Theme: BEAN SALAD (33D: Picnic veggie dish, and a hint to words hidden in the answers to starred clues)
19A: *Parting words: KEEP IN TOUCH (Pinto)
37A: *"That outfit looks fabulous!": IT'S SO YOU (Soy)
57A: *Like unlikely chances: SLIM AND NONE (Lima)
3D: *18th century French painting style: ROCOCO ART (Cocoa)
Well, nobody puts cocoa bean in their bean salad. It's not a vegetable. The baby soy beans (edamames) I steal from the golf course tasted so good. My husband loves green lima beans. I use pinto beans for his chili in the winter months. What's your recipe for bean salad? I thought it always contains green beans, at least, the classic three bean salad does.
This is a special 16*15 grid. It has one more column than our normal puzzle. We had never had such a breakthrough in the old TMS Daily. (Reply from the editor regarding the grid: "Anytime a grid is 16x15 or 15x16, it's because of the theme. In today's puzzle, Dan couldn't come up with a symmetrical match for ITS SO YOU. The only way to do the theme was to make the grid 16-wide so that the 8-letter loner could go in the middle. I might also allow a 16 grid when there's too much theme to fit in a 15x15, or when the proposed theme contains a couple of really nifty 16-letter phrases").
The lower left corner crumbled very quickly for me this morning. And the theme revealed itself earlier on. But I still had to struggle. I filled in SANTA immediately for 24A: Nick name? (CLAUS). Saw this clever clue somewhere before. Might be on Paul's Clever Clue of the Month shortlist. Then I thought of Dalai Lama when I saw 16A: High leaders? (SHERPA).
Overall, I think I am getting better understanding Dan Naddor's "green". I still two or three-putt a lot, but sooner or later, I am going to grok all his breaks. My ball is going to sink. I even chipped in for the HOLE (54D: Place for an ace?) today. I love all the sports references in today's grid: baseball, tennis, golf, etc.
Before I forget, the first Annual Crosswords LA Tournament will be held on Saturday April 25, 2009. The entry fee is $25. You get 5 unpublished NY Times puzzle, lunch and free gifts. The tournament will benefit a charity. Plus, you can meet ACPT Champion Tyler Hinman. I think Doug Peterson will be there too.
Across:
1A: Deli offering: HERO. Nice intersection with HAVE (1D: Eat).
5A: Charge: ATTACK
11A: "__ pinch of ...": ADD A
15A: Hardly the full gamut: A TO B. Nailed it today.
18A: Viva __: By word of mouth: VOCE. Saw similar clue before. But it escaped me this morning.
21A: Huge: ENORMOUS
23A: Prankster's cry: GOTCHA. I've never got used to the Minnesota "You betcha".
25A: It's too close to call: DEAD HEAT
27A: Self-seeker: EGOIST
29A: One leaving a wake: HEARSE. I was picturing a boat moving through water.
30A: Togo neighbor: GHANA. Its capital city is Accra, meaning "ants" in local language. Ex-UN Chief Kofi Annan is from GHANA. I have his autographed photo.
31A: Playground retort: I AM SO
32A: Cleanup hitters' stats: RBIS. Reminds me of our Run Batted In and Runs Batted In discussion a while ago.
36A: Cause of inflation?: AIR. Nice clue. I was thinking of Ben Bernanke's inflation/deflation.
40A: SASE, e.g.: ENC
41A: NLRB part: Abbr.: NATL (National Labor Relations Board). I forgot what NLRB is. It's just clued as "Mediation agcy." in our puzzle a couple of weeks ago.
43A: "__ la vista, baby!": HASTA. This looks interesting. I was unaware of that song.
44A: "Cool!": NEATO. Only in crossword.
46A: Nutrition author Davis: ADELLE. Have never heard of this author. She wrote "Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit". According to Wikipedia, she was against food additives and advocated whole unprocessed food.
48A: "Don't delay!": ACT NOW
49A: Darling: ADORABLE. Not the Darling in my mind. Alistair Darling is the British Finance Minister.
52A: "The Da Vinci Code" albino: SILAS. I forgot. Read "The Da Vinci Code" too long ago. SILAS is literally "living in the woods", from silva "wood", says Dictionary.com. Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" will be released on Sept 15, 2009.
53A: 100-member group: SENATE. 99 now. With the current Minnesota recount mess.
54A: Safeco Field contest, to the Mariners: HOME GAME. Or "Metrodome contest, to the Twins".
60A: Hebrew for "skyward": EL AL. Unknown to me.
61A: Yours, in Tours: A TOI
62A: Buck: DOLLAR. I was thinking of male deer. Bucks shed their antlers every year after the rut.
63A: Pro __: RATA. BONO anyone?
64A: Hamlet, for one: DANE. Viggo Mortensen is half-DANE. Hamlet is also a small village without a church.
65A: Takes the wheel: STEERS
66A: Barbara who played Jeannie: EDEN. "I Dream of Jeannie". She was married to Michael ANSARA, who stumped me last time when it's clued as "Broken Arrow" co-star.
Down:
2D: Thames landmark: ETON. Easy guess. I had no idea that ETON is located across the Thames from Windsor.
4D: Ohio conservatory: OBERLIN. No idea. Have never heard of OBERLIN Conservatory of Music before. Is it very famous?
5D: Invite to a movie, say: ASK OUT
6D: NATA founding member: THE US. Stumped. Not used to see THE in the fill.
7D: Golfer's pocketful: TEES. Well, probably for guys. Girls do not carry "pocketful" of tees. We don't lose ours.
8D: Father of Dada: ARP (Jean). Or German Hans ARP.
9D: No. to which annual raises might be tied: CPI. I am used to the full term Consumer Price Index.
10D: Pocket Books logo: KANGAROO. Oh, I did not know Pocket Books is a Simon & Schuster imprint. And I did not know its Gertrude the KANGAROO logo either.
11D: Barfly's request: ANOTHER. Thought of ONE MORE.
12D: Wimbledon tie: DEUCE. Got the answer with across help.
13D: Russian villa: DACHA. Do you know Russians have no middle names?
14A: Buddhist who has attained Nirvana: ARHAT. I can never remember this word, derived from Sanskrit present participle arhati, literally "he deserves". He deserves AR HAT.
20D: Upscale Italian shoe brand: TOD'S. No idea. It seems that they make handbag also.
22D: Kenyan tribesman: MASAI. Also spelled as MAASAI. New word to me. The language they speak is called Maa.
25D: Reduce in grade: DEMOTE
26D: Gut course: EASY A. I did not know the meaning of "Gut course".
27D: Former Archbishop of New York: EGAN. The new Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan was just enthroned a week ago. He sounds like a very fun guy.
28D: Karmann __: sports car: GHIA. Not a familiar car to me. Wikipedia says it's manufactured by Volkswagen from 1955 to 1974.
29D: Pain in the neck: HASSLE
31D: "Love __ Around": 1968 hit: IS ALL. No idea. It sounds nice.
34D: A fan of: INTO
35D: Garbage barge: SCOW. Learned from doing Xword. It's flat-bottomed.
38D: Diver's sickness: THE BENDS. Completely unknown to me. (Sorry Mainiac, I missed your comment yesterday @2:45pm.)
39D: Reunion attendee: UNCLE
42D: University of Wyoming site: LARAMIE. I had ??AMIE in place, then I looked at my map and got this city. Dick Cheney is probably the most famous graduate of the University of Wyoming.
45D: Stand with shelf: ETAGERE
47D: Info to input: DATA
48D: Shooters, before shooting: AIMERS. I felt stupid not getting this answer.
49D: Syrian leader: ASSAD. Arabic for "lion".
52D: Sub detector: SONAR
55D: Friend of Adelaide: MATE. Australia for pal. Adelaide is the capital of South Australia. I wanted AMIE, thinking Adelaide might be a French girl's name.
56D: Flair: ELAN
58D: E-mail address part: DOT. I was thinking of com.
59D: Phillies' div: NLE (National League East). It's clued as "Marlin's div." last time. Be prepared for "Braves/Mets/National div.".
Answer grid.
C.C.
19A: *Parting words: KEEP IN TOUCH (Pinto)
37A: *"That outfit looks fabulous!": IT'S SO YOU (Soy)
57A: *Like unlikely chances: SLIM AND NONE (Lima)
3D: *18th century French painting style: ROCOCO ART (Cocoa)
Well, nobody puts cocoa bean in their bean salad. It's not a vegetable. The baby soy beans (edamames) I steal from the golf course tasted so good. My husband loves green lima beans. I use pinto beans for his chili in the winter months. What's your recipe for bean salad? I thought it always contains green beans, at least, the classic three bean salad does.
This is a special 16*15 grid. It has one more column than our normal puzzle. We had never had such a breakthrough in the old TMS Daily. (Reply from the editor regarding the grid: "Anytime a grid is 16x15 or 15x16, it's because of the theme. In today's puzzle, Dan couldn't come up with a symmetrical match for ITS SO YOU. The only way to do the theme was to make the grid 16-wide so that the 8-letter loner could go in the middle. I might also allow a 16 grid when there's too much theme to fit in a 15x15, or when the proposed theme contains a couple of really nifty 16-letter phrases").
The lower left corner crumbled very quickly for me this morning. And the theme revealed itself earlier on. But I still had to struggle. I filled in SANTA immediately for 24A: Nick name? (CLAUS). Saw this clever clue somewhere before. Might be on Paul's Clever Clue of the Month shortlist. Then I thought of Dalai Lama when I saw 16A: High leaders? (SHERPA).
Overall, I think I am getting better understanding Dan Naddor's "green". I still two or three-putt a lot, but sooner or later, I am going to grok all his breaks. My ball is going to sink. I even chipped in for the HOLE (54D: Place for an ace?) today. I love all the sports references in today's grid: baseball, tennis, golf, etc.
Before I forget, the first Annual Crosswords LA Tournament will be held on Saturday April 25, 2009. The entry fee is $25. You get 5 unpublished NY Times puzzle, lunch and free gifts. The tournament will benefit a charity. Plus, you can meet ACPT Champion Tyler Hinman. I think Doug Peterson will be there too.
Across:
1A: Deli offering: HERO. Nice intersection with HAVE (1D: Eat).
5A: Charge: ATTACK
11A: "__ pinch of ...": ADD A
15A: Hardly the full gamut: A TO B. Nailed it today.
18A: Viva __: By word of mouth: VOCE. Saw similar clue before. But it escaped me this morning.
21A: Huge: ENORMOUS
23A: Prankster's cry: GOTCHA. I've never got used to the Minnesota "You betcha".
25A: It's too close to call: DEAD HEAT
27A: Self-seeker: EGOIST
29A: One leaving a wake: HEARSE. I was picturing a boat moving through water.
30A: Togo neighbor: GHANA. Its capital city is Accra, meaning "ants" in local language. Ex-UN Chief Kofi Annan is from GHANA. I have his autographed photo.
31A: Playground retort: I AM SO
32A: Cleanup hitters' stats: RBIS. Reminds me of our Run Batted In and Runs Batted In discussion a while ago.
36A: Cause of inflation?: AIR. Nice clue. I was thinking of Ben Bernanke's inflation/deflation.
40A: SASE, e.g.: ENC
41A: NLRB part: Abbr.: NATL (National Labor Relations Board). I forgot what NLRB is. It's just clued as "Mediation agcy." in our puzzle a couple of weeks ago.
43A: "__ la vista, baby!": HASTA. This looks interesting. I was unaware of that song.
44A: "Cool!": NEATO. Only in crossword.
46A: Nutrition author Davis: ADELLE. Have never heard of this author. She wrote "Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit". According to Wikipedia, she was against food additives and advocated whole unprocessed food.
48A: "Don't delay!": ACT NOW
49A: Darling: ADORABLE. Not the Darling in my mind. Alistair Darling is the British Finance Minister.
52A: "The Da Vinci Code" albino: SILAS. I forgot. Read "The Da Vinci Code" too long ago. SILAS is literally "living in the woods", from silva "wood", says Dictionary.com. Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" will be released on Sept 15, 2009.
53A: 100-member group: SENATE. 99 now. With the current Minnesota recount mess.
54A: Safeco Field contest, to the Mariners: HOME GAME. Or "Metrodome contest, to the Twins".
60A: Hebrew for "skyward": EL AL. Unknown to me.
61A: Yours, in Tours: A TOI
62A: Buck: DOLLAR. I was thinking of male deer. Bucks shed their antlers every year after the rut.
63A: Pro __: RATA. BONO anyone?
64A: Hamlet, for one: DANE. Viggo Mortensen is half-DANE. Hamlet is also a small village without a church.
65A: Takes the wheel: STEERS
66A: Barbara who played Jeannie: EDEN. "I Dream of Jeannie". She was married to Michael ANSARA, who stumped me last time when it's clued as "Broken Arrow" co-star.
Down:
2D: Thames landmark: ETON. Easy guess. I had no idea that ETON is located across the Thames from Windsor.
4D: Ohio conservatory: OBERLIN. No idea. Have never heard of OBERLIN Conservatory of Music before. Is it very famous?
5D: Invite to a movie, say: ASK OUT
6D: NATA founding member: THE US. Stumped. Not used to see THE in the fill.
7D: Golfer's pocketful: TEES. Well, probably for guys. Girls do not carry "pocketful" of tees. We don't lose ours.
8D: Father of Dada: ARP (Jean). Or German Hans ARP.
9D: No. to which annual raises might be tied: CPI. I am used to the full term Consumer Price Index.
10D: Pocket Books logo: KANGAROO. Oh, I did not know Pocket Books is a Simon & Schuster imprint. And I did not know its Gertrude the KANGAROO logo either.
11D: Barfly's request: ANOTHER. Thought of ONE MORE.
12D: Wimbledon tie: DEUCE. Got the answer with across help.
13D: Russian villa: DACHA. Do you know Russians have no middle names?
14A: Buddhist who has attained Nirvana: ARHAT. I can never remember this word, derived from Sanskrit present participle arhati, literally "he deserves". He deserves AR HAT.
20D: Upscale Italian shoe brand: TOD'S. No idea. It seems that they make handbag also.
22D: Kenyan tribesman: MASAI. Also spelled as MAASAI. New word to me. The language they speak is called Maa.
25D: Reduce in grade: DEMOTE
26D: Gut course: EASY A. I did not know the meaning of "Gut course".
27D: Former Archbishop of New York: EGAN. The new Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan was just enthroned a week ago. He sounds like a very fun guy.
28D: Karmann __: sports car: GHIA. Not a familiar car to me. Wikipedia says it's manufactured by Volkswagen from 1955 to 1974.
29D: Pain in the neck: HASSLE
31D: "Love __ Around": 1968 hit: IS ALL. No idea. It sounds nice.
34D: A fan of: INTO
35D: Garbage barge: SCOW. Learned from doing Xword. It's flat-bottomed.
38D: Diver's sickness: THE BENDS. Completely unknown to me. (Sorry Mainiac, I missed your comment yesterday @2:45pm.)
39D: Reunion attendee: UNCLE
42D: University of Wyoming site: LARAMIE. I had ??AMIE in place, then I looked at my map and got this city. Dick Cheney is probably the most famous graduate of the University of Wyoming.
45D: Stand with shelf: ETAGERE
47D: Info to input: DATA
48D: Shooters, before shooting: AIMERS. I felt stupid not getting this answer.
49D: Syrian leader: ASSAD. Arabic for "lion".
52D: Sub detector: SONAR
55D: Friend of Adelaide: MATE. Australia for pal. Adelaide is the capital of South Australia. I wanted AMIE, thinking Adelaide might be a French girl's name.
56D: Flair: ELAN
58D: E-mail address part: DOT. I was thinking of com.
59D: Phillies' div: NLE (National League East). It's clued as "Marlin's div." last time. Be prepared for "Braves/Mets/National div.".
Answer grid.
C.C.
86 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang- all kinds of struggles with this one; an excellent puzzle.
I slid all over the place trying to find traction, and more than one answer in any section. Finally went to the SW, which came relatively easily. There were several answers throughout the puzzle that I was able to get with a couple letters, but had no idea they were what they were. For instance, I knew of rococo art, but didn't know it was 18th century, and I knew Ghana, but didn't know it was right next to Togo.
Clever clues included 'nick name', 'cause of inflation'. I thought of school vs. relative for 'reunion' attendee. All in all, a difficult puzzle for me, but I really, really enjoyed it. Great theme too.
Today is Lover's Day, National Zucchini Bread Day, Take a Chance Day, and World Laboratory Day.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "One can savor sights and sounds more deeply when one gets really old. It may be the last time you see a sunset, a tree, the snow, or know winter. The sea, a lake, all become as in childhood, magical and a great wonder: then seen for the first time, now perhaps for the last. Music, bird songs, the wind, the waves: one listens to tones with deeper delight and appreciation - "loving well" to borrow from Shakespeare's seventy-third sonnet, "that which I must leave ere long." -- Writer Helen Nearing
Another helping of Fun Facts:
- In 1905, prior even to the introduction of Ford's Model A, Mary Anderson received a patent for manual windshield wipers
- Michael Sangster, who played in the 1960s, had tennis's fastest serve, once clocked at 154 miles per hour.
- The number one cause of blindness in the United States is masturb...........diabetes.
Only a wakeup!
Dennis,
Did you notice the extra column? It's 16*15 grid. SW was also the easiest for me. Your comment on ROCCO ART, UNCLE and GHANA further proves that a quality puzzle should use clever clues rather than obscure words to make it more challenging. What are you going to do on this "Lover's Day"? Take a Chance on someone? Also, what's your overall impression of the Rich Norris puzzles we've had in the past month?
Ew. ATTACK, NEAR, ENORMOUS, GOTCHA, ENC, HASTA, NEATO, ACT NOW, ADORABLE, EL AL, RATA, STEERS, EDEN, ASK OUT, TEES, CPI, KANGAROO, DEMOTE, HASSLE, BEAN SALAD, INTO, SCOW, IS ALL, THE BENDS, DATA, AIMERS, ONION, SONAR, ELAN and DOT were all gimmes. The rest of the puzzle stumped me.
I wanted ALIAS for CLAUS, DEAD EVEN for DEAD HEAT, WEEPER for HEARSE, IS TOO or AM TOO for I AM SO, IT'S SO HOT for IT'S SO YOU, ONE TO GO for ANOTHER and DECK for HOLE. (I was thinking of cards in a DECK.) I also thought of sesame SEEDS on a hamburger bun before I realized they were thinking of what was on the hamburger patty.
C.C., a word of warning: don't ask me what sort of things I am INTO. Trust me when I say you don't want to know. :)
Martin
C.C., no, I didn't immediately notice the extra column.
What are you going to do on this "Lover's Day"? Take a Chance on someone?Oh, I'll think of something...
Also, what's your overall impression of the Rich Norris puzzles we've had in the past month?I'm already a fan. Very happy with the switch. You?
Martin,
I know. Egyptian myth. No need to correct me if I am wrong.
Dennis,
I love the switch too. Often find myself marveling at his clever clues. And I am getting better at the multiple word answers. The themes are all very creative.
Clear Ayes,
I suppose you are right about bull calves. I wish I were a vegan. But I don't have strong will.
Lemonade,
That's what I thought. It's the real you. Great picture.
Warren,
Maybe Ruth will pop into our Comments section some day? She is pretty.
Al,
Re: "Well, I keep having a preference" (4). Who's right? My NICE or Anon HP's LIKE?
WM,
No, actually I did not pay attention to Bloody Mary's teeth. But her heavily accented/broken English, you know, like "Lieu-tellen, you sexy man" reminds me of myself.
Jeannie,
I deleted your post @ 12:14am last night. I hope you won't post similar stuff again. Once a while a DF comment is OK, but night after night of endless ball comments do not interest me and do not suit this blog.
CC,
I noticed the extra grid. Maybe you could interview the puzzle editor and ask why was the extra grid needed?
THE MONKEYS DEAD THE SHOWS OVER SUE YA!
Very nice puzzle.
C.C. I hope the Naples Daily News keeps the LA TIMES puzzle, though easy Monday through Wednesday I like how it gets more difficult as the week goes on. Maybe they will publish two puzzles.
I was up north for Easter etc... lousy weather in DC and NYC... cold and rainy.
@ Carol: Best time to visit FL is anytime between late October and the end of May. That is the dry season. December is a great month to visit since a lot of the snow birders head north for the holidays so it is less crowded and the air and water is warm. The East Coast from West Palm downward is very New Yorkee in season, the West Coast has more of a Midwestern flare. If you go to Boca Raton... bring your walker
Fun puzzle today. I'm not timing myself anymore but it took about 15 minutes with all the interruptions from family in the AM.
C.C., Anon-HP was correct with "like" for preference. Yours was an interesting take on it, though. The word "keep" is an indicator for a contained word. I found it interesting because it actually does double-duty here, also being a part of the answer:
"Well, i keep having a preference" (4).
Here's a few more. The third is a little different (that's a clue word) than the other ones I have been putting here.
1) Phantom's drink(7)
2) Sort of key bones(8)
3) Warning signal activated later(5)
Morning, all,
Excellent puzzle this morning, with clever clues already mentioned. I solved it online with a little red letter help in 28 minutes. Trouble spots before perp help were the ending of rococo, theus as C.C. noted, arhat, and sherpa, which was my last fill.
Enjoyed your interview with RP, C.C., and I have bookmarked the link for the LAT blog.
Carol, I lived in Coral Gables for three years some time ago. May is an excellent month to visit. The high humidity has not yet moved in as the rainy season doesn't start until June. When it does, it clouds up every afternoon and rains like crazy for a little while, and then clears up again. The average high temp in the Miami area all Summer is only about 89 degrees, but the humidity takes some getting used to.
In addition to the above, Winter prices have come down by now.
May all your efforts be fruitful today.
Good morning CC and all,..a very interesting and difficult puzzle today. Like yesterday, I got off to a poor start in the NW corner. I started by inserting dine for 1D and then became completely stalled. I moved to various sections of the puzzle before I gained any ground and that was in the lower east section. The NW corner was the last fill and it became doable after I erased dine and inserted hero for the across fill.
A few unknowns for me today such as rococoart, masai and atoi. Some of these revealed themselves with the perps, but I needed outside help today.
Hope you all have a great Thursday. It is off to the links today.
Hey, hey,
My one year of French never got me to ATOI and I never knew the Israeli flyer(old puzzle type clue) ELAL, meant skyward in Hebrew.
Lots of good stuff here, but not fond of THEUS (THE U.S.), ATOB (A TO B - who uses that expression the way it's clued?), and ROCOCO ART (the ART part feels tacked on).
DACHA and ARHAT I learned from crosswords.
As a collector of old paperbacks, I appreciated the KANGAROO.
rp
Morning all,
Today is my favorite day for the puzzle. Loved this puzzle even though I had to put it down and then come back to it later. Was able to have several aha moments. Still don't like have for eat. Just had to be dine but then nothing else worked. Didn't know Rococo art or Arhat but will try to put those in the old memory bank.
In recent weeks, I have had lots of scam e-mail about winning tons of money, investment opportunities, etc. Would occasionally get them but recently getting them on a regular basis. Do you know if you can report them to some agency? I don't open them but am really bugged that someone could be taken advantage of.
Have a great day and yes, Dennis it will be warm here but by the end of next week, not so much. Enjoy your time in FL.
Like others I was all over the puzzle looking for traction before switching from Master to Regular level. I was surprised at some of answers that popped into my head (MASAI, ADELLE, SILAS, AIR, GHANA, SENATE).
EL AL is Israel's national airline, so the name meaning 'skyward' makes sense.
We have often used the expression "from A to B" when commenting on someone's (limited) acting range.
Hello everyone:
I could not get started in the NW corner, thinking of Deli's from my ethnic viewpoint, HERO did not come to mind, so I went and shaved, and sure enough, then the whole corner was obvious. I did not like THE US or A TO B either; the theme was no help at all, since the only way to find those bean references was to have the answers.
When I was in college and law school, ADELLE DAVIS was a hot topic, both because she spoke against everything the AMA pushed, and because of her LSD experiences. When she dies of cancer, it was heralded as proof she was wrong. Now, many years later, her views have been mostly vindicated.
Well I am late, at work and must get to it, but thank you all for the positive Winston feedback, and you CC for the positive Jason feedback.
More later, I am sure; by the way, Florida is perfect today!
CC :I`m a "configuration" solver...so multiple words and solves like "atob" don`t come easy...Was pleasantly surprised that I got most of this one anyhow... and for a Thursday! RP: Who/what is your avatar? (probably someone/something from comics). Enjoyed the interview and your blog.
Good Morning All. Phew, I think Rich Norris has stopped coddling the LAT newbies. Thursday is the day I switch from online "Master Level" to "Regular Level", so I can get some red letter help. I don't know if I could have finished if I hadn't been alerted to my first/second/third time around mistakes.
I had a tough time with HAVE for "Eat". I HAVE a lot of things, but not all of them are edible. I loved THE BENDS. Just yesterday, Mainiac was telling us yesterday about saturation diving.
Not much time this morning. I have a doctor's appointment to find out why I am having allergies (stuffy nose and hives) for the first time in my life. LOL, maybe I should be savoring them, ala WoW.
Good morning, everyone. Started this one in the SE and built from there. A much longer solve than earlier in the week, but at least a complete puzzle. I loved the ELAL answer and enjoyed the cluing for CLAUS. I was pleasantly surprised that my first attempts at almost all of the answers were correct.
The 16*15 was an interesting difference. That extra row befuddled me for a while, and I expected there to be some connecting with the asterisked clues, but such was not the case.
@clearayes That would be something difficult to savor. Hope you get a workable answer. I've found that I have more allergies every year. Maybe I've just hit the critical point of irritants, LOL!
I'm a little late today due to going in for some routine bloodwork before breakfast. However, I started the puzzle while hubby was having his breakfast, and coming back after a break helped.
I did pretty well over all--no g'spots, one error: OBERLIN. Well, that also meant I had ATOM for A to B, and VOCO for VOCE. I knew the stem had to be VOC, but didn't know how to end it. That top section was my last area to fill. I sat staring at HE-R-E (29A) for ages before the penny dropped. Loved the puzzle and that I could do it unassisted on a Thursday.
I am familiar with Karmann Ghias. They were a popular sports car in my day, another VW-like rear engine that roared, not as classy as Porsches but related. Had never heard of TOD's as a brand though, probably not in my budget range. I got the bean theme after noticing the explanation for the asterisks when I got the first of those out.
Before I forget, Dennis, have a great vacation! How long will we be missing you? Or are you going to have daily access there too?
Well, I'm off to write our daily rag to tell them to keep LAT.
Still here Dennis,
enjoying the xwords and getting better, but not good enough to "join the experts". Like the LAT offering.
Savor your trip to Florida. We're having very warm weather here in Texas.
Vaya con Dios
Clearayes,
Re "have", a common expression is, "What did you have for lunch", or "What would you like to have for dinner".
That's the we we talk in Texas, anyway.
BTW, I like your posts.
Hi C.C. and gang,
It was a real slog of a puzzle for me today. Lot's of clever clues, I especially liked 29A: Hearse for one leaving a wake.
C.C. I wouldn't hold your breath on having Ruth joining this blog she's too busy doing a full days work at SLAC and besides that this month we're busy preparing for a upcoming photography awards (next week) and a pottery sale (this weekend).
Re: ElAl Hebrew? I found a wiki definition at El_Al -- it turns out this is a Hebrew word meaning 'skyward' and it's a coincidence that it's also the name of the national airline.
Re: Karmann Ghia? I can remember a TV ad for this car similar to this one;-)
Hi C.C. and everyone!
I had the same problems as most of you.
I started in the SE corner (as Crockett did) and it was a slow but steady pace from there. I really had trouble in the NW corner...dislike clue and answer for 1D (EAT and HAVE)..but when T.Frank explained as "what are you having for lunch" it made more sense. It just didn't dawn on me until then.
The bean salad and hidden words baffled me completely. I had to read C.C.'s comment twice before I got the connection and what a stretch!!! Coco(a) beans in a salad???? I don't believe Mr. Naddor has ever made a bean salad.
Frey (7:11) and T.Frank (7:42) thanks so very much for all the good info on Florida weather, etc. Frey, what is in Boca Raton that requires a walker?? Since I don't have one, will they still let me in?
The showers in the afternoon remind me of Hawaii...you could always tell the vacationers from Oregon and Washington, the minute they felt the rain drops, they ran for the hotel! We are used to showers that last a whole lot longer that a few minutes, LOL.
Right now our temp is 46 with 68% humidity which makes if feel a lot colder. We sure have had a swing in temps in the last few days!
Again, I'll post my answers to Al's cryptic clues around 7 pm today, if I don't see them here earlier. No mulling for me on them today, maybe I've gotten in the zone.
I'd like to note that there's a good 7 letter alternative for cryptic no. 2 too.
C.C., regarding your answer of yesterday, for nice to have gotten my vote, it would have needed to have been a better synonym for well. Still, your "i" before "e" take was definitely inspired.
Best,
anon-hp
I don't think it meant that they were all beans for a salad--just that they were all beans--"words hidden in the starred answers" is what it said.
Kazie, thanks. I'm away until 5/4, but much to the chagrin of some, I'm taking my laptop, so I should still be around for the morning blurb at a minimum.
Jimbo, I'm glad you're still here; let us hear from you more often. I enjoy your posts.
Carol, Boca Raton is an area of both immense wealth and advanced age.
Oh Kazie, you are right!!! I think I might need a touch more than my customary 1 cup of coffee...either that, or I make an appt to see a geriatric specialist, LOL.
Dennis- may your wake up call be warm and inviting ;) and prevent your going blind.
The Monkeys @6:47am et al,
Re: 16*15 grid. Here is the answer from Rich Norris:
"Anytime a grid is 16x15 or 15x16, it's because of the theme. In today's puzzle, Dan couldn't come up with a symmetrical match for ITS SO YOU. The only way to do the theme was to make the grid 16-wide so that the 8-letter loner could go in the middle. I might also allow a 16 grid when there's too much theme to fit in a 15x15, or when the proposed theme contains a couple of really nifty 16-letter phrases".
Dennis: Won`t be returning to FL until July! Envy you going in April (February is usually nice but was very cold this year!) Couldn`t get Mom`s cataract surgery scheduled before then (July).
Water temps might still be cold...but refreshing!
Don`t get sand in your LT!
Jimbo: Have you seen my posts suggesting you write a book about your interesting childhood? Go for it...when your royalties start coming in...remember it was my idea!
A quick comment about the bends. Nasty thing, and I've been told it hurts a lot. It happens when you surface from a dive too quickly and the gasses in your blood (oxygen chiefly) turn to a gas. The bubbles can go to your brain, heart, and other organs and cause all sorts of problems.
Tough puzzle today...
~puzzled_in_pdx
Kazie,
Oh, OK, I think I got your point on the BEAN SALAD. Thanks. Crockett wrote to me this morning about "a Hill of Beans". I like that title a lot.
PromiseMe,
Thanks for the great reply on PEG yesterday. I was ignorant of that.
Anon-Hp,
You are right. NICE is not synonymous to well, nor is LIKE though. I am at sea. Can you explain to me further? Please be patient with me. I can be very slow.
Linda,
Why don't you try Al's cryptic? You are so good at wordplay.
The more I do xwords the more I'm amazed at their complexity in construction when done properly. Thank you CC for pointing these details out - I really appreciate the time you take to learn and share all this info. Missed the 16*15 and it took a while to find those beans for salads but clever clever puzzle from Dan; I always enjoy his puzzles (even tho I still find them tough) because I learn so much from them. Loved the "el al" clue - nice change from Israeli airline cluing. I ran into the same problems as most of you so no comments needed. Missed the hearse - went for the funeral wake not boat wake but hearse just didn't connect - and I have a good friend who is a funeral director. Duh moment.
Dennis - enjoy your vaka and post when you can. Enjoyed your WoW - the challenge to me is how do you know when you've seen or done your last whatever - guess that's the reason to savor it all because you just don't know! That particularly applies to things we probably shouldn't discuss on the blog.
And, sorry, but in my book EVERY day is Lover's Day (so savor each and every one).
Good morning CC et al., This was an interesting puzzle. Enjoyed it really..and a Th puzzle too! 'I am so' surprised.
Had to laugh at 48D. In the mindset of a 'barfly', a shooter is a jelloshot which will result in 'the bends' over the porceline throne if you 'have' one after 'another' or 'add a' splash of something else on top of that. That's one kind of 'gotcha'! 'I am so' not that way. My way is more in line w/Dennis's Today Is:
...Lover's Day! So 'into' that
I may 'attack' the first
'adorable' mac I find in Wmsbg tonight ..adding a new spin to a Big Mac Attack. And I will give a whole new dimension to
'keep in touch' and 'gotcha' as well. Sangster isn't the only one with a fast service. It'll be another time to savor.
Dennis: Happy Trails. Hope you have a great time and safe trip.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Dennis: forgot to mention: LMAO at your blindness in US comment.
In defense of Boca Raton, while there are many elderly living there (as exist in every city in Florida) it is not primarily an old community like St. Petersburg. The rich are generally no more than middle aged, and there are plenty of wealthy owners in the area. It also has a very active young population, which can be found at various watering holes, such as Blue Martini at the Town Center Mall. There also is an interesting development of stores and restaurants which all are connected by walkways known as Mizner Park, named after the architect Addison Mizner, who greatly influenced the design of all south Florida during the first real estate boom of the 20's. There are also a great number of athletes such as Chris Evert and Greg Norman who choose Boca for their retirement home. Boca has many public and private high schools and colleges, so there are plenty of young people running around. There are many magnificent old buildings and new ones also. While some old hotels do cater the elderly, that just is not what dominates when you travel Boca. Boca is however effected by all the money that resides there, and besides paying more for gasoline and other staples, you do see more of an attitude from some residents. It also was the home of IBM for years, and continues to have some businesses operating in Boca.
SandbridgeKaren, Lois, thanks for the thoughts.
Lemonade, I certainly didn't mean to denegrate Boca - we both love it there. Coincidently, we stay right at Town Center, and frequent the Blue Martini there and at the Galleria in Ft. Lauderdale. Also, Mizner Plaza is one of our favorite shopping destinations, for me because it has a great Tommy Bahama shop, and for my wife, because of Max's. Sitting outside at Max's and watching the parade of exotic cars going into valet parking is worth the high price of dinner.
Anybody,
If you have access to it, today's NYT is an excellent puzzle. The theme is very clever. Warning: SGR
(some Googling required)
I'm waiting to see if Clear Ayes wil provide us with the famous poem about BEANSI don't know why but folks around here retire to Zephyr Hills.
My kids know a famous poem about BEANS; it goes something like:
Beans, beans- good for your heart
I can't remember the rest...
Dennis- enjoy Florida- it's been perfect here on the west coast.
Good Afternoon...just barely. Had an appointment this morning, it seems to be the day for it...Did the bottom half of the puzzle first as nothing much was making sense intially in the top half...got my hair cut, which may have taken some pressure off my brain, because, when I got home, almost everything made sense...
Even though I put in HERO I really was having trouble with 1D. VOCE didn't come right away as I was thinking it needed to be BOCA, then switched it to VOCA...then finally corrected it. Most of the rest fell in line. I did know DACHA because of some books I have read about Russia and had read Adelle Davis years ago...still follow a lot of her advice. All in all a nifty puzzle...really liked the SHERPA clue...
C.C. I was just teasing you about the teeth thing...you do realize that you are amazing? I couldn't ever blog these crosswords, much less in a language I was still learning. The closest I can come to a second language is the tiny bit of French that I know, which allows me to ask a few directions, order food and fill in crossword clues...I can't even imagine trying to move to France and trying to learn enough of the langueage to do a crossword, much less blog it...heck, I would probably have trouble in England! :o)
Dennis, have a great vacation...I'm sure it is richly deserved.
The weather in Florida is fantastic now.... warm and dry.
@ Lemonade: Greg Norman and Chris Evert live in Hobe Sound on Jupiter Island. That is quite a ways from Boca but a great place for the super rich.... Tiger Woods built a home there too.
Here's a silly beans ditty...appologies in advance. Now CA can find something classy for us...
Beans, beans, the musical fruit
The more you eat the more you toot.
The more you toot, the better you feel,
You should eat beans for every meal.
I'm not sure why Campbell's Pork and Beans or Bush's Beans never picked this up in an ad... ;o)
Walt, great to see you again, my friend. Are you back with us now? I know you've been missed.
WM, thanks - I don't know about the "deserved" part, just very lucky, but I'm going anyway.
OK, I can't resist, with all the bean poetry. I think this is why they called it Blazing Saddles
Hi, C.C. and all.
I finished the puzzle this morning, but didn't have the time then to comment. I didn't know ATOI, or TODS, and guessed at ELAL once I had one of the perps. I don't care for THEUS as an answer.
I could not find my way around ATOB, until I realized that 4D had to be OBERLIN. Actually, I still didn't understand the answer, until I visited here.
I was aware of the mis-direction of the clue "One leaving a wake." I tried to fit "mourner," pondered boating for a bit, and then got HEARSE through the perps. Actually, most of the answers came from the perps.
One of the things I look forward to each day is your explanation of the theme, C.C. I simply don't see the words buried in the answers, so those crosswords might as well be theme-less for me.
I like the cluing. I like the challenge in today's c/w. In general, I like these puzzles better, but I have no doubt there will be days when I'll need to eat those words.
I'll be away for a long weekend, and will most likely not get to do the crosswords while I am away. Have a great weekend, all!
C.C.: The cryptic clues we've seen from Al so far usually feature answers that tie back to the clue wording in at least two ways.
I saw how nice could fit yesterday's clue in terms of having a preference (of i's before e's), but to me, it didn't offer that strong second connection. I only saw that it might work loosely as a synonym for well.
Like got my vote because it could mean "having a preference" AND because it was possible to uncover the word itself in the clue phrasing. I found those two very clear ties back to the original cryptic clue. If
English used a "c" for the "k" in the word like, we'd have had yet a third connection using your observation.
Best,
anon-hp
Dennis: I am nvious (A takeoff on today's NYT puzzle)of your trip to Florida. I used to go deep sea fishing out of a marina in Boca Raton before I moved to Florida.
As said earlier, I later lived in Coral Gables, had a 21'Whaler which I trailored, and lived just minutes from a public ramp. We could cross the 100 fathom curve within 30 minutes of leaving home, shooting East across Biscayne Bay, through Stiltsville, and into deep water.
My youngest son lives in the Keys, Tavernier, just South of Key Largo. I visit him from time to time, and love South Florida, which is nothing like windy, hot and dry South Texas.
Enjoy your trip, and keep on regaling us with your early post.
I didn’t have enough time to attack the puzzle on my lunch hour today. The chance of me completing it were slim and none. I had trouble all over the place….too numerous areas to go into and besides most of the ones I had trouble with have already been mentioned. I was rushed though. Instead I think I will take a chance and find an adorable mate and enjoy Lover’s day.
Off to a cutting….Lo-li-ta
Frey:
I am not friends with either Greg Norman or Chris Evert, though I did meet her when she was 16, playing her high school match championship at the University of Florida, tennis courts which were adjacent to the law school, she was amazing- but I digress. I do know Chris has long lived in Boca, and Greg moved out of his Hobe Sound home when he divorced. The TV people say they live in Boca, but I have no clue.
Hey, Dennis, it is all good, I have an office in the office building in back of the Macaroni Grill, accross the street. Say hello to Joelle for me. Enjoy the sun.
16:35 today. I had a great time solving and the time just flew by (I thought I was doing it in about 10 minutes, LOL.) I guess that's one mark of a great puzzle--you get lost in the clever cluing and wordplay and totally lose sight of the time, etc.
I never noticed the 15x16 grid size.
I had one of those senior moments at 16a: High leader? I immediately filled in SIERRA, thinking of High Sierra (I think a movie title as well as a casino in Reno, NV). Nevermind that that answer would fit with High trailer, not leader. It didn't help that four of the six letters fit, so it took me forever to get that fixed. D'oh!
The beans hidden in the puzzle don't have to be ingredients in a bean salad--they just have to be names for beans. (I know others have mentioned this, but I am chairman of the Department of Redundancy Department.)
@carol: The showers in the afternoon remind me of Hawaii...you could always tell the vacationers from Oregon and Washington, the minute they felt the rain drops, they ran for the hotel!Those Oregonians who are "shower adverse" must have moved here from California. I've lived in Oregon for all of my 65 years and I've never even owned an umbrella. A few raindrops never hurt anyone!
Good Afternoon All,
A sewer pump station went down last night so I'm getting to the grid late. I am clean and I did get to fight last night so Thursday is still a great day, even though I a little punchy in need of sleep.
I actually enjoyed this one though. I wrote in about half of the clues before reverting to regular skill level on line. Had a very similar experience as Martin except I still have no idea what a Kangaroo has to do with a pocket book. I thought they made them out of alligator!? Rocco Art is new to me and I had Boater instead of Hearse. I love water skiing and jumping the wake.
From yesterday......
Promiseme, I use to read Underwater but got away from diving for various reasons. One major one the high water temp in the summer here is 55F and the last time I went scallop diving I blew the zipper of my dry suit. Had to ditch my weight belt and froze my ass off. Never reinvested in the dry suit. Last time I dove was on the Wall in the Grand Caymans. Wow! Unforgettable experience. I was the only fool wearing just a bathing suit. Water temp at 110 feet was 78F. We fed sting rays on a repet dive in much shallower water. I've got a DVD of a big female nearly ripping my bicep off because she missed the piece of bait I was trying to feed her. Still have the scar.
Jeannie, my oldest wears briefs, my youngest boxers. I asked why and the answer is just because. They ask me why I don't and I say "none of your business!"
Well, another long one. Thirty six hours but I did break for Karate and to eat. Sleep later. I'm going home to play bartender and pour another and another and another.......
DEP is gonna be on my ass in attack mode tomorrow. Hopefully will end in a dead heat. Wife's gonna be all over my home game so I'll give her a dollar to wear and say its so you! I'll try to make up and ask her out, she'll call me a jerk and I'll say, I am so!!
Alright, alright
Keep in touch!
@kazie I agree with your take on the theme. I think it should be: A Hill of Beans,thus taking the cocoa beans out of the salad. I see that you agree, C.C. Thank you.
@xchefwalt OMG So good to see you. It's been an age. Maybe you mean this standard that my wife's family uses: -- Oops, I see that WM beat me to it!
@embien Hear, Hear! What's a little bit of water from the sky, eh?
On this day April 23rd...
1564 This is the generally accepted birthdate of the English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare. He died on the same date 52 years later.
What is your favorite work by Shakespeare?
1954 Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit the first of his 755 major-league home runs in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. (Aaron's career total is second only to Barry Bonds.)
1971 The Rolling Stones album "Sticky Fingers" was released.
What is your favorite Stones album? Mine is Tattoo You.
1992 McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Beijing.
I wonder if the menu changed any. In Nova Scotia you can get a Mclobster roll with ACTUAL lobster in it.
1995 Sportscaster Howard Cosell died at age 77.
Rumor has it he was a really difficult man to work with.
A little early today...
I don't see anything wrong with HAVE for EAT. "I'll have a burger for lunch today" would be pretty common a thing to say. That doesn't mean that HAVE can't have many more meanings, as long as it has this one, this time.
Good Afternoon C.C. and Co.,
C.C.,
It is not a salad, but since you like edamame, I thought I might share this tasty recipe with you: Vegetable Gyoza & Edamame SuccotashDid you meet Kofi Annan while working for Pinkerton's?
NLRB is National Labor Relations Board.
Back in the seventies NEATO was a trendy slang term that was used outside of crosswords. Another way to clue it might be 'Label maker'Sure OBERLIN is famous. It's not as prestigous the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, though. Here is the Curtis Symphony Orchestra led by Christoph Eschenbach in Dvorak's Symphony No. 9.
Here is an example of ROCOCO ART.
Warren,
I am not sure I would trust that Wiki article about El AL. It is hard to believe that it is coincidence that the airline is named that.
Mainiac,
I am guessing that was the famous Bloody Bay Wall. Sorry to hear about your stingray mishap. I hope you don't tell too many people. They have been getting a bum rap lately.
Commandos UNITE!!!
~puzzled_in_pdx,
The bends are not caused by oxygen. Most of us think of oxygen when we think about what we breathe everyday. However, oxygen is the smaller of the two primary components of AIR. The air we breathe is approximately 78% nitrogen and approximately 21% oxygen with the small remainder consisting of traces gases and water. Although the human body has its uses for nitrogen, it does not need anywhere near the amount that we inhale every day. The body has developed an efficient means of ridding itself of excess nitrogen. THE BENDS occurs as a result of the body not being able to rid itself of the excess nitrogen that builds up in a diver's body while he/she is subjected to the ENORMOUS pressure that billions of gallons of water exert. Apart from the finite amount of air that a diver's tank holds, the other major factor limiting the time one can remain below is nitrogen retention. The deeper one dives and the longer the one stays down at a given depth, the more nitrogen builds up. This nitrogen buidup obliges divers to make a 'safety stop' before surfacing in order to 'off-gas'. Failure to allow adequate time for off-gassing can lead to the bends. The physiological effects of the bends can remain with a diver for the rest of his/her life. Treatment can also be quite costly since it involves paying for long hours in a decompression chamber. I would highly encourage anyone who is a diver or is planning to become one to get DAN insurance. It is cheap and can not only potentially save you a ton of money, it could save your life.
Embien, I agree with you about people from the NW and the rain but when I was in Hawaii and it started to rain, my sister and I grabbed our towels and stuff and ran for the hotel because we thought it would go on for hours, and we just didn't feel like sitting in the rain on the beach....funny thing was, it stopped right away, and when we listened to the locals we felt very foolish. The rest of the time we laughed and enjoyed the brief refreshing showers :)
Embien, I forgot to mention that I have been an Oregonian as long as you have (except for 10 months in Wyo).
Rats. I went back to yesterday to see if I could read what C.C. deleted. It was gone, of course.
I truly like the repartée in this blog. But I do agree that earlier it was getting a bit raunchy for this staid person. So I think it's just fine.
Loved the pic of Winston. Love dogs!
And think Dennis' cause of blindness item was very funny.
Time for my red wine therapy.
CC: Remember I`m a "configuration" solver. Even vertical words often throw me. Cryptics are way above my pay scale. Word play is easy when I`m doing the playing , but not when someone else is doing it.
My guess for the third one would be siren ...but have no clue if that`s correct or even why.
Thanks for the compliment, though.
Back from the doctor with a diagnosis of "seasonal allergies" and armed with two prescriptions. So far, so good. The hives are fading and itching less after only one pill. I'll see how the Astepro nasal spray works this evening.
Hi, Xchefwalt, you've been missed.
T. Frank, Thanks for the Texas use of HAVE. I have used it in that way myself, but it just didn't ring true at puzzle time.
Thanks also to WM for saving me from having to post the ever-popular BEANS poem.
Put my x in the commando column as well.
Set them free.
The NYT puzzle was a fun one today. The Daily Commuter sucked, as usual.
@xchefwalt...good to see you here again. I was hoping for a good bean recipe. I just love those beans. Lima, kidney, black, you name 'em.
@Linda, Florida in July?? Ish. I lived there for a brief stint way back when I thought I knew better and come July I had to get back "up north".
@Carol...balmy 85 degrees in my neck of the woods today but really windy. I guess it's short lived as we are supposed to get rain tomorrow with highs only in the 60's.
@Martin...re: what you are into, I should learn to keep my DF mind and fingers idle some days. It gets me into trouble.
My favorite Shakespeare work was Hamelet.
@Dennis, have a fantastic trip and don't forget the sunscreen. Especially if you are visiting one of "those" beaches.
Heading out to find that adorable mate. I'll keep you guessing.
Have fun Dennis!
All the best,
Geri
I think PromiseMeThis is right about El Al. It isn't much of a stretch that the Israeli airline officials would know what the Hebrew translation of "skyward" was and thought it would look terrific on the side of a plane.
Jeannie, my favorite Shakespeare play is Hamlet too (so many great speeches!). If I had an extra option to pick a comedy, it would be Much Ado About Nothing.
A little late in the day, but it is Shakespeare's birthday AND the WoW referred to Sonnet 73, so here it is. A little on the serious side, but they can't all be Beans.
SONNET 73That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
Jeannie: I lived in FL my first 19 years...most of it without air conditioning! Mom was supposed to have had her surgery in February but she "forgot" her preop...(how convenient!) but I rescheduled it and July was the soonest I could get her in. With all the retirees there, her insurance-approved optho. stays too busy.
She`s not a morning person and you have to be in ST. Pete ( 30 min. with traffic) by 7:30 the next AM for post op. I told her I`d throw her in the car and give her coffee in an iv and maybe she`d be civil by the time we got there!
We usually try to go in February or March, then June and November.
Thank God her air conditioner works well!
Clear Ayes: Been taking fexofenadine and using fluticasone spray for three years now... it`s worth it not to have all those symptoms (which always led to bronchitis in my case.) Your snake story reminds me that one got in my Mom`s house...looking for water we think (they are having a drought with water rationing). She`s 83 but she pounded that snake to a pulverized mass after she cornered it (it was a black snake thank goodness). She said, "All I knew was that snake and me were NOT going to spend the night in the same house!" She found a place on her back door, hard rubber draft catcher that was broken off where she`s sure he got in and she had someone fix that. I still don`t go into a room without the lights on and I look before going on the carport...they do like the cooler concrete to lie on.
It`s not unusual for lizards to try to run in either and they are everywhere! She`s not close to any body of fresh water or we`d have alligators to watch out for, too! It`s a whole other world!
I didn't like the "have" for eat clue. That top corner had me stumped and I never did see the bean connection. Just dense I guess :-).
Kind of a fun puzzle.
Jeannie, Geri, thanks as well for the good wishes. After a half bottle of wine, I'm just about ready to start packing. Can't rush into these things, right?
And for what it's worth, boxers most all the time, briefs for anything athletic.
I'll hopefully have time for the puzzle in the morning before we push off.
Linda and Clear Ayes, I've been on fexofenadine for years. My prescription ran out recently and I did without for several days waiting to have it refilled. Now I remember why I take two every day!
Another snake story...
My dad moved my mother to a hillside above Table Rock Lake west of Branson. He built a house, and blasted an area in front of the house for an in-ground pool. (Copperheads came to live in the cool dirt under the pool deck in later years, but that's another story.)
The west wall of the dining room had five pantry areas and a coat closet, covered with sliding louvered doors. I went to collect a jacket one day and thought a piece of black hose had fallen off the closet rod. When I stepped back, I realized the "hose" was moving.
Like Linda, I never entered a room in that house again without first turning on lights, and I never used the coat closet again. I believe the snake came in through an opening at the corner of the sliding door channel, and left the same way when it was disturbed, but I didn't see it leave (having screamed and run the other way!).
No snakes for me!
Hello C.C. & all
The puzzle today made me think, and that's always a good thing.
LemonDCCXIV,
There was a nice feature on Chris and Greg a few weeks ago in "Sports Illustrated". They said that Greg moved with Chris. They seem really happy.
Linda,
Your right about those lizards. The Cat's favorite toys!
Dennis, safe travels.
Jeannie,
Saw "Hamlet" at the Guthrie a long time ago, my favorite. Oh, and I'll raise my hand!
TJ
CA...glad to be of service while you were gone...
Jeannie, re: Shakespeare...best tragedy...The Scottish Play(don't say the name out loud, its terribly bad luck)
Best Comedy...Much Ado About Nothing.(Especially the Kenneth Brannagh/Emma Thompson movie version...fabulous...Kenneth Brannagh's Hamlet is probably the absolute best movie version out there...again, stunning...he literally "speaks" Shakespeare)
One of sons-in-law is a very fine Shakespearean actor and played MacDuff in the Scottish play last year...performed locally in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a troupe called Shady Shakespeare...out in the redwoods...stunning location and, they encourage food and wine...Shakespeare doesn't get any better than that!
Happy evening all
#3
Jeannie: A very tough call, but I guess I'd have to agree with WM on that Scottish play as my favorite Shakespeare work.
Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?--------------------------
Now on to my cryptic clue solutions for today:
1) Phantom's drink(7)
spirits > another word for phantoms in the ghostly sense (drop the apostrophe this time!) as well as for booze.
--------------------------
2) Sort of key bones(8)
skeleton > ties in with bones, and with skeleton key.
I once uncovered one in my basement crawlspace. A skeleton key that is, not a HUMAN skeleton. I'd been clearing out all the debris past residents (or maybe construction workers) had thrown back there, part of my preparation for a long overdue termite inspection and repair project. As I was crawling around down there and pushing a basket full of debris toward the exit, I must have dislodged this old key from its hidey hole in the dirt floor. After cleaning it up, I found it operated the only skeleton door key lock I had left in the house. That was the old back door (now an interior door) for which I had been missing a key. How cool is this I thought! Almost like the old house had welcomed me as its new owner. Just glad I didn't uncover anything more sinister down there.
Anyway, back to the cryptic clues:
My 7 letter alternative answer, which I feel isn't quite as strong as the 8 letter one above:
ivories > another term for piano keys, which once used ivory, and still sometimes use bone, in their manufacture. I know ivory is NOT bone, but it's a close relative, which fits in with the clue's "sort of bones" wording.
I'd also like to note that both ivories and bones are slang for dice, so they are tied together in a sense beyond the musical one that the clue suggests. They also both kind of fit in with the talk of teeth I saw here earlier.
--------------------------
3) Warning signal activated later(5)
Alert > a kind of warning signal. Note that Activated later points one to the last word in the clue. Later is an anagram of alert.
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Hope someone else steps up to the plate on Al's cryptic clues Friday. I'm not expecting to have online access for most of the day, but I'll post if I find myself able to do so and have something to say. Happy puzzling, all!
Best,
anon-hp
Good evening CC and all,
Another neato day with my "I am so!" gang.Returning to the c/w a hundred times did not get me to the finish line . I only had 16 gimmes, and the perps helped .Who remembers the albino in "The Da Vinci Code" for heavens sake??? Yes, I read it and saw it, and forgot it!
No C.C., I had NO idea that Russians have no middle name, nor that they live in a dacha.And then there are the Spanish who have multiple middle names, one being Maria.
If your Moms banned orange cheese in your house, gave you doses of cod liver oil and/or wheat germ, she was probably a follower of Adelle Davis.Adelle was ahead of things like the danger of pesticides and hormones in meat,and hydrogenated oils.Do you all remember the Feingold Diet in the 60's? Feingold created this for children with ADHD; he linked food with behavior as she did, and she supported his findings.
Bean Salad..really?Holy macaroni! I just spent 5 stupid min. trying to grok how "keep in touch" turned into pinto.Finally,I had an A-HA moment. So clever... even more clever that you got it, CC.Hats off to all of you who got it !!BTW, I put 5 kinds of beans in my salad, plus red onions in rings, orange peppers,etc.and MARINATE
So true, CC, about women and golf tees. We don't ever lose them, but sometimes we break them. That is such a great sound.
Sharks game just started..I'm nervous.We need this one.
ClearAyes: I've had allergies since I was a teenager. I get shots and have for years. I can take very little of the stuff they inoculate me with (allergists in ME,NJ,NY,NM,CO,and now FL). I've had 5 anaphylactic reactions, so I have to keep at it. All the reactions in the allergists' offices, thank heavens. From the injections, so they keep me on a low dose. I now need the shots only every 4 weeks. But it works, and that's what counts. So keep up the good work. It's well worth it to be relatively allergy free.
Happy FL stay, Dennis. Come on over to the west coast. Naples is very nice.
RE: Nirvana.
Forgot to say I loved the clues "nick name', pocketbook logo, and 100 member group. I did get senate, but had to have some letters before I could fill in the other two.
"U DUB" in Laramie, that's where my son-in-law earned his masters in structural engineering and where my daughter lived in sin.That town is like going back to the 50's. I like my son-i-law sooo much better than Dick Cheney; both are from Casper.
Thanks TJ, I will read up on the happy couple.
I like Midsummer's Night Dream , and Othello. I enjoy them all, and since I wnet away to an all boy's prep school, my Hamlet experience was as Gertrude. What a slut.
I guess Dennis has a soft spot for Michael Sangster , and we do not have many tennis fans, Fastest?. Or RODDICK.
C.C., you said the theme helped, at what point did you deduce the bean reference? How?
Well, nothing like unexpected company to make things more interesting. Now I really, really gotta pack.
You all have a great night.
Lemonade, I can't picture you as a "slut" in theatre or otherwise. Thank God. Thank you also for the Roderick picture. I have been out there trolling for the adorable male, but fishing season doesn't officially open until May 9th here in MN. Oh, and that's all I am going to say about THAT sport. Lo-li-ta - careful.
Thomas...watch out.
Parting church announcement:
A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall.
Music will follow.
Al,LMAO over Blazing Saddles. How do men remember those movie clips? It's like remembering the 5th hole at a golf course!
JD, I am saving my last post for you....I did that last night and got into trouble...Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the........bite unless you are ready for it.
JD,
Blazing Saddles was written by Mel Brooks. Burton Gilliam went to Mel and said he didn't think he could do that scene his reasoning was that he could go back to the Dallas FD where he worked as a fireman. Mel assured him saying you do this scene right and you won't have to go back the Fire Dept.
ALL GRAVY NO GRIEF
okay I have been silent long enough
C.C. R.E. you o4/23/09 post @6:40 a. m. Couldn't you have scolded her off line mom?
reason 2 why I don't post any more
Whooinhell2000@yahoo.com
I did what I did for a reason. It's my blog.
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