elam to get the SE corner done. Lots of fun otherwise. I really liked the wet quintet clue as Erie is so often clued as the same "part of HOMES" or such.
All in all doable with just a smidgeon of help. As my husband is a triathlete, Ironmen came to me right away. Triathlons come in a variety of lengths - sprint and olympic distances, as well as the real "Ironman" which takes place on the island of Hawaii. He would love to do one, but I fear we wouldn't see him for years with the training involved. I would never encourage him.
Just as in yesterdays puzzle, the NE proved to be my Waterloo. Perdu was totally unfair and inaccurate. I wanted Happy Gourmet, even though that was as much an unknown to me as the real answer,"Hippy". Hmph!!! I also wanted waif instead of naif. I knew that wasn't quite right, but I was stretching. I wanted Groom for bride follower. On a more positive note, I really enjoyed the clue, "Part of a wet quintet" more than the standard, "Part of HOMES"
It's taking a while, but I hope to soon be on the same wavelength as Mr. Norris.
Hay nos vemos
Ooh, may head, just what was that in my coffee yesterday? Seems like yesterday was just a blur! Sure hope I didn’t annoy anyone with my posts ;~o)
I think this was the recipe that I tried:
Cafe Royal
3 oz. premium, dark roast, medium ground coffee
Add 1 Tbsp. of sugar
Pour 3 oz. of Bourbon on top.
Not sure what happened after my 4th cup!
Ooh, may have to have some hair of the dog!!!
Things that make you go hmmmm!?!?
+ How much deeper would oceans be if sponges didn't live there?
+ If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the OTHERS here for?
Truisms to Live By...
+ Hell hath no fury like the lawyer of a woman scorned.
Liked today’s xw – wasn’t a sledge; more like a tack! Pulled a few G’s but I’m sure that isn’t why I feel the way I do!
Dennis - I'm going to have to find a different cup of "Joe"
Good morning C.C. and everyone, quite a hammer for me, but surprised myself by looking up 2 words and all the others started to fall into place. I didn't know 9A (HIPPY),I was thinking 'Galloping', too bad it had 4 extra letters. Took a can of V-8 to see what 9D (HOME EC) was...very clever. I kept thinking of a plane or ship. 34D (UBET) was good too. 11D (PERDU) stopped me, I had to look up 'hidden' in my C/W dictionary to find it.
I love "Joe" Day, and I will tell my Joe! I think he thinks every day is his;) Thanks C.C.!
Our paper is carrying the Newsweek puzzles this week and they are too easy IMHO. I would rather aggravate my brain cells a bit more.
Barb b, so nice to see you back, don't lurk - jump in. We promise we won't bite (much) :)
Good Morning All, I really liked today's puzzle. For the online version I made the concession to go back to the regular skill level for a week until I was used to Rich Norris' style. I only got a couple of red letter warnings, so now I guess I'll take the plunge back to the Master (what a joke!) level.
My sticking places today were FATLIP, HIPPY and its cross PERDU and I spelled it NAIV (thinking of an alternate NAIVE spelling) before I got redlettered and changed to NAIF.
Of course I liked the SWEDE clue "Any Abba singer". I love 'em, but Doreen and Wolfmom will be humming Dancing Queen all day long.
From what I see of the LAT puzzles, I will never be able to solve them with all straight across or straight down. That's OK, I've always wanted to be perpular.
C.C. There is something exotic and poetic about a place called "The Roof of the World". My brother-in-law visited Tibet in his 60's hippy days and has told some marvelous stories about the beautiful country and welcoming people. Sadly, Tibet has had more than its share of political turmoil and many things would have changed in 50 years. I still think it would be a fascinating trip.
Dennis, borrowing from Razz, "Things that make you go hmmmm!?!?" ....Marrying a yak? Is that one of your pre-April Fool's Day entries? I just had to "G" "Marrying a yak in Uzbekistan" and the only entry that came back was ...you guessed it, C.C.'s blog and your entry from this morning.
DoesItInInk @10:28: You said "The initial P in the Greek letter PSI is also pronounced, so it is really sounds like “psee” (long e sound)." Per Wiktionary it is a long 'i' sound - psai or psigh. The 'p' sound is needed to distinguishable Psi from Xi.
Morning to you all...Well, Dennis and Kazie beat me to the bird...I was going to say Puffin, and had forgotten that they are part of the AUK family...but that's been covered.
C.C. Salinger's niece's name was Frances Minaisian and I would have to reach back into my brain into the mid-60's. I think she really liked him because otherwise I wouldn't have read all his books in high school. We just thought it was really neat that she was related. I vaguely remember our English teacher trying to get her to invite him to talk to our class...I don't remember that ever happening though.
Okay...this was a bit tougher for me today. Started out ok with SHED and FESS, TORO, OREOS, and most definitely MORSE but just couldn't get HIPPY...no clue there. There was the Galloping Gourmet, Graham Kerr before he stopped drinking and went lowfat...and there was a bizarre show in the late 60's called the Food Stamp Gourmet, and Dennis' Frugal Gourmet...never heard of the HIPPY Gourmet.
Surprisingly, I got the whole lower half of the puzzle but had problems with odd bits in the upper half. Wanted HOHO for HOWL for a while and finally came here to finish up...I am trying to set a time limit on doing the puzzle, reading the posts and posting...
Razzbery...nice coffee recipe...surprised you made it through 4 cups...
WH...Great story, never heard that before.
Hey to SJ in SJ...you are in the same general area as a bunch of us...we need more westcoasters since we're so far behind timewise in the posting...join in and stay with us! 80)
Good morning, everyone.
This was not as bad as I thought it might be. Did the NW and N easily, but put in SADA instead of SADE. Thus LEGAL PRETENDER was a while in coming through. I think of FROG as a pond denizen and TOAD as a land denizen. Wanted SQUAD for 28D, but was fairly sure of QUI, so had to revise. Had WAIF for NAIF and HAPPY for HIPPY, but ARONMEW certainly meant nothing. Also had to change 33D from ANNE to ANNA before the PRELATE part of 47A fell into place. Got 68A DEJA easily and fretted over what the heck was going to end in J. Can only wonder what tomorrow will bring when the difficulty is stepped up a notch! As Emeril would say ... BAM!
@lemonade714 How about "Altar eschewers?" for ELOPERS? Take a SWIG = noun.
@drdad. Thanks for the THU explanation.
@kazie I also thought the bird was a puffin, although I said AUK when I first saw the link. C.C., why the question?
@carol I find that I'm actually enjoying the Newsday puzzles. They are doable and I don't fell lost in the sea of obscure names.
Have a great Friday!
SJ from SJ,
I am going to see if you can keep your promise. Welcome!
Dennis & Barry G,
The PERDU clue is fine. Had it clued as "a soldier assigned to a very dangerous mission or position", then it needed an obsolete hint. Dictionary.com told me so.
SaminMiam,
Valid point on the ? in ELOPER. Thanks.
Martin,
Hard for me to grasp Wade-Giles. Been so used to Pinyin.
good morning c.c. and all,
this is more like it .. quite a challenge, love it. took two theme answers to get the PRE connection, which helped with the remaining two. did not know PERDU, and couldn't parse HOME EC til i got here. never heard of NAIF or HIPPY. carol, i also thought of galloping. the bottom forty was the easiest for me, center and northeast were tricky.
@dennis: frugal gourmet, yeah i liked him - jeff smith i think. he disappeared. anyone know why?
ff#3 is more frightening than the yak thing.
@barb b: hi!
@windhover: your 12:18 response to anon yesterday made me HOWL.
Crockett,
In my 61A comment, I said I like K ending words. Then I thought of AUK immediately. As Dennis said earlier, Kazie's "tufted puffin" is a kind of AUK.
SandbridgeKaren,
Exile them to somewhere there is no yaks?
Frey,
But it costs TMS money to pay one extra editor and the additional 365 puzzles every year.
Dugglesmack,
I am eager to hear your views about Saturday's puzzle. I like this term "Rich Norris Era".
CC, G&T= Gin and Tonic
Anonymous @8:05am,
Re your comment "Toads live on land frogs in ponds." Here is the reply from Rich Norris (our editor): "Some toads are terrestrial, but some are only semiterrestrial, which means they inhabit water some of the time. In that context, I think "denizen" is accurate."
Windover,
Do you speak French? Very surprising Cooliage duck farm effect.
Ink,
Re: Yak = male only. Great to know. Dennis' FF definitely needs to be double-checked.
answering my own question about the frugal gourmet - i thought i had heard a rumor about some sort of scandal but didn't know what it was. googled to find he was accused of sexually abusing several young men who worked for him, he denied it, but settled out of court, ending his tv career. died in 2004.
Anonymous @ 8:51am,
"Undercover Cop" pretends to be someone he is not, and his pretending is legal, hence LEGAL PRETENDER. Once you get used to those question marks at the end of the clues, you will enjoy the puzzles.
Dr. Dad,
Thanks for Maundy Thursday. Troves of information in your 8:58am post.
Elissa,
Thanks for the additional information on XI pronunciation. I checked CHI as well, and surprised that it's pronounced as "kahy", not like Chi as in TAI Chi. Or do you already know that?
"NAIF" 32Acr.. Babe in the woods... what kind of word is that, Spencer? Getting kind of "NewYorkTimesish" on us, aren't you?... never watch British TV so Inspector Morse was real new to me... Puzzles are getting tougher, so I like them but my wife is fuming...
Fred,
Thanks for the ELOPER question mark explanation. I asked Rich Norris about the "It...." cluing style as well. He said he is not aware of any special term for that. "It's just a way of making the clue a little more ambiguous, and hopefully a little amusing or startling as well, such as the image of something that can "pick up a plane."
Kazie,
Wish I could remember half of what you've written on the Comments section.
BoyD,
Any feedback from Star Tribune?
Oldguybc,
Are you the Derby-loving Mrs. B.C.'s husband?
Linda,
I like your characterization of Norris puzzle. So true.
Razzberry,
"Hell hath no fury like the lawyer of a woman scorned." You made it up, didn't you? There is no "lawyer" in the original saying.
Melissa,
Hey!
CC - I knew about the pronunciation of CHI. (Xi, Pi, Phi, Chi, Psi all rhyme.) I was in a sorority in college and had to learn the Greek alphabet forward and backward. I can only remember it forward, but I can still say it REALLY fast. It is among the many things that I have memorized over the years that are now using up valuable memory sectors in my brain, which result in my failing to remember xword answers and names of people.
Speaking of songs that you can't get out of your head, I'm finding the Swiffer commercials using the songs "Don't You Want Me, Baby" and "Baby Come Back" particularly persistent and annoying.
Good Afternoon C.C. and Co.,
That Tufted Puffin is cool looking.
C.C.,
According to Wikipedia, Catalan is not an official language of Spain as a whole. It is a co-official language of certain autonomous regions within Spain. It is the official language of Andorra.
I am glad you enjoyed my ENER clue :)
OUCH!!! While doing this morning's puzzle I was afraid that I was going to have to come here and eat crow. After bragging yesterday about how I almost never fail to finish the daily XW unassisted, it really looked for a while like that was what was going to happen today. I did finally manage to finish it unaided, but it took me 1:11:29. The long time definitely qualifies it as 'hammer'. Like Dennis, I would have been SOL without the theme.
I was not aware that the former currency of Finland was called markkaa. I will be visiting Scandinavia soon, so I have been doing a little research. As a result, I did know that Finland is the only Nordic country that has switched to the Euro.
I had never heard the phrase "His NIBS". Nor had I heard of Jason ELAM
Boyd pretty much summed up what I was thinking regarding PAELLA; melissa bee about FF#3.
I did not know that about the Frugal Gourmet. Thank you, melissa bee. I do recall that he did not strike me as being very frugal.
Like Elissa, I considered SMAID for 'Bride follower'.
I had never heard of Inspector MORSE. With 'telly' in the clue I first thought it must be KOJAK. When I realized the English angle, I tried for the a long time to recall Poirot's first name. When I finally remembered, I realized that HERCULE would not work. Was Poirot an 'Inspector'?
Barry G.,
Dictionary.com says:
-----------------
Perdu
Per*du"\, Perdue \Per*due"\, a. [F. perdu, f. perdue, lost, p. p. of perdre to lose, L. perdere. See Perdition.]
1. Lost to view; in concealment or ambush; close.
-----------------
So, apparently PERDU is French.
Those of you who questioned FF#2 are correct; it was a product of my perverted little brain. Fun Fallacy #1.
There will be more.
My third LA puzzle and I really am enjoying the clever cluing. My first thought when I saw hippy gourmet was perhaps it is a good cook that enjoys their food just a little too much!
Thomas, when do you want to leave?
No. 69......yeah!!
April Fool's Day is just around the corner, so we'd better be prepared for some eyebrow raising Fun Facts.
With today's "yak marriages" and the puzzle's ELOPER and bridal TRAIN, I thought of this little poem. If any of you have a romantically linked daughter or son, who thinks you "just don't understand", you might print out Mr. Nash's words to the wise.
The Romantic Age
This one is entering her teens,
Ripe for sentimental scenes,
Has picked a gangling unripe male,
Sees herself in bridal veil,
Presses lips and tosses head,
Declares she's not too young to wed,
Informs you pertly you forget
Romeo and Juliet.
Do not argue, do not shout;
Remind her how that one turned out.
- Ogden Nash
How's this for XW addiction? Our local rag runs a puzzle in each weekly edition. This week, I thought I'd do it. So I get started, and along the way, notice they have two lots of "down" clues and one of "across" clues. Pretty soon it turns out that only the second lot of downs is correct, and it's a puzzle we already did about a week earlier.
So out of spite to myself, I decide to push on regardless, and try to resisit the urge to look at the incorrect across clues, but to remember what went in there, working exclusively on the downs. So I get half done, and I notice the "answers to last week's puzzle" are really the answers for this week.
And we thought our dailies were going down the tubes!
Good Afternoon,
I knew I would be gone in the AM so I worked the puzzle late last night online. I had to print it out with a few empty spots. Once I "G" spotted the gourmet show I was able to guess the rest. I didn't get Finn until I came here. I agree that the LAT may be easing us in to the system, (becasue we are special!)
Born to preserve, reminded me of the years I was raising my big family, with a 1/2 acre garden and canning over 500 quarts of food. That didn't count the pints of jam (100) or the things I put in the freezer, (corn, broccoli, berries). They were long days, but in the end very satisfying. I don't can anymore,but the kids still talk about how good my canned peaches tasted. My husband used to tell the children, "don't stand still to long Mom will put you in a jar, she is canning everything that doesn't move."
Mama Cass, how I loved her voice. I wouldn't mind being a combination of Mama Cass and Karen Carpenter. Then I would have a great voice and a great body. Sad that they both died young.
Maniac, What a wonderful, satisfying thing to have built a home for your family. And from experience I can tell you with cows and birds you will have more s**t, lots more.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
ClearAyes, I couldn't help laughing, thinking of someone at Google randomly looking at inquiries, going, "Holy Sh*t!! Someone in Uzbekistan's trying to marry a yak!
C.C., good to see you posting more; keep it up.
Perdu was no problem for this French speaker. Dictionary.com's definition is right on.
According to Mama Cass' daughter, she died of a heart attack. She was very much hurt by the "choking on a sandwich" rumor. Apparently people wanted to believe it because it spread like wildfire and still lives.
Thanks for the Coolidge story. He was one of the answers last night on Jeopardy in a category called "Sleazy Presidents." Clinton was not one of the six, but to my surprise, Eisenhower was.
Joe was my ex-husbands name. While all of you are supping your favorite beverage tonight, let's have a drink to my divorce. Thanks.
Doreen
CC:
I do not speak French. I took 2 courses in college in 1994, and have to France twice, once for three weeks, also in '94. My head hurt from trying to speak and understand at the same time. So I know some French, but not well enough to converse. Wish I did, though.
Windhover
Dennis, Same thing here. I tried to get beyond, but I kept coming back....Whaat?? I could hardly believe I was googling that question, but it was simply irresistible.
What is really funny is that so many of our sharper (than me) knives in the drawer just whizzed right past it. You've got a lot of cred around here!
Doreen, LOL, I missed last night's Jeopardy, so I missed "Sleazy Presidents". Not so surprising that Ike was included. How could any guy be unfaithful to a woman who loved pink and looked as trusting as Mamie?
IKE had an ongoing affair with with his driver...a woman. FDR had an ongoing affair for most of his later life with his personal assistant?secretary...he even had another house built in the south somewhere so he could be with her. Don't have all the specifics right now...so what Clinton did was pretty minor and he didn't have sex with ML anyway...didn't he say that?
Dennis...you're a pistol...just read it, shrugged my shoulders and thought...well, to each his own Yak...;)
2
Hi C.C. and all,
Very interesting clueing today. Liked LEGAL PRETENDER. Did not care for PRELATE. I actually thught that this puzzle was easier than yesterday's.
Here is Califronia Dreamin' by the Mamas and Papa's. To bad that I have to work for a living, as I would love to get into some of the earlier conversations on the puzzle.
Gone for now business dinner this evening.
CC - Nope I didn't make up the truism to live by; copied it right off of the internet ;~p. I have been married to the same woman for 38+ years, so I don't personally know about such things ;~). How ever, I'm sure that there are many, many, men that could attest that the change in the quip is on target!
Has anybody seen my coffee cup? Seem to have mislaid it yesterday! I need to get a head start on being wide awake and "alert" for the weekend. Mmmm, Beam with the Bean, yeah that the right idea for Joe day.
Buckeye...Did you abscond with my coffee cup when I was visiting you in the home or did Cratchett get it?
Tobylee: Here is my canning story.
When I moved here, I could barely boil water. "Here", they take great pride in "canning" (but they put the stuff in jars!) and so I tried my hand. Not knowing anything and being too proud to ask...I "put up" two gallons of tomato juice in 2, gallon jugs. It was gorgeous! I put it on a top shelf in the cabinet and about a month later, I heard a shot in my kitchen and then blood starting pouring out of my cabinet! I was screaming and terrified when my husband found me and showed me what had really happened!
I did finally learn to "can" but never put up as many as you. See! We all have our "gifts."
BTW... There was an entertainer who once was introduced as "Her nibs, Georgia Gibbs", by Gary Moore on the very first morning variety show. "How I been a wishin` I could go on televishun (sic) in the Mor....or-or-nin`."
We had one of the first TV`s in Pinellas County because my Dad won it in a raffle when the new PURE station opened down the street. My younger sis and I cried and got very upset when Dad watched wrestling. We knew it was real. In fact, we watched The June Taylor Dancers and Elvis on Ed Sullivan live and in living black and white!
Carol @12:08 pm - 34D was I BET, not "ubet".
Elissa @12:23pm and cc: The pronunciation of PSI that you referenced at Wiktionary may be correct for a fraternity or sorority member (meaning the pronunciation has been Americanized), but it is not correct if you are in Greece. PSI is pronounced as psee (long e). As for CHI, the CH portion of the word has no corresponding sound in English. It almost has the sound of trying to clear phlegm out of the back of the mouth. The I in CHI has the same ‘long e’ sound as PSI. If you wish to learn how the alphabet is pronounced in Modern Greek, here is a link that also has the audio.
@jchap18181 Point well taken --- and Welcome!
Linda,
My Mom-in-law taught me how to can. We lived in their back yard for a year. I wanted to be helpful while she was off teaching. So my Father-in-law and I peeled and cored 3 canning kettles (the ones that hold 7 jars) full of pears. We added salt to the water, his idea as I wouldn't have known. That night she came home and had to can them all so they wouldn't spoil. It is good she loved us.
Every so often I screw up (okay all the time) and post by my email account instead of my blogging name, so I deleted and am reposting, which should confuse everybody, since Crockett's comments now come before mine.
Crockett says:
@lemonade714 How about "Altar eschewers?" for ELOPERS?
Take a SWIG = noun.
Well sir, I believe even if you elope, you can have an altar; plus I have performed many wedding ceremonies, some in big halls with hundreds of guests and there were no altars, sometimes a makeshift chuppa, but no altar.
Sure take a SWIG is fine, but can you take a QUAFF? Hmm. reminds me of Howard Stern....
It is fun watching the ladies fight to be 69, my kind of crowd. Speaking of which, is there a rule in the world of females, along with almost always being late, that if you are late, you have to turn your cell phone off, so no one can find out an ETA? Or is it off so we can't yell? Or maybe I talk too much....
Well I will be back later, but it being a Friday night and many of you getting out the getting out clothes, we may not make 100 today, but I will be looking.
INSPECTOR MORSE was one of many BBC imports that have played on the PBS "Mystery" anthology series, that included SHERLOCK HOLMES with Jeremy Brett POIROT with David Suchet, RUMPOLE of the OLD BAILEY with Leo McKern; lots of great fun, all introduced for a while by our favorite DIANA RIGG.
I also finally went and purchased my first Ian Rankin book, so we will see....
@dennis, et. al., i officially nominate the yak as our mascot. it seems so fitting, what with all the yakking we do.
Yak, Yak, don't talk back!
Geez, I guess they don't have sheep in Uzbekistan...well maybe they're baaaaad.
Ink, thanks - I did finally figure that out after reading someones post for NAIF, a word I had never heard so didn't realize was wrong...I missed it on C.C.'s review. :)
@carol: join me in some conYAK?
To Anonymous at 8:05--What are land frogs doing in ponds with toads on them???
(Eats shoots and leaves)
Sandra
Melissa bee, ewe'r on girl!!!
Lemonade...just remember that the Inspector Rebus books are a bit noir...I have all the Inspector Rebus books and have been to the Oxford Bar in Edinburgh...Once you have read the book, it is actually good to go back and start at the beginning. The books stand alone, but there is a character development that progresses through the books. Rankin "retired" Rebus last year and I am reading his newest that my friend brought back from Scotland. I also sent him a letter and a photo of the painting I had done of the Oxford Bar...he sent back a postcard...needless to say, I was very much surprised!
He also has a lovely photo book out on "his " Edinburgh...All in all, Rankin is a very capable writer and I hope you enjoy the book...which one did you start with?
MelissaB...YAK works for me. But it would have to be a male.
I'm with Boyd and PromisMe on the Paella...stews are generally braised in covered pots and real Paella is cooked in a large flat pan over an open fire...the best bits are at the crispy edges...I only got it because it said Spanish...
BTW Dennis...I made waffles from the bottom up and they were seriously yummy... I realized it had been a while since I hade made them...and we froze the extras for another day.
@jchap18181 &/or lemonade714 Who's on first?
Today's puzzle was easier for me than yesterday's. There were more names yesterday and that is always my undoing. But today's was not easy!
May have plenty of time for cw tomorrow if we get the predicted snowstorm. March is destined to go out like a lion, with the storm tomorrow followed by flurries every day next week! March did come in like a lamb so the old superstition is true once more. Dot
I forgot to grab the paper this morning, so I didn't do the Newsday puzzle until just mow. I really struggled through it more than the LAT. Go figure. I learned a new word though, "ambit" from the clue "scope".
Ok, I am out for the evening. See you all here tomorrow.
Lemonade714, "Speaking of which, is there a rule in the world of females, along with almost always being late, that if you are late, you have to turn your cell phone off, so no one can find out an ETA? Or is it off so we can't yell? Or maybe I talk too much....
:o) Good thinking!
Phew, I finally got caught up with the comments.
The North-East kingdom did me in today. I did like the train following the bride.
Sorry Lemonade...I guess I get to be 100 tonight...
Argyle...like the new Avatar(sp?)
Just wanted to throw this out there...you all know what a computer Luddite I am(still haven't tried the HTML linking thing).Well...I just downloaded the new Internet Explorer 8...what a bugger! I have to learn a new tool bar, everything is different and I had to go searching for my homepage, plus the new program is fighting with Norton Anti-virus for supremecy and I'm not sure I care who wins, just as long as I can see this page. At first it deleted all the photos(avatars?)and I thought...well..s**te(that's a Scottish S**T) and then I realized that the security info was different and if I chose NO instead of YES(the exact opposite of what it used to be) that I got to see the pretty pictures! Why do all these computer geeks keep thinking that old folks like me want all this change?
I'm having another glass of wine..seeing how it's Friday and all.
Also...I got now have a totally different font that looks vaguely fuzzy...or maybe that's the wine...
OOPS...take out that GOT in the last sentence...proofread...proofread...proofread.
Drat, so much for that plan
Lemonade...sorry you weren't the 100th post! I however, did get the coveted 69 today. It took some strategic planning, but hey "planning is my last name."
Linda, I did read your last post last night...no wonder you have had 48+ years of wedded bliss!! Thank God for Viagra day??? Didn't mean to imply, but WTH.
Drdad, GREAT to see you back on the blog again; Rich thanks for the link.
Had to laugh about the HomeEc thing as my Mom was a HomeEc teacher and my big football/jock brother was forced to take the class. He wasn't too cool with the sewing apron thing, but appreciated the cooking lesson when his wife got sick from breast cancer. It also didn't hurt that my Mother was the teacher as he already had a head start.
Speaking of canning...it's a lost art. I spent many a day snipping beans, pealing pears and peaches and "boiling" down tomatoes from the acre garden we had. Not to mention rubbing those damned pricklies from the cukes. It was pure bliss to actually hear the lids "pop" when they sealed. Brought me way back...
There I went....YAK, YAK, YAK.
Jeannie,
I'm packing!
But first we'd need a boat. After going to the Annapolis Boat Show in '82, and 7+ yrs. as the 'Sailboat Trader' Rep in St. Pete, FL., we would need at least a 30 footer. Anything less would not accommodate my 6'2" frame. Gotta have a decent berth! I'm partial to a 38 foot Irwin, a smooth but not so fast sailer, or a 40 foot Morgan, center cockpit. With just the two of us, a sloop rather than a ketch, or cutter ketch, to deal with bad weather. I can only imagine heaving-to and going below decks... Umm... wave action..
What's your dream boat?
Wouldn't you rather be 77 than 69?? (old joke), one that I'm sure LmndDCCXIV, Dennis, Argyle, and all the male DFer's know!
Love this blog! Even if the puzzle gives us 'Hippy' and 'perdu' as a cross! Ugh! That slayed me! Still, a good mental exercise, and the only time I've appreciated on-line solving, what with the red letters showing me how ignorant I can be. Don't presume to be a master, I'm just a regular guy.
Even the Newsday puzzle slowed me down, today. Have got to get over this sinus infection, this latest cold snap has wiped me out, but my preference is still the LAT. Two days and counting before susan.barbieri@startribune.com gets my email, and I am not at all impressed with the Newsday puzzles.
Anyway, enough YAK, YAK, YAK! Talk to ewe all later...
One last thought.. If the gals get a male YAK as a mascot, what do we guy's get?? Certainly not a ewe!
TJ in Osseo
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