Theme: RULE (62D: Govern, or word that can follow the first word of the four longest puzzle answers)
17A: Valley girl's "Ick!": GAG ME WITH A SPOON
27A: Cliché framed above many a hearth: HOME SWEET HOME
48A: Spaceflight management center: GROUND CONTROL
64A: Yellow-skinned apple: GOLDEN DELICIOUS
Why "Valley girl" reference for GAG ME WITH A SPOON? The Frank Zappa "Valley Girl" song? HOME RULE is a new term to me.
Did you feel today's puzzle was more difficult than yesterday's? I had lots of wite-outs for the cleverly tricky clues:
21A: Wagon pullers: TEAM. Mine was OXEN.
70A: Play area?: STAGE. Mine was SCENE, which is actually "Play part".
9D: MA and PA: STS (States). I made up my own word PTS (Parents), knowing clearly MA is not Ma, PA is not Pa.
26D: Bank feature: ATM. Mine was DAM, thinking of river bank.
46D: Old French capital?: FRANC. Replaced by Euro in 2001. PAREE sprang to my mind first. FRANC is often clued as "Old/stale French bread?".
49D: Put in stitches: DARN. Mine was SEWN. I figured "Put" might be past tense.
65D: When the French fry?: ETE. What a great clue. Scorching hot! I blanked though. I need a "summer" or "season" to think of ETE.
Our fellow solver Fred, who has had puzzles published by LA Times, mentioned in yesterday's Comments section that "the ramp between Wednesday and Thursday is steep in terms of difficulty". So, be prepared for tomorrow's fight.
On a scale of 1-5, Monday and Tuesday's level of difficulty for our puzzle is 1, Wednesday is 2, Thursday and Friday, 3, Saturday and Sunday 4.
To Star Tribune solvers, if you want LA Times puzzle in our paper, please write to Susan Barbieri (Assistant Features Editor) and let her know your views. I wish they had asked our opinion before they made the switch. Her email address is: susan.barbieri@startribune.com
Across:
1A: Blue or brown follower: EYED. I think I have brown eyes, though my drivers's license says BLK.
15A: Jet-black gem: ONYX. Wikipedia says it could be of other colors too. Greek origion, meaning "claw/fingernail." So called because the mineral's color sometimes resembles that of a fingernail, pink with white streaks.
23A: Donizetti aria "Regnava __ silenzio": NEL. No idea. Here is a clip. I've never heard of Italian composer Zonizetti or "Regnava NEL silenzio" ("Silence Reigned"). So what does NEL mean?
25A: Storyteller: LIAR
33A: Finance major's deg.: BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration). New abbreviation to me. Wish I had attended school when I first arrived here.
35A: When repeated twice, "et cetera": YADA. Always thought it's repeated three times.
43A: Sweater synthetic: ORLON. Clued as "Synthetic fiber" in yesterday's puzzle.
45A: Unheeding: DEAF. Also LEAF (24D: Table section). I like this kind of F or K ending words.
60A: Jacket type worn by several Bond villains: NEHRU. Interesting trivia. I did not know this. I still have not figured out who killed the evil Greene in "Quantum of Solace".
67A: "A cat must have three different names": ELIOT. I don't know this particular poem, but I do know the musical "Cats" is based on his cat poems.
68A: Savings choice: IRAS. The clue needs an abbreviation hint, doesn't it?
69A: Give sparingly: DOLE. Why "sparingly"? The rescue package government DOLEs out is huge. Oh by the way, Linda mentioned last night that "abstemious" and "facetious" are the only two English words with all the vowels in order. She also said "dreamt" is the only English word ending in "mt".
72A: Impressionist: APER. Very unexpected clue.
Down:
3D: Caltech sr.'s goal, often: ENGR. Ah, LA Times, another CA reference. Remember Monday's "Fellow Dodgers, e.g." for TEAMMATE?
4D: Rectangular game piece: DOMINO
5D: Holy animal?: COW
10D: School play prop: PAPER HAT
27D: "They'll Do It Every Time" cartoonist Jimmy: HATLO. Unknown to me, HAT LO, is he very famous? This woman looks very dominating.
29D: Hard-to-find guy of kids' books: WALDO
31D: Land where Moses died: MOAB. East of Dead Sea. In current Jordan.
33D: Internet opinion piece: BLOG. Exactly, "opinion piece", might be wrong. Blog is short for weblog.
34D: 2008 Libertarian presidential candidate: BARR (Bob). I had no memory of this guy at all. Could only think of Ralph Nader.
38D: Elvis classic: HOUND DOG. No idea. Is it really classic? Sounds so repetitive and boring.
41D: Jacques of "Mon Oncle": TATI. Got this French actor's name from across fills. "Mon Oncle"("My Uncle") won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1958, according to Wikipedia.
44D: 22.5 deg.: NNE. See more Compass Points. I drew a blank on this one also. Have never seen NNE clued this way before.
50D: Recognition: CREDIT. How fortunes change for Tim Geithner. March Madness indeed. However, he really should get the CREDIT for Dow's near 500 point soar on Monday.
51D: New York tribe: ONEIDA. Literally "erected stone".
56D: Hip bones: ILIA. Singular Ilium. I often confuse ILIA with ILEA (the ends of small intestines). Its singular form is ileum. They have the same pronunciation, correct?
58D: Prefix with sol: AERO. Aerosol. It's often clued as "Sabb model" in our old puzzle.
63D: Rehab admission: USER. The answer did not come to me readily.
Answer Grid.
C.C.
17A: Valley girl's "Ick!": GAG ME WITH A SPOON
27A: Cliché framed above many a hearth: HOME SWEET HOME
48A: Spaceflight management center: GROUND CONTROL
64A: Yellow-skinned apple: GOLDEN DELICIOUS
Why "Valley girl" reference for GAG ME WITH A SPOON? The Frank Zappa "Valley Girl" song? HOME RULE is a new term to me.
Did you feel today's puzzle was more difficult than yesterday's? I had lots of wite-outs for the cleverly tricky clues:
21A: Wagon pullers: TEAM. Mine was OXEN.
70A: Play area?: STAGE. Mine was SCENE, which is actually "Play part".
9D: MA and PA: STS (States). I made up my own word PTS (Parents), knowing clearly MA is not Ma, PA is not Pa.
26D: Bank feature: ATM. Mine was DAM, thinking of river bank.
46D: Old French capital?: FRANC. Replaced by Euro in 2001. PAREE sprang to my mind first. FRANC is often clued as "Old/stale French bread?".
49D: Put in stitches: DARN. Mine was SEWN. I figured "Put" might be past tense.
65D: When the French fry?: ETE. What a great clue. Scorching hot! I blanked though. I need a "summer" or "season" to think of ETE.
Our fellow solver Fred, who has had puzzles published by LA Times, mentioned in yesterday's Comments section that "the ramp between Wednesday and Thursday is steep in terms of difficulty". So, be prepared for tomorrow's fight.
On a scale of 1-5, Monday and Tuesday's level of difficulty for our puzzle is 1, Wednesday is 2, Thursday and Friday, 3, Saturday and Sunday 4.
To Star Tribune solvers, if you want LA Times puzzle in our paper, please write to Susan Barbieri (Assistant Features Editor) and let her know your views. I wish they had asked our opinion before they made the switch. Her email address is: susan.barbieri@startribune.com
Across:
1A: Blue or brown follower: EYED. I think I have brown eyes, though my drivers's license says BLK.
15A: Jet-black gem: ONYX. Wikipedia says it could be of other colors too. Greek origion, meaning "claw/fingernail." So called because the mineral's color sometimes resembles that of a fingernail, pink with white streaks.
23A: Donizetti aria "Regnava __ silenzio": NEL. No idea. Here is a clip. I've never heard of Italian composer Zonizetti or "Regnava NEL silenzio" ("Silence Reigned"). So what does NEL mean?
25A: Storyteller: LIAR
33A: Finance major's deg.: BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration). New abbreviation to me. Wish I had attended school when I first arrived here.
35A: When repeated twice, "et cetera": YADA. Always thought it's repeated three times.
43A: Sweater synthetic: ORLON. Clued as "Synthetic fiber" in yesterday's puzzle.
45A: Unheeding: DEAF. Also LEAF (24D: Table section). I like this kind of F or K ending words.
60A: Jacket type worn by several Bond villains: NEHRU. Interesting trivia. I did not know this. I still have not figured out who killed the evil Greene in "Quantum of Solace".
67A: "A cat must have three different names": ELIOT. I don't know this particular poem, but I do know the musical "Cats" is based on his cat poems.
68A: Savings choice: IRAS. The clue needs an abbreviation hint, doesn't it?
69A: Give sparingly: DOLE. Why "sparingly"? The rescue package government DOLEs out is huge. Oh by the way, Linda mentioned last night that "abstemious" and "facetious" are the only two English words with all the vowels in order. She also said "dreamt" is the only English word ending in "mt".
72A: Impressionist: APER. Very unexpected clue.
Down:
3D: Caltech sr.'s goal, often: ENGR. Ah, LA Times, another CA reference. Remember Monday's "Fellow Dodgers, e.g." for TEAMMATE?
4D: Rectangular game piece: DOMINO
5D: Holy animal?: COW
10D: School play prop: PAPER HAT
27D: "They'll Do It Every Time" cartoonist Jimmy: HATLO. Unknown to me, HAT LO, is he very famous? This woman looks very dominating.
29D: Hard-to-find guy of kids' books: WALDO
31D: Land where Moses died: MOAB. East of Dead Sea. In current Jordan.
33D: Internet opinion piece: BLOG. Exactly, "opinion piece", might be wrong. Blog is short for weblog.
34D: 2008 Libertarian presidential candidate: BARR (Bob). I had no memory of this guy at all. Could only think of Ralph Nader.
38D: Elvis classic: HOUND DOG. No idea. Is it really classic? Sounds so repetitive and boring.
41D: Jacques of "Mon Oncle": TATI. Got this French actor's name from across fills. "Mon Oncle"("My Uncle") won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1958, according to Wikipedia.
44D: 22.5 deg.: NNE. See more Compass Points. I drew a blank on this one also. Have never seen NNE clued this way before.
50D: Recognition: CREDIT. How fortunes change for Tim Geithner. March Madness indeed. However, he really should get the CREDIT for Dow's near 500 point soar on Monday.
51D: New York tribe: ONEIDA. Literally "erected stone".
56D: Hip bones: ILIA. Singular Ilium. I often confuse ILIA with ILEA (the ends of small intestines). Its singular form is ileum. They have the same pronunciation, correct?
58D: Prefix with sol: AERO. Aerosol. It's often clued as "Sabb model" in our old puzzle.
63D: Rehab admission: USER. The answer did not come to me readily.
Answer Grid.
C.C.
109 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - in my opinion, another great puzzle, even though I screwed up big-time.
I was cruising right along, with some perp help (23A), and got most of the themes quickly. Then I confidently plopped 'misson control' (yeah, I know) into 48A and hit a wall. Wasn't til I got Elvis's song, and 27D from the perps, that it became apparent I was a dolt. And I still wouldn't believe 'put in stitches' wasn't 'sewn'. Since I do the puzzles in pen, my completed work looks like I had a severe seizure mid-puzzle. Ah well, I have a feeling this is just the beginning of my 'seizures', and by the end of the week, I'll be creating ink-blot tests. I'm actually looking forward to it.
Today is both Pecan Day and Waffle Day. For those of you who visit Williams-Sonoma, their waffle mix is unbelievably good, and they just came out with a pan that makes 7 waffled pancakes at a time; my weekend mornings have gotten even better.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody." -- Editor Herbert Bayard Swope
More Fun Facts:
- The Belgians once tried delivering the mail using cats. It didn't work.
- A Swedish man was awarded over $100,000 in compensation after he was fired for telling off a colleague for breaking wind.
- A German firm is printing novels on rolls of toilet paper to "kill two birds with one stone." (I've heard of people talking out of their ass, but now reading??
Good morning, C.C., Dennis, et.al.
Another fairly easy puzzle. Dennis - I won't believe you screwed up. I had mission for a brief moment and it became clear that wasn't going to work. As for it being Waffle Day, I am right next to a Waffle House here in Louisville, KY so maybe I'll go and have some. Also, those are nice words of wisdom.
I did have MBA for BBA for awhile until the BLOG corrected me. And a weBLOG is where opinions are given, frequently.
All in all, a great puzzle for a Wednesday. Have a great day.
Strange, Dennis. I had very few problems except for BBA. I was pretty sure that 27d was HATLO but, like CC, don't remember BARR.
And what does 3d (ENGR) mean in the English language???
Everything else flowed very well and it was less than 25 minutes. For me that's good. Can't wait till tomorrow!!! MAybe I'll just skip school!!~
CY'All Later
Bill, it's 'engineer'.
Drdad, great to see you - we miss your posts. Enjoy Louisville.
Off to the gym.
Dennis,
Re: SEWN. I really like this kind of trickiness. You can't fill in blanks impulsively any more. Not a practical idea to print novels on toilet paper. A Monday crossword puzzle might be good. I don't believe in FF #1. What is "breaking wind" on #2?
Dr. Dad,
Thanks for the great answers yesterday. Wish you could be here more often.
Bill,
So far, so good, right? The LA Times puzzle.
Lemonade,
How long have you been solving crossword?
I got most of the puzzle in 35 minutes, looked away for a while then remembered GOLDEN DELICIOUS and ended up onbly having to google a couple of names: ORRIN and HALTO; an ENGR is an engineer and I wanted LACE instead of LATH. I also initially guessed THUS for ERGO, KEEN for AVID, AISLE for STAGE and DECAde for YEAR. I even wondered if "Century unit" was refering to Century Tuna.
C.C., I had the opposite problem in the Philippines: I think my hair is black but people there insisted that my hair was brown. Meanwhile, my sister got a BBA and then went on to become an accountant while my brother started out in law school, practiced law for a while and then returned to school to get an MBA and get a job at Toronto Dominion Bank, so BBA was a gimme for me.
Martin
Martin,
My hair is black, my eyes are brown.
WashPost Solver,
Go to LA Times Website and print out the puzzle. You don't want to miss the fun.
Frank, Elissa, Kazie, Argyle et al,
Thanks for the great ROMEO idea yesterday. Argyle, yours is hard, but good.
Thomas & Karen Q,
Don't wait. Call Star Tribune immediately.
I noticed how we had become used to the TMS Xword answers and are wanting to use them for the LA Times puzzle. Examples are "oxen" and "sewn" for the old TMS and now they are "team" and "darn" for the LA. I noticed that on clues as well. Answers in the TMS were the result of the same old clues and now we get different clues that give those answers. Example: "aper" used to be "mimic" in TMS, now it's "impressionist" in LA. I think it is a nice change.
Good morning CC and all,...very interesting puzzle. I got off to a hasty start by inserting dyes for 1A not recognizing the singular clue. After I finally saw domino for 4D I still wanted to keep dyed. Aah the DUH moment when 1D became apparent. I think I have seen BBA before, but I just could not recall it. This along with not knowing 27D left me with a blank to be filled here. I, also, had sewn for 49D. This got corrected when I got 48A ground control.
I really liked the puzzle and your interview with Rick Norris helped as I recalled that he liked two word answers. this helped with 10D and 38D. Looking forward to tomorrow's toughie.
I hope you all have a great Wednesday.
Democrat,
Williams clued ICE T as "Law & Order, SVU actor" before.
Sallie,
Do you have soup every day? It's a Cantonese tradition to start every meal with soup.
Kazie,
Thanks for SEIN. Looks like a very crossword friendly word, I wonder why it has not appeared in our puzzle before.
Linda,
I love "North Star State chagrin" for Embarrass, MN. Thank you so much for the palindromes and other word trivia. Very interesting.
Razzberry,
Now I know why Fed Ex and UPS have never entertained the merging idea. Great posts lately.
Fred,
Got your point on LADY. Thanks.
Forever27,
I don't think LA Times has any rebus puzzle. Fred will correct me if I am wrong.
PromiseMe,
Very clever "Treasure State's invoices?" for Billings.
Mainiac,
What kind of "well endowed concoction"? I am curious. What are the main ingredients?
Ink,
Good idea on EWE clue yesterday.
17 A I wanted grody to the max!
64 A I wanted Granny Smith instead
to me there is nothing delicious about yellow apples they are sour. If I want sour I'll eat a lemon. I think red is delicious.
49 D Put in stitches had me stumped. I was thinking of what a comedian does. I only got darn after working around it.
What would Jesus Drive?
If anyone asks tell them a Honda
Act 2:1 KJV says
And when the day of Pentecost.......they were all with one accord in one place.
ALL GRAVY NO GRIEF
What’s the Rule?
Good morning, everyone. Worked this one Tuesday evening, and wrote this out for the blog then. I was surprised that it was available online before 11 Pacific time. Sailed through it for the most part. I had to change EYES to EYED, wanted MISSION CONTROL, which wouldn’t fit, changed SEWN to DARN, and couldn’t spell ISE the first time (ESE). The left center was a bear with HATLO, BARR and BBA, and I had to g-spot to fill it in. Liked the clue for 22A and didn’t have a clue for 23A. Opera is not a strong suit for me. “Realize” is a different meaning for REAP, but I can see how that might work. I liked the clue for 9D, but 10D? As Barry G. would say, WTF? 44D was also interesting. I also enjoyed 65D.
The Naming of Cats
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
--Thomas Stearns Eliot
Thought I'd maybe be the first post, but dennis got me by over an hour! Will be back later.
Darning isn't putting in stiches, it is the weaving of threads to fill in a hole.
I felt the whole puzzle was a little strained but it is something we have to put up with to get long-themed answers.
Good morning, c.c. and all
I was up early this am. so i got it done early, had to google Hatlo, Oneida, Tati and Moab.
Had to chuckle reading Dennis post as i had plenty trouble myself, on 58D i put Para then changed it to Aero , all in all just under 2 & 1/2.
but i finished it before coming here, and all correct ! For me this i very good !
C.C. "Regnava nel silenzio" nel is "in" in this case Reigned in the Silence.
Btw, what word is "dremt" is it the same as "dreamt" ?
Good Morning,
I'm glad I used pencil because I had the same problems as most of you. The biggest was I had EYES for 1A which made me brain lock on 4D. Then the plopping noise finally occurred and I erased again. I liked this one and consider it the same difficulty as yesterday. Hopefully tomorrows won't be to big of jump.
CC, When I make soups I get a little creative. You could call them stews sometimes because they are quite hearty and thick. That one was meatless with vegetables all from the garden. Beef broth base loaded with carrots, onion, zucchini, summer squash, green beans and snow peas. I added a can of red kidney beans just for color. Plenty of garlic and seasoned with basil and oregano. Only reason I can remember the detail is I found a container of it in the freezer and had it for lunch the other day.
Now I'm hungry!!
Have a good one!!
Some days the old filing system I call my brain, works great and all the answers just fly off the pen; TATI, I do not know why I remembered that one, and each of the long words came immediately. I am not sure how long it would have taken to get RULE if the added clue of govern were not added. All in all, another fun experience and since I am late again, it was good that I was humping.
C.C., both of my parents were puzzle doers, so my brothers and I started listening to them do the Sunday NY Times together. I started on easier puzzles (TV Guide etc.) by the time I was 10, began competing with my oldest brother on the NYT daily by the time we were in college. He and I are only 2 1/2 years apart (yes, my dear mother had three boys all in diapers at one time) so we were all in college together. There are teachers who began the day with all three of us in the class, it was fun. I stopped doing puzzles after my children were born, just too much to do. As they went off to college, the puzzles were back. I did not think about google as the way to find answers for years - just old habits, but finally tried it and poof, I found this site and the rest is....well the rest.
For the TV watchers, it was "Seinfeld" that made YADA YADA a household word.
I really liked the the french fry clue, but did we give up calling them FREEDOM FRIES in protest?
Damn, must run....
Good morning all :-) I did okay on this one... I had EYES instead of EYED so that made for a miss on DOMINO. Otherwise it was fairly easy. I never heard of a BBA as a Finance degree. Is that a new designation? I have a BS (Bachelor of Science with a major in Accounting). Friends of mine had it with a major in Finance. A degree in Business Admin. was a general degree awarded and it too was a BS with a major in Bus. Admin. Have they changed the designations? Maybe it's a Cali thingy.
C.C. etal,
Another good puzzle, a little easier than yesterday, I thought. I stumbled a bit on "eight bits" wanting to make it buck instead of byte. Rack it up to my age, I suppose. Have you younger guys ever heard the phrase, "two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar"?
I would hardly call a franc capital unless I had a million of them.
I guess we had better get braced for tomorrow and Friday. All in all, I find the change refreshing.
Maria: What a good speller you are...(dreamt) If I were...I could have spelled "Orrin" much more quickly and gotten "domino".
CC: Don`t remember party affiliations and wanted "Paul" for 34d. Can`t remember that "taboo" has two little round thingy`s (sorry the "valley girl" just takes over at times.)
"Play area" was quite clever. "Eely" was a stretch.
Favorite Elvis song : "I can`t help falling in love with you."
Least favorite: "Hound Dog."
Will have workmen here all day...something about dry-rotted floor joists...will I need a bail-out? I love my old house but it is a money pit.
Good evening from India,
I thought todat was easier than yesterday got through without any g help.
The NEHRU jacket is only styled after the type Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (Indias first PM) used to wear and not exactly the same, the one he used to wear is called a Sherwani or Achkan whereas the so-called Nehru Jacket is more like a waistcoat ie it is much shorter and without sleeves but has a collar
I think dreamt was mispelled as dremt.
And speaking of darn versus sewn, who would argue with Argyle as to what darning is? After all, they named some socks after him. Yuk, Yuk, Yuk, Yuk, Yuk.
My hair used to be blonde, at least on my head. Now it's filled with gray, dammit. Eyes are still brown, though.
C.C. - I had a tough time in Yantai with the soup every meal because it seemed to always have fish heads in it.
Not trying to steal Dennis' thunder but breaking wind is the expulsion of gas out of the rear orifice (aka flatulence).
Good morning all,
It seems more people are getting up early these days. I thought I'd done fairly well, with only a hitch on the SE corner because I had GOAL for HOOP, wondered if POST would work better, but shrugged and thought I'd fix it coming here. No idea about NEHRU as a jacket of course.
Then I got here and realized that EYES and DOMODO/ORRON weren't working either! I'd just figured domodo must be something I'd never heard of, since I'm not into board games much. I didn't know NEL--I had DEL.
All this probably started because I had BEC (Bachelor of Economics) for 33A. Not having attended any college here, other than relicensing courses, I'm a bit vague about American degrees too.
What's sour about a golden delicious apple? They're crisp and a bit tart, but overall, sweet, I think. The best apples I ever ate were the goldens I nabbed off orchard trees while hitch-hiking in the Loire Valley. My friend and I each filled our bags with them to save them for the next few days.
Wow...I thought this was going to be another easy one then, Wam! Glad to read that others were using white out, too!
C.C. I love the new answer grid link....very helpful!
Dr. Dad, do you stay in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby? I hear most locals get the heck out of there! 5 more weeks and we'll be there....can't wait!
good morning c.c. and all...
the Times puzzles so far haven't been bad - we've enjoyed these first few - we'll see as the week goes.
personally, i dislike question clues - like 'old french capital?' or 'when the french fry?' or 'expert ending?' - - could definitely do without those types of clues - - and they seem to be much more frequent in these Times puzzles...
Morning all,
I just could not see anything but "mission control" for 48A. That gave me a mess for quite awhile. And of course I was so sure of "MBA" for 33A. I know better but I had slat instead of lath. Came back to the puzzle after doing some a.m. chores and finally saw the light. Does anyone darn socks anymore? That was a talent I never learned! Can you say waste basket?
I saw Mission Control at Cape Canaveral and was moved by being in that room that I watched on TV during our early space flights. So much smaller in person but so important to our early missions. I probably should have been a history teacher because I'm easily moved by historical sites. D.C. is one of my favorite places to visit. The Vietnam Memorial is magnificent and moving beyond belief. Haven't seen the WWII memorial as of yet but will go for a few days later in April. I even cry at the spot Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address in PA. Take care everyone and have a great day.
I had to make a couple of guesses on this one - at the Deaf/Tati intersection, and at Hatlo/Lath - but I didn't google. Still not sure what lath is...
UW-Madison offers an undergraduate BBA degree through the School of Business. Mine is a BBA with a major in Marketing, but there are also majors in Finance, Accounting, etc. I think not all business schools have an undergrad program, which may be why it's unfamiliar to some.
My favorite clue was French fry Ete. I spent two years working in Paris, so enjoyed some nice summers in France. I wouldn't say it was hot enough to fry, but without the typical American comforts of air conditioning and ice cubes, it did get pretty hot on occasion.
I highly recommend spending summers in France!!! or any other season for that matter... :)
I had to make a couple of guesses on this one - at the Deaf/Tati intersection, and at Hatlo/Lath - but I didn't google. Still not sure what lath is...
UW-Madison offers an undergraduate BBA degree through the School of Business. Mine is a BBA with a major in Marketing, but there are also majors in Finance, Accounting, etc. I think not all business schools have an undergrad program, which may be why it's unfamiliar to some.
My favorite clue was French fry Ete. I spent two years working in Paris, so enjoyed some nice summers in France. I wouldn't say it was hot enough to fry, but without the typical American comforts of air conditioning and ice cubes, it did get pretty hot on occasion.
I highly recommend spending summers in France!!! or any other season for that matter... :)
theme music
T.Frank: Back in high school (dark ages long long ago) we had a cheer "Two bits, Four bits, six bits, a dollar - all for the Wildcats (obviously school mascot) stand up and hollar" - long cheer and pretty lame. Liked the MA and PA clue - since I'm formerly from PA I went there first instead of family. Fairly easy puzzle for me today - clues just resonated. Probably means I'll be pulling out my hair either tomorrow or Friday.
'mornin all,
Just to say I like the change so far. Know they're going to get harder, but that's ok. Had one erasure to replace MBA with BBA since Mlog made no sense. Otherwise, cruised through with no help. Now that's a major victory for ole Jimbo.
Read about the Rubik Cube yesterday or day before and
just finished reading about Moses being buried in Moab, so they were gimmies. Part of my study is from a Chronological Bible that starts with Genesis and ends with Revelations and recorded in that order. (Unlike the conventional Bible which moves about in different time zones between books).
Hi:
Am really unhappy you have decided to replace the Chicago Tribune crossword with the L.A. Times one.
My puzzle is in the New Orleans Times Picayune and now I have no referrals.
I would respectfully ask you to change back.
Thanks.
Haley
state-capitols-in-song/
This is to see if I can create the above link. If not, I'll erase.
It was a very good puzzle today, a little trickier than we're used to but no
need for web help.
RE: 48A: Ground Control?
This song popped into my head when we got it right:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFks9A9TCF0
;-)
Drdad, you summed it up perfectly -- I was gonna go with anal exhalations.
Linda, my favorite Elvis song is "The Impossible Dream". Really showed his range. We actually knew Elvis, but that's a story for another day.
dons_mind, I think the ? clues are among the most clever - it really makes you think outside the box.
Jeanne, the Vietnam Memorial is indeed overpowering. I was very much against a 'black hole in the ground' when it was first designed, but I couldn't have been further off base - it's the perfect metaphor. And you really should see the WWII Memorial next time you have a chance. It's beautifully done, and a fitting tribute. Also, the Korean Memorial at night is something you won't soon forget.
Jimbo, it's really funny about Rubik's Cubes - they came up in the puzzle, and for the past two days, I've had kids in the store looking for them. I haven't carried them in a couple years, so I don't know what to make of that, but I ordered a case. Strange.
I definitely had a bit more trouble today, but not bad. Most unknowns - HATLO, BBA, NEL, TATI, APER - revealed by the perps. Put in ORLON since we've seen it recently. Liked the clue for NNE. Didn't like the clues for BLOG, EELY or USER. MA and PA was a clever diversion, but MA and PA are actually commonwealths, rather than states.
HOUND DOG was a phenomenon. When I was little my mother had a scarf with a picture of Elvis in the middle and pictures and words depicting Hound Dog all around it. I wonder what happened to it? Might be worth something today.
T.Frank: Two bits, four bits . . . maybe related to Spanish coins which were 'pieces of eight'. I've been told that one eighth pieces of the coins were actually cut off when smaller value was required.
C.C.: I have soup a few times a week for lunch. My husband loves to find new recipes and use them, and frequently makes soup.
I have heard that Chinese have soup last in a meal so it can slide in among all the rest of the meal. Is that true?
The link that I posted (hurrah!)came from my husband in my mail. Even tho we live in a two-bedroom condo, we email each other several times a day. Of course he's on a pc, and I'm on a Mac. But it works.
Good Morning All, Like others, I wouldn't have been able to fill in HATLO or BARR except for perp help.
Argyle@6:35, You are DARN right. We are members of the last generation who know how to darn, so the puzzle editors should be more careful.
I really enjoyed some new "tricky" question clues for words we've seen before. "When the French fry?" and "Old French capital?" were fun.
C.C. It wasn't that Hound Dog was a good song. It was Elvis' eyes, lip (just the upper one) and hips that mesmerized teenage girls into buying the record. Don't Be Cruel was on the flip side of the 45 RPM and was a big hit too. It definitely had a "beat you could dance to". Ahhh, those eyes, that lip, those hips!!
Good morning, C.C., et al., though it's almost time for lunch. I finished the puzzle earlier but then had some art gallery business to attend to, so I'm just now getting to the blog. Dennis, thanks a lot, I now crave pecan pancakes for lunch (you just process a few in the grater, blender thingy and add it to the batter. Yummo!)
I got through the puzzle fairly easily except also had eyes for 1A, then couldn't get domino right away. Then the lightbulb in my head finally clicked on that it was a D (for Duh!). Ground control didn't come right away (all I could think of was "Houston, we have a problem..."). When I figured it out, I too was transported back to 2001, A Space Odyssey and the song: "Ground control to Major Tom..."
Karen in Sandbridge, we also had the "two-bit" cheer, and we always used it to beat Great Bridge (smile). Actually my kids were also Wildcats. I'm a Granby alum, true-blue Comet. I used to always take my kids to Little Island in the summers because they had the lifeguards on duty, and we could walk on the beach at the wildlife refuge.
Thanks, Argyle for the darning notion, though I think one must put in stitches at the edge of the hole in order to weave. My mother used to darn socks, but later would just say "Darn socks!" and throw them away. With the current "economic downturn," we may have to start darning again. Or at least damning. Lot of that going around.
Gotta go fix pancakes--
Sheila
I found this to be difficult, so I'm sort of dreading tomorrow. I got only two of the long theme answers, but I did get rule from those two. And having watt instead of volt really wrecked whatever chance I had of getting the SW done.
I don't like Grows up for Ages. I don't think they go together. Otherwise, clever cluing.
Cheers!
CC – Loved…when the French Fry; Hated… Foe (ho hum)
Thanks for the kind words.
Warren – you and I were on the same page. I was going to link that song but you beat me to it – good job!
This one made me think more, so I guess that it qualifies as being more difficult. I’m looking forward to uttering obscenities as we move to the Thursday / Friday xw. It will be even more fun to look at our discussions here about this being… Hammer Time (U Can’t Tough This)
Things that make you go hmmmm!?!?
+Should vegetarians eat animal crackers?
+If corn oil is made from corn and vegetable oil is made from vegetables. What is baby oil made from?
Truism to Live By...
+Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
C.C. - Valley Girls, who are denizens of the San Fernando Valley, in the LA area, have a whole host of expressions and a special intonation, which was definitely brought to the attention of much of the country by Frank Zappa - 'for sure' (pronounced "feerrr shhuurrr")
Grrrr! Repair guys JUST showed up! You`d think they were on retired time! (been waiting on them since 7:30!)
Jeanne etal: Have any of you seen/heard about the "Tear Drop" memorial given to us by Russia to commemorate 9/11? (it`s in Bayonne Harbor, NJ) I hadn`t...wonder why?
Anon. @6:30 AM. Since you like humor from the Good Book...Read Luke 2:16 in KJV. That was one crowded manger!
SandbridgeKaren: We had the same cheer in Largo, FL (back before the Revolutionary War!)
Another one "Watermelon, watermelon, hangin` on the vine,
Look at the scoreboard and see what "chu" find!. Largo, Largo, leadin` the line. Turkeycreek,uh- Turkeycreek, uh-laggin` behind!"
Good days (sigh).
E. wasn't it Frank Zappa's daughter, Moon Unit who sang of "gag we with a spoon?"
I am waiting for Lois' response to breaking wind.
HATLO was always on the comics page next to the Jumble.
This was still an easy puzzle for me. I was slowed down a bit in the middle, bottom of the puzzle with DARN, CREDIT, REAP and AERO, but all that got worked out in the end.
7D was easy as I am in the computer field…8 bits to a BYTE, eh? Others can complain about this the way I did about PABA yesterday.
I take exception to the answer for 44D. NNE is 67.5 degrees. ENE is 22.5 degrees. The degrees are measured from the horizon with E being 0 degrees. NE is 45 degrees. ENE is half way between E and NE at 22.5 degrees. NNE is half way between N and NE at 67.5 degrees.
39A FILET reminded me of this atrocious commercial.
I think overall I like the LAT puzzles better than those in the past. The cluing is definitely more clever!
Not an expert but I thought compass was 0/360-N 90-E 180-S 270-W?
Chris in LA & D in a RS: thanks for OOPS and Pia/Tootie...Fun stuff.
I almost made it through today's puzzle this morning without a hitch, but finally got stuck on the Hatlo/Lath cross. I must say, I really enjoy the cluing of the LATimes puzzle much more than the Newsday.
I wrote to Susan B. at the Star Trib this morning begging her to change her decision. Nothing may come of it, but it can't hurt for them to know people really are paying attention to this stuff. I told her how I was comparing the Newsday and LAT puzzles each day and what I thought about the differences. I'll let you know if I get a response.
Hi C.C. and everyone...fun until the last half, especially the left side. Same trouble as all of you had. I could not remember 34D (BARR) and also wanted SLAT for 37A and MBA for 33A...so there was trouble. I did know HATLO. I always read "Little Iodine" as a kid. (It was in the comics section of our paper.)
Funny to think of those old strips now..how many can you think of (without cheating and going to the G-spon).
Katzenjammer Kids
Mutt and Jeff
Baby Huey
Nancy
Dennis, loved the FF's, esp about the cats. LOL You cannot direct a cat to do anything it does not want to do! Gotta love 'em.
Razzberry (10:59) Great one with the baby oil!
Lemonade 714 (7:20) Had to laugh at the last sentence in your 1st paragraph! Good for you!! AND it is Wednesday :) LOL
@Dennis… The Belgians once tried delivering the mail using cats. It didn't work.???? Really? I found this but find the idea so preposterous that I have to wonder if this isn’t a joke to make the Belgians look ridiculous, rather like the Pollock jokes that are told in Chicago or the Kentuckian jokes of southern Indiana.
anon @ 10:04,
We're using the LAT puzzles because the others don't exist any more.
Clear Ayes and Sheila,
I agree that you have to use stitches to begin darning before you can weave the threads. I had to darn a sock not too long ago--it was fairly new and I refused to throw it away so soon. I used my mother's old wooden darning egg to hold it firm, but I couldn't find any darning wool like I thought I'd saved from all those years ago, so I used regular thread.
Where I went to school there was no interschool sport like here--what little there was was only watched by parents of the athletes, not the whole school. Cheerleaders didn't exist at all, so no cheers either.
Dennis, knowing a little about Sweden, I wouldn't be surprised if the "winded" colleague didn't also get a chunk of change for his embarrassment at being told off.
Argyle, Sheila & Kazie, I still have my grandmother's wooden darning egg too, so if worse comes to worse, I will get it out of the antique display cabinet and put it to good use. But if I darn our holey socks, what will I use for dusting mitts?
Doesitinink, That is a icky commercial. My "worst" fast food commercials are Carl's Jr. They all feature people taking huge unmanageable bites, chewing with their mouths open and slopping catsup and other condiments all over themselves. Yuck!
I didn't mention earlier that Hound Dog was originally recorded by Big Mama Thornton. It was a much better version than Elvis', but she didn't have the eyes and lip, although she did have some formidable hips. Nobody was better than she at singing the blues. But it was a time in our history when Black and White music markets were separate and quite unequal. She was well known to blues fans, but not to pop music fans. Too bad, their loss.
Good Afternoon C.C. and Co.,
Regnava NEL silencio was a gimme for me. I was fortunate enough to see a production of Lucia di Lammermoor two years ago. The very first opera I ever saw was Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore.
My favorite clue today was the one for YADA.
My least favorite was the repeated ORLON.
I did not recall the name of the Libertarian candidate and had never heard of Jimmy HATLO or his comic strip. Since I opted for BSE (I guess I was thinking Bachelor of the Science of Economics ... or something like that), I wound up with HETLO and SARR. Oh, well. I also had never heard of Jacques TATI. I got him from the perps, though.
Like Linda, I feel that EELY is suspect.
My eyes are either very light green or hazel. Nobody seems to know for sure.
Elissa: Good catch on 'commonwealths'.
Razzberry: Regarding your baby oil query, the same thing has been asked about Girl Scout Cookies.
Jeanne: If you ever visit Miami Beach, you must go to see the Holocaust Memorial. I am sure you would be moved by it.
Haley,
CC has no control over the Chicago Tribune or the LA Times. The Tribune went bankrupt they are no longer syndicating their puzzle it has been replaced with the LA Times.
The link for the LA Times puzzle can be found on the Chicago Tribune page as well as the LA TImes page.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-sa-crossword-htmlpage,0,1710056.htmlpage
ALL GRAVY NO GRIEF
Apart from the novelty of her and her siblings' names, she first came to public attention at the age of fourteen, in 1982, as a vocalist on her father's hit single "Valley Girl". The song featured Moon Unit Zappa delivering a monologue in 'val-speak', a collection of slang terms popular in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles. Around this time, in the mid-80s, Moon Unit and her brother were frequent guest VJs on MTV. Next to "Dancin' Fool", "Valley Girl" was Frank Zappa's biggest hit in the United States, and popularized phrases such as "Grody to the max" and "Gag me with a spoon". The song appeared on Zappa's 1982 album Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch.
Morning all...Well that's 3 for 3. What a fun puzzle! I really didn't have any hitches and since I do it with a mechanical pencil I have the freedom to erase a few incorrect thoughts.. I wanted MBA for 33A but took out the MB and replaced it with B_A for a bit while I thought on it. I had 3 of theme answers w/o x's and had most of the letters in for GROUND_ON_ROL before I actually had a V-8 moment. I am expecting trouble tomorrow so may not be posting...also have a late morning meeting that may be several hours long...so if I don't make it back...
Rather than answer any questions today I want to put something out there for C.C. in her awesomeness and anyone, who like me, just started doing crossword puzzles in the last 6 months...
I have gone from seldom finishing a puzzle and possessing no understanding of what I was actually trying to do except put letters in the little boxes, to cruising through and actually understanding a much larger cross-section of puzzles.
Thanks to C.C. and everyone on this blog, I discovered the other day that I am now now looking for theme answers, being critical of certain cluing and overall making value judgements on the quality of the puzzle design...6 mos ago none of this would ever have occured to me. I feel that my ability to completely solve a puzzle has gown by incredible leaps...and to anyone who is new at this...keep plugging away at it...An Incredible Journey...Puzzle On...
good morning c.c. and all,
sailed through this one so fast i shocked myself, got almost all of it with just across clues. i've done that before with down clues, never across.
only minor annoyance was 'eely,' just one of those crossword unavoidables i suppose. but being an under-represented libertarian, i loved 34D.
wanted NOSE for 1A .. yeah, i guess that wouldn't be acceptable puzzle material.
would never have figured out the theme had it not been spelled out. clever. really looking forward to the rest of the week.
@ink and clear ayes: a disgusting commercial that ran relentlessly while i was pregnant, velveeta melts better than cheddar .. still makes me sick to think of it.
@dennis: today's WOW are spot on. and the image of belgian cats scampering off in all directions with people's mail is hysterical.
Oh...I'll answer the general question...Salt and pepper hair(used to be brown), hazel eyes...sometimes green, sometimes brownish green. Apparently they change with my mood.
Like CA, I was taught to darn and repair clothing when very young. I still have my grandmother's darning egg...but nowadays, socks also go for dust rags...time is more valuable than any old sock!
Anon@12:40,
Zappa himself stated that Valley Girl was the biggest hit he had. That surprised me. I would have thought that either 'Dancing Fool' or 'Don't Eat The Yellow Snow' were bigger hits.
I have been too busy the last couple of weeks to do the puzzle as I usually do it on my lunch hour. Lunch hours the last couple of weeks were a quick sandwich at the desk. Now that the foodshow is over, I should be able to get back to normal, whatever that is!
We were nervous about our turnout for the show, but it was a resounding success. It actully gave me hope that the economy may swing the other way soon. I sure hope so as too many of my friends that used to be employed are now not and are struggling.
Anyway, this was my first LA Times puzzle and I breezed right through it! Ones I wouldn't have know I got from the perps.
@jeannie: hey girl, good to see you. what exactly is a food show? is this in connection to burger king or something seperate?
French words are starting to appear.Jimmys' getting upset!! Oh well.
I wanted Houston for ground, and bba had me. Otherwise I think I'm on this guys wave length.
INK: I think 22.5 degrees is in reference to a compass heading, where 360 is north, with 090 as east. NE would be 045 degrees with NNE at 22.5. At least that's the way I gave the wind to pilots every few minutes for the last 30 some years.
My favorite Elvis is "Burnin' Love". The song just rocks.
Old comics? How about Moon Mullins, Bringing up Father(Maggie & Jiggs), Barney Google, Smokey Stover. There's more, later.
Jim
@Karen - thanks for refreshing my memory about the "two bits" chant. It takes me back to hot football fields in Edwards, MS, where I went to high school.
@DoesItinInk - Raspberry is correct, at least as far as navigating is concerned. The compass rose printed on all navigation charts show directions as Raspberry described. I don't know how our space travelers measure directions, with a third dimension being added.
Good afternoon CC et al., What a GAS! Almost brought 'tear's to my 'eye's. Can't say it went like a 'poof' but it didn't 'exhaust' me either. It is certainly not 'foul' like the TMS puzzles were. What a relief!
Do you know why people fart out loud? So, 'deaf' people can enjoy it too.
Dennis: Rubik's cubes are everywhere here. Big thing at the moment.
Lemonade: Great choice of words at 7:20 beings how today is Weds.
Love this day! We're back to 'tool' and nuts...my kind of fare.
Enjoy this day.
Carol:
Thank you for paying attention; I love words and all of their subtleties, and you apparently saw what my mind was seeing when I chose the words I chose. Makes me all giddy!
Clear ayes (12:19) Hooray for you for the Big Mama Thornton clip and the kind words for her, she was the best!
It is so true about the white/black music separation in those old days. We (as white kids) missed soooo much that was the best in rhythm and blues...we had to listen to Pat Boone make a fool of himself trying to cover Little Richard's songs, and so much more. Blahhh! Everyone is so quick to speak of the 50's in glowing, nostalgic terms and some of it was innocent but much of the 'innocence' was contrived. I think the decade would be better described as the 'Phoney Fifties'.
End of rant :)
C.C.
No rebus puzzles in The LA Times but plenty of tricky wordplay can be expected on friday.
Jimmy Hatlo's They'll Do It Every Time was a very popular comic strip from the 1930's to the 1960's. It ceased publication last year but wasn't that popular in recent years. Hatlo died many years earlier but the strip was carried on by others.
Good Morning,
I really enjoyed this puzzle, quite smooth. If I couldn't get it across I was able to get it down. 10D was a little slow because I didn't read "prop". Even then I pretty much got it from the perps. I just didn't get 44D until you explained it.
Old comics, my favorite was Snuffy Smith, my husband used to tell the kids with a twinkle in his eye that they were "gooder than 'ary angel".
My favorite Elvis rendition is 'Blue Moon'. When I heard that I understood why the other girls were swooning.
@melissabee, our company has some chain accounts like Burger King, Dairy Queen and Subway, but an equal part of our business is what is known as street business. Kind of like any sole owned restaurants and bars. A foodshow is a chance for all our vendors, anyone from Tyson Chicken, Campbells, and Heinz to Georgia Pacific, Reynolds and Dart container to offer discounts to our customers for an eight week shipping period. I coordinate the show floor layout and decor along with collecting all the data from the vendors on what they are going to offer. It's about a 10 week process for me to put together. I enjoy it as I don't just have to wonder about how many ways there is to make a Whopper. Burger Kings says it's 256.
Hey, I was number "69" LOVE THAT WHEN IT HAPPENS!
Sheila: I got hooked on macadamia nut pancakes while in Hawaii. Yum, yum.
Doreen
Dennis,
How did you know Elvis? What was he like in real person?
Dr. Dad,
Cantonese soup is different than the one you had in Yantai. It's lighter and sweeter. Due to the humid subtropical weather there, people have soup for every meal.
Lemonade,
Can you use Elissa instead of E? Some readers might not be clear about whom you are addressing your posts to. I saw "humping" too. Was confused about what you really meant. I still am at sea. Explain to me, in detail.
Maria,
So NEL is a preposition meaning "in"? It's "dreamt". My bad.
The previous question from my last post was the Belgian version. The Swedish $100K question is: why do farts stink? So, 'deaf' people can enjoy them.
Melissa bee and Jeannie good to see you both.
Yeah, Dennis, I want to know how you knew Elvis too.
Democrat,
Interesting "Put in stitches" & comedian connection.
Crockett,
Nice to see you so earlier. Can you write down the FILLS instead the Across/Down number when you comment? It's easier for others to understand. Some don't have a finished grid with them when they come here.
Dons_mind,
I agree with Dennis. Rich Norris seems to be fond of wordplay. That's why you see lots of ? mark in the clues.
Sallie,
Congratulations! Your link worked perfectly. Some people in northern China finish their meal with soup. But most Chinese (esp Cantonese) start dinner with a small bowl of slow fire-cooked soup, which is normally simmered for 3-6 hours. Delicious! Cantonese men like girls who make great soup.
Clear Ayes,
"Don't Be So Cruel" sounds much better. Thanks for the link.
Elissa,
Thanks for the Valley Girl. I thought it's just a song name.
Ink,
I agree with Razzberry. You were wrong on NNE. Look at my original 44D link.
BoyD,
Great! We need more solvers to act now instead of waiting.
PromiseMe,
The repetition of fills like ORLON is unavoidable in puzzle construction/editing. It would be bad is the clue were the same as yesterday's.
Wolfmom,
I have a longer solving experience than you do. I started in Jan 2008.
Melissa,
Please stay this time. You tend to disappear after a few posts. I missed your witty comments. Where is Barb B?
Papajim,
Don't be upset. Pretty soon you will get used to the editor's French tricks.
Lois,
Your posts always make me smile. Like Dennis said the other day, thanks for being you.
Lemonade - glad you were able to enjoy 'Hump'day! Good luck explaining it in detail to C.C. ;)
"The repetition of fills like ORLON is unavoidable in puzzle construction/editing. It would be bad is the clue were the same as yesterday's."
C.C.: I know, but I still would prefer to see at least one day in between repeated answers.
Dennis: Did Elvis give you a Cadillac?
Elvis has just left the building.
c.c.,
Just reread your YADA comment: if it is repeated twice, don't you end up with three times?
Clear Ayes,
Thanks for Big Mama Thornton. I'd never heard of her before.
@c.c. I'll be happy to use the FILLS instead of the clue numbers. I hadn't noticed that others were doing that, so I thought that referring to 1A was acceptable. Don't think I'll make it a habit to do that early morning thing. So good to see more posts from you later in the day. We vodka you!
CC: Last time I checked, there were 94 posts...now there are 80!!! What happened?
Lemonade714, LOL, you're in the soup now. C.C.'s not kidding when she says "Explain in detail"; she means exactly that.
PromiseMeThis@12:57, You are the Zappa expert. I think Valley Girl was one of the few songs of his that could be played on commercial radio and that was why it was his biggest hit. Other than that, I don't think there were many Zappa songs that didn't offend somebody. (Otherwise, what's the point?) My personal favorite is Montana (in which Zappa sings about moving to Montana and raising a crop of dental floss).
Linda, were you looking at the total posts for Tuesday? There were 94 there.
Lemonade, nice to see C.C. turning up the heat on someone else for a change. Good luck with that one.
Ok, the Elvis story in a nutshell, and this is terribly condensed: My father spent his career with RCA, and was one of the SE chiefs of RCA Records. In that role, he met almost all the artists and their managers under contract w/RCA at one point or another. For instance, he and Perry Como were very good friends and golf partners, along with several others. Somehow, my father and Colonel Parker, Elvis's manager, hit it off, and were in frequent communication with each other.
A very long story short, Elvis & the Colonel were at our house in Atlanta once, and we were invited to the filming of Follow That Dream (in Florida), where we got to spend some time with Elvis. And yes, I have pictures, as I'm sure some of you will assume I'm pulling this out of my nether region. I don't have pictures, however, of the house visit, as my stepmother (estranged) has those, and we're not exactly sending each other roses.
My impression of Elvis, and I was only 17, was that he was very quiet, almost shy, but extremely down to earth. Also, I was surprised at how bad his skin was; at my age, I wasn't expecting people like that to have flaws.
Certainly a time in my life I'll never forget.
I cannot believe that we cannot get the Chicago Tribune Crossword anymore. i deeply regret that. Is there any way? The Florida Times-Union does not carry the LA paper.
Joel
8:05 today. Faster than Tuesday's time.
The online clue for 64a: was Yellow-skinned apple (GOLDEN DELICIOUS). Nothing about "sour".
If you prefer using AcrosLite for your online solving, you can always get the LA Times puzzle via a link at Cruciverb.com
Hello C.C. & all
C.C.,
Thanks for posting more, and even later in the day!
TJ in Osseo
Ok, the Global War on Terror is officially over, according to the news.
It's now the "Overseas Contingency Operation".
Jeezus.
@joel @ 4:22 The TMS puzzle has ceased publication. It does not exist anymore. C.C. or anyone else cannot give you something that is no longer there!
An American English idiom for Wednesday is "hump day" a reference to making it through to the middle of the work week as getting "over the hump." The analogy being that the work week is like a hill you have to climb, and it's downhill after Wednesday; it's the hump you have to get over. Hump in the dictionary also has many other meanings, but the two additional meanings which I was hinting at were (a) to carry something that requires some exertion or effort (man, I really had to hump to get my work done) (b) to have sex, or to simulate having sex) (I would love to hump that girl) (the poodle humped my leg when I visited). In modern usage, Wednesday as Hump day becomes a great day because of its placement in the week, and the association with sex, which makes most of us happy. (Go Lois, Carol, Clear Ayes, Wolf Mom and the rest of you, you know who you are).
As far as shortcutting the names of our Bloggers, I will quit, though I like Elissa as "E" and embien as "e."
BTW (maybe that is the problem, too much time with my text messaging sons, LMAO), embien, I too did this puzzle in less time than Tuesday, because the long fills really sped up the process.
I have had the opportunity in my roller coaster life to meet and speak with many celebrities, and most of them were really nice, just people with zits, family stories and silly laughs. Generally fringe "stars" were the arrogant ones, and they seldom lasted. I did not run into Elvis, but musicians as a whole were really friendly when sober.
CA; Thanks...just scrolled to far.
CC: My floor no longer squeaks and is level (a palindrome) again...and my monthly budget is shot to that place Lemonade714 doesn`t believe in.
The mis-spelling of "dreamt" wasn`t your bad, it was mine. But, like the man who carried the snake across the river and then was upset because it bit him, "...but you knew I couldn`t spell (was a snake) and you took me anyway!"
I really think that the constructors/editors read our blogs. It`s just too "coincidental" that so many of the things we discuss show up in puzzles so quickly.
My favorite soup (just because it`s so easy): Brown 2 lbs. grnd. mt. with a large, chopped onion. Add 1 reg. sized can of each of these: chopped tomatoes, red kidney beans,
pinto beans and white corn. Season with one pkt. each dry, taco seasoning mix and dry, ranch seasoning mix.
Simmer 20 minutes and serve. Deedlelumalicious!
Hi C. C. and all,
Enjoyed todays puzzle. Very different clueing. West central block had me for a while. Did not know BBA or HATLO (althought the link reminded me about reading it in my youth). Had slat for lath at first.
Ground control had me for a little while. I was thinking Mission Control or Houston Control which neither fit. As I remember the Apollo launches, ground control was at Cape Canaveral (sp.?){now Kennedy Space Center}, ground control handled the launching of the rocket. Once they had seperation and were into the stratosphere, Mission Control took over which was in Houston, Texas. The most suspenseful part of the mission was usually during re-entry when they entered the earth's atmosphere and would lose radio contact. You had no idea if they burnt up or made it until radio contact could be reestablished. Still remember staying up and seeing Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. Seeing the movie Apollo 13, brought back a lot of memories about that mission. Amazing how everybody got those guys home.
Lemonade714, I am very impressed. Your definition was very nicely done.
CC. Glad to see your further posts today.
Lemonade - congrats on the detailed and very well done explanation!!! Dennis will be proud of you too.
Linda - thanks for the soup recipe, sounds good and I'm always looking for a new soup recipe, something basic and not too far 'out there' as our appetite is for old fashioned home cooking. Most of my old recipes had too much fat in them so I have re-worked them to suit us.
Lemonade...as always...very cleverly done. So...is Hump Day the only day you are supposed do it? I always kind of liked Saturdays myself...you know...after that weekly bath. ;P
Dennis...I kind of liked the look of the Waffle Pan myself...how well does it work? It would probably be redundant since I already have a waffle iron...Is it more like having a Belgian Waffle?..I like to know these things. I'm a cookware junkie...and my name is Wolfmom...
LmndDCCXIV,
Nicely done, as well... Got something against poodles?
Many definitions, I bet the Army & Marine people can tell C.C. more about "humping their 'ruck'".
Nice story, Dennis, although I'm sure very shortened up. I once was lucky enough to wait on Red Skelton!
TJ in Osseo
Lemonade, Carol's right; just a great job -- my compliments.
Wolfmom, the pan works very well. It produces waffles that are about the thickness of a pancake, but crisp, particularly around the edges. Now that my mouth's watering, I know what I'm having for dinner...
Dennis, you are a kick in the head !
Overseas Contingency Op. indeed , i have to pass your comment on to my friend in Naples, she' ll get a kick out of it too.
c.c. Yes, Nel means in and it probably is a preposition. but unfortunately grammatical terms are not my forte, i would not know if a Preposition stared me in the face , or transition or coalition or any other Ition.
That is why i always call you and others here the " Literati " i was never a good scholar, oh but i digress . . .
oh, but i am a good speller !
see u in the funny papers .
My Dutch ex-husband told me the Dutch tell jokes on the Belgians, as not being too bright, but the only ones I remember are sight gags. The Belgians joke about the cheap Dutchman. Did you know the Dutch invented cooper wire? Yep, two Dutchmen fighting over a penny.
Gee willikers:
Thank you all for your kind words; I am having a really good time with this site, and I love the DCXIV; it may become a new screen name someplace. I love jokes, inside jokes, buried inside jokes.
I love poodles, and most animals, but I knew one, an apricot, who was an Olympic humper. He belonged to a lady friend, and it was touch embarrassing when he met friends. Awkward, but not as bad as the siamese who would bite the crap out of people. Actually, I had forgotten, the poodle was a sick, nasty dog, who when he got mad at his mistress, would jump on the bed and move the pillow, the pee and move the pillow back.
I do love dogs, we had a dachshund who would manage to rescue the white bologna from the garbage and eat it.
Everyday you are alive is a hump day in my little world, but the older I get the fewer people agree.
Do I get to be 100?
Maria...Dennis din't make that up. A couple of other recent "re-namings'... AIG changed it's name over the weekend to AIU...American International Underwriters. And the "toxic assets" have been re-named "legacy assets"...the really good one though is Blackwater has changed their name to XE(they want it pronounced ZEE)...like it really makes difference...:P
Lemonade, I would hate to think that the older we (you) get, the fewer the chances to enjoy a 'hump'(day)....if you can rise to the challenge, find someone who is agreeable. They are out there!!
Wolfmom and Dennis...ya' gotta 'love' the new euphemisms don't 'cha??? WTF...I guess they figure we won't know who the are if they change their names. Might work, since not too many pay that much attention and who can blame them? They are just trying to hold on to their jobs, houses etc.
Well folks hold onto your 'rear orifice'
That is 5 for me, have a great evening.
Good evening,
Thought this was a good puzzle today. Was unfamiliar with Barr, Hatlo and Tati, but really didn't have too much difficulty with completing the puzzle. The theme answers were familiar enough to me that they helped with the others - unusual to get those before the shorter ones for me.
For some reason the brain was clicking and I was on with even the unique clues - the Eliot for cats and the "French fry" ete. Don't know what was going on. Some days it works, some it doesn't.
CC - I just emailed Star Tribune. No point in waiting, you are absolutely right. The Newsday puzzle is just a minor exercise in boredom. What is the point of doing the crossword if it doesn't make you think at all? Hope she gets enough feedback to make some changes. Who knows. Thanks for all you do.
The bitter cold killed me today. Can't wait for Florida on Friday. I hear I am leaving just in time for weekend snow.
Karen
Oh and I forgot, Ground Control made me think of Cape Canaveral as we are heading there this weekend on our Spring Break trip. I am very excited.
Lemonade - If you had a dachshund have you ever heard the song "Dixie The Tiny Dog" by Peter Himmelman. It is a hoot! If you haven't, he has it recorded on several of the Cities 97 CD's. You must hear it.
My take, when I first heard the story about Obama changing the 'War On Terror' to the 'Overseas Contingency Operation', was not so much that it was a euphemistic renaming, but rather a shot at the former administration. After all, the word 'contingency' brings to mind a contingency plan and what is a contingency plan? It's the plan that one falls back on when the original plan, the one cooked up by the original haole (or, if not the original haole, at least the most recent one) goes down the $#@! hole.
Anon@6:30 AM and Jimbo:
Did you know that the Apostle Paul really was "Pop Eye"? Why else would he say in I Corinthians 15:10,
"I (y)am what I (y)am..." KJV
keh keh keh
My all-time favorite comic strip was
"Calvin and Hobbes."
Kazie: It must be nice to have former students in the literary field. I have several who have become teachers but the only "big-time" former student I have plays for the Minnesota Vikings.
Thomas, you're right - 'humping the ruck' took its toll on a lot of guys.
Linda, the constructors definitely read the blog; we've seen evidence of it several times. And I loved Calvin & Hobbes - I think I have all the anthologies.
RichShif, I remember how tense that reentry period was. Mission Control would periodically call the capsule, and all you'd hear was static for what, 10 minutes? Seemed like an hour.
Wolfmom, I didn't know that about AIG - jeezus, this crap just gets more and more bizarre.
Carol, very clever, tying in the rear orifice reference. Seems appropriate on many levels.
Lemonade, they are giving you kudos right now as you answered brilliantly when questioned about the hump day. I have been put in a similar position (so to speak, but one of my favs). You might have to read back a few months, but I was chosen to describe what "an ear pulling muffin" breakfast of champions was. I was proud and happy to say I knew. Ahh...the good 'ole days in my memory bank....not just the old posts either. I'll type it again...ahhh and whheeww! Melissa, Lois, Carol...and even you (innocennt wide-eyed)clearayes know what I am aluding to. WELCOME LEMONADE INTO OUR DF FOLD.
Linda,
I do have a few brilliant standouts, though not all that famous--one ended up married and working in Copenhagen in IT, another is sometimes on TV in soap roles, another is a prof of Arabic language and cultures somewhere on the east coast, several are using the languages they started with me in their work. Maybe the reason the majority seemed so dull is because these few showed them up so much.
Welcome back Jeannie!!!
Hope you forgive the buoys comments.
I've missed your humor and DF'ness! You add a unique and upbeat mojo to our blog... Let's cast off and 'reach' for a exciting 'tack' with our future puzzles!
Hope your foodie expo was a success!
Dennis,
We're you one of of our Viet Nam hero's who humped the 'ruck'? If so, thank you for sacrificing and serving our country! Your era [if applicable] of patriots never gets the deserving you deserve! Have visited the Memorial in DC, and will confess it brought tears to my eyes.
C.C.,
If you ever get a chance to visit these memorials, Nam, & WWII, maybe you'll get a chance to realize the American "how to", even if there's a question of 'why''?.
So much for my thoughts...
Good Night from TJ in Osseo..
And please just call me TJ...., Or TJ in Osseo, Thomas, is my Dad.. Thomas is an email address I got sucked into by my niece..
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