google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday April 21, 2009 Gail Grabowski

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Apr 21, 2009

Tuesday April 21, 2009 Gail Grabowski

Theme: Crouch Down

20A: Nearby, on a country road: AROUND THE BEND

39A: Is completely uninformed: DOESN'T KNOW SQUAT

60A: Row house porch: CONCRETE STOOP

I was thinking of AROUND THE CORNER for 20A. But I ran out of blanks. Dictionary says AROUND THE BEND is a slang for insane/crazy. What is a row house? I've never heard of that term.

Dan Naddor mentioned the other day that because of his love for heavy "themage", his puzzles tend to have lower word count and high black square count. His last OUGH puzzle has 6 theme entries, 74 words & 34 black squares. While today's puzzle has only 3 theme entries, 78 words & 38 black squares. More black squares than Naddor's. Strange.

I misread the clue for 39 as "Is completely uniformed" rather than "uninformed". I also had a little trouble obtaining NY YANKEE (41D: one of the Bx. Bombers). I was thinking of a specific Yankees' player when I saw Bronx Bomber clue, you know, like Mantle. Reminds me of YANK we had a while ago. It's clued as "Big Jerk". I got the answer, by wrong reasoning. I thought the clue was referring to George Steinbrenner and his Yankees.

Today's constructor, Gail Grabowski, is one of Stan Newman's Newsday regular contributors. Her bio says she started constructing crossword in 2002 and she specializes in early week puzzles. She looks so sweet. Are you surprised that Doug Peterson is that young?

Across:

1A: Shopping center: MART. Penned in MALL first.

5A: Letter-routing letters: ATTN . I got the answer. Don't understand the "Letter-routing".

15A: Firenze farewell: CIAO. Firenze is Italian for Florence. I thought it's an Italian guy's name. CIAO is very close in pronunciation to CAO, the bad Chinese F word.

17A: "The Flintstones" pet: DINO. Learned from doing Xword. He is a dog, not a dinosaur, right?

23A: When prime time ends in Middle Ameri.: TEN PM. CST. Prime time is from 8:00pm to 11:00pm.

24A: Counterfeit coin: SLUG

25A: Sonoma Valley container: VAT. Sonoma Valley is the birthplace of California wine industry. Wikipedia says it's also called "The Valley of the Moon", literal meaning of the Native American word "Sonoma", according to Jack London.

28A: Irish homeland: EIRE. No wobbling between EIRE and ERIN this time due to the crossing fills. Hibernophile refers to those who love all things Irish. Hibernia is Latin for Ireland.

31A: Mug shot view: PROFILE

38A: Countesses' spouses: EARLS. Easy guess. I thought a countess's spouse is a count.

44A: Impressive grouping: ARRAY. "Grouping" of what?

47A: "Heavens!": MERCY ME. Big problem for me in this area. Not a phrase I use. Maybe I've heard of MERCY ME, but I've paid no attention.

56A: Deputized group: POSSE. Reminds me of Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie and the large POSSE of securities that travel with them.

64A: Frighten, as horses: SPOOK. Why "as horses"? Frighten alone already means SPOOK.

67A: Memo phrase: IN RE. "In the matter of" in Latin. RE is the ablative of RES, "thing/matter". I learned it from doing Xword. Used to confuse it with INRI (Letters on a cross).

68A: Arizona State's city: TEMPE. Wikipedia says ASU has 4 campuses, TEMPE being the original and largest. Their mascot is Sparky the Sun Devil. Annika Sorenstam attended University of Arizona, so did Lorena Ochoa.

70A: Chess ending: MATE. Have you heard of board game Go? The geek kids in our high school class all played Go rather than chess.

Down:

4D: Theatrical travelers: TROUPE

5D: Corrosive compound: ACID. I wonder who first thought of using ACID for etching.

7D: Dash devices: TACHS. No "for short"?

8D: Useless: NO HELP. Thought of FUTILE first.

9D: Precedes: FOREGOES

10D: Mideast port on its own gulf: ADEN. Gulf of ADEN is nicknamed Pirate Alley.

11D: Cause of coughs and sniffles: COLD VIRUS

21D: Abbr. for people with only two names: NMI (No Middle Initial). So, if the letter S in Harry S. Truman's name is simply a letter S, why S. instead of S? Why dot after S?

22D: Prickly case: BUR. Learned this word from doing Xword also.

32D: Web site help sect.: FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). Used to be stumped by this clue.

33D: Second or sixth president: ADAMS. 41 & 43: BUSH. I bet there is another Bush coming. Not Jeb or his son George P. Bush though.

34D: Gourmet mushroom: MOREL. OK, let's try a different picture.

35D: "Catch a Falling Star" singer: PERRY COMO. Guessed.

48D: Comfy footwear: MOC

51D: Record collector's platters: LPS. Don't you wish you still had your old baseball cards/childhood toys? Some of the hard plastic Ginny/Ginger doll can fetch hundreds of dollars now.

52D: Serve a sentence: DO TIME. I am getting better at the multiple words now. Nailed all of them today.

55D: Chill-inducing: EERIE. Vowel-intensive. Guess that's why we see this word so often.

57D: Salvage ship equipment: SONAR. Just learned yesterday that a ship is unsalvageable if its keel is broken.

61D: Butterfingers' cry: OOPS. OOPS, I always thought it's singular butterfinger.

63D: Memorable Old West lawman: EARP. This has become a gimme.

64D: NASCAR advertiser: STP. Often clued as "The Racer's Edge" in our old puzzle.

For those who don't visit the Comments section, here is the Susan Boyle clip Dennis linked a few days ago. Very inspiring.

Answer grid.

C.C.

103 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - almost a repeat of yesterday; 3:42 with no pauses. Kinda 'slangy', with 'doesn't know squat' and 'sorta'. Also, nice to see our friend 'morel' return.

Haven't seen Perry Como's name in quite a while - he and my father were frequent golf partners. Extremely nice guy.

Today is National Kindergarten Day. Milk and cookies at 10:00.

Today's Words of Wisdom: "It reduces itself to this. You have to be in the right place at the right time, but when it comes, you better have something on the ball." -- Comedian Groucho Marx

Couple more Fun Facts:

- There are 9 muscles in the human ear.

- Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.

2 and a wakeup

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

Dennis,
I had a much easier time yesterday. Do you still have some of your Dad's collectibles? Hard to imagine Siberia has 1/4 of the world's forests.

The JVN,
Did you enjoy the Susan Boyle link?

Thomas,
What's the difference between yawl and ketch again?

Warren,
I went to the Ted Williams link. What does "lace 'em up" mean?

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

Terry 313,
Who is Bev?

Anon HP,
Maybe Al can give his questions at a fixed time? This way, everybody has an equal opportunity to work on his cryptic.

PromiseMe,
Most of the pineapples/coconuts we have come from the tropical Hainan Island, the most southern province (also the smallest) in China.

Dennis said...

C.C., my dad really only collected coins, which he left me. As part of his job, though, he had a record collection that was staggering, including a definitive Elvis collection. I gave the Elvis collection to a close friend of my dad's who was a huge Elvis fan, and sold the rest through one of the auction houses. Would've liked to have kept it, but it literally took up rooms.

Mainiac said...

Good Morning,

A tad bit more effort than yesterday's but worked right through it. I had one erasure, Mall instead of Mart. I'm not much of a wine drinker so Vat didn't come to me right away.

We're getting the rain and wind that others had yesterday. Its actually a blessing. There have been quite a few fires popping up with the fire danger approaching high. It'll also help knock the dust down a bit.

I saw the Susan Boyle clip over the weekend but it didn't show the beginning when she was rolling her hips around. Man, what a voice! She really blew the place away.

Work calls.

Have a great day.

mariposa said...

Good morning C.C.
I am enjoying new the puzzles I like the challenge they give at the end of the week.

C.C. Dino is a dinosaur He just acted like a dog.

Have a great day all

Martin said...

Letter-routing letters: ATTN . I got the answer. Don't understand the "Letter-routing".The word "route" can apparently be a verb as well as a noun.

"The Flintstones" pet: DINO. Learned from doing Xword. He is a dog, not a dinosaur, right?Dino is a dinosaur, albeit a small one.

Impressive grouping: ARRAY. "Grouping" of what?ARRAY is a mathematical term: it is a set in which the elements are numbered. ARRAYs are used in computer science: a two dimensional array is also called a "matrix"; a three or more dimensional array is also called a "tensor". Of course, scientists can also describe a group of objects as an array, such as the array of radio telescopes in New Mexico known as the Very Large Array.

Abbr. for people with only two names: NMI (No Middle Initial). So, if the letter S in Harry S. Truman's name is simply a letter S, why S. instead of S? Why dot after S?Most people assume that the S is short for something and put the dot after the S.

Comfy footwear: MOCNo "for short"? :)

I wanted MALL for MART and SCARE for SPOOK. I finished in 26 minutes with NO HELP.

C.C., I apologize if the formatting of this post is all wonky: my posts have been appearing with no separation between what you said and what I said.

Martin

Lemonade714 said...

Good morning:

ATTN advises the recipient the specific individual at a company who is the intended ultimate addressee, e.g. LA Times, attention, C.C., so the designation changes the 'route' of delivery.

PERRY COMO moved to Jupiter, Florida in retirement, where he became friends with BURT REYNOLDS. He was a very nice man, who I had the pleasure of meeting when my brother represented them as they obtained a charter for a savings and loan. He also was a working barber before his singing career took off. COMO.

Poor Arizona State University; you mention the successful golfing attendees of their biggest rival, Arizona. They did produce Bob Horner, who was a star for the Atlanta Braves and Darren Woodson who played for a number of NFL teams. They also have young golfer, Azahara Munoz, who did well in the Kraft Nabisco as an amateur this year

Since DASH is an abbreviation of Dashboard, I do not think you need to show TACHS is also an abbreviation.

Al said...

Another easy LA puzzle today.

I like GO. Don't have a very expensive board, and am still learning. It's more complicated than it looks. I own the Anime series Hikaru No Go on DVD. I prefer to watch with the original Japanese soundtrack with subtitles, the dubs don't always catch all the right cultural nuances of speech.

Here are two new cryptic clues:

1) The way the boss speaks is over grave.(9)

2) Concerning a fight (5)

T. Frank said...

Hi, C.C. & Friends,
Pretty smooth sailing this morning; 23 minutes using pencil & paper. I wanted to use zips for attn and then realized the clue called for letters, not numbers.

I guess I will never be a speedster, and don't want to be. I like to savor a puzzle as I drink my coffee and enjoy the early morning ambiance.

Like you, C.C., I wanted to put in a Yankee player rather than the team name. I wonder how the "squat" expression originated. I like it. It seems to go with "pointy headed intellectuals".

May you all be well today.

Dick said...

Good morning CC and all,..another easy one today, but I expect we will see the harder ones coming quickly now.

I am still surprised at how many compound words the new editor manages to work into the puzzles. IE: Today there were Do time, Mad at, Mercy me etc. I am now looking for this type of solution where at first these words were really stumping me.

The rain has passed through here heading for the eastern part of the state. It will be cold today and tomorrow then up to the high 70's for the weekend.

Hope you all have a great Tuesday.

Jeanne said...

Morning all,
Easy puzzle today, looking forward to Thursday which is my favorite day for the new puzzle. CC a row house was the old term for what we now call townhouses. Many of us grew up in row houses in cities with beautiful architecture. I remember an assignment in junior high where we had to find areas of the city using different types of architecture like Federal, etc. We had to name buildings that had Doric or Ionic column styles. Really made you appreciate the buildings much more.

Going to see some sun today after an absolutely horrible day yesterday. Give me warmth. Dennis, I am envious of your trip to FL. Sun and warmth, what a concept! Have a great day.

lois said...

Good morning CC et al., Great links, CC. Loved seeing all the pix of the constructors. Thank you.

Started off wanting 'mall' instead of mart, but that was the only flaw. Flew thru the rest and enjoyed it. Seeing the morel made my mouth water just imagining how delicious every 'inch' must be. I'll enjoy a real one in 'do?? time' - around 10 PM or so...with a little 'ale'. Something to look forward to.

My posse just arrived..sorta testy today. Well, let me see if I can light 'a-fire' under their seats and raise the temp in here as well as some IQ points. 'Doesn't know squat' takes on a whole new dimension in some cases when an IQ sonar (if there were such a thing) would come up w/ 'duh'? Dino is better at prose than these guys. I tell 'em to stay off the acid, but, mercy me, they are sly. Somebody's always ready to 'rat' them 'out' tho'. I've got their 'attn' now, by golly, and will make 'em A-one by June. Just got a bigger 'amp'. It's all good.

Gotta love 'em.

Enjoy your day. Ciao

SandbridgeKaren said...

Mercy me, nothing much to add - got it all in a tad more time than yesterday but not much. I agree - a little slangy but Gail Grabowski puzzles always seem that way with run on words. Other than the theme answers, just a lot of short words. I bet everyone started with mall and then realized it wouldn't work - I mean who would think mart over mall?

cc - thanks for the link to puzzle constructors - their pix and profiles were interesting. Enjoyed reading the blurbs.

Suns coming out here at the beach - should be a fantastic day. Of course any day I'm not in the obits is a darn good day.

Argyle said...

Good Morning, C.C. and all,

The latest Harry Potter movie will be out soon so I bring this up: 15A: Firenze is Italian for Florence. Firenze is also the name of a centaur who is kicked out of his herd in the Forbidden Forest because he helped Harry. He becomes one of the two Divination teachers at Hogwarts.

jpg of row houses South End, Boston

AROUND THE BEND - a phrase also used when traveling on rivers and streams. "Who knows what lies around the bend?"21D: S. instead of S? Why dot after S? There shouldn't be any. Reminds me of the M.A.S.H. episode where Hawkeye tried to find out what BJ's initals stood for. They didn't stand for anything more than BJ, as I remember it.

64A: Frighten, as horses: SPOOK. Why "as horses"? I think it adds to the mental imagery of an otherwise mundane puzzle.

Rex Parker said...

A beautifully constructed puzzle. CONCRETE STOOP feels a bit wobbly for a theme answer, but it was no trouble. Theme is tight and the fill is fresh (or "slangy," as some have said), which I like. NYYANKEE is an inventive and colorful answer (and I'm a Sox fan).

Filling a puzzle completely in a way that isn't either stultifyingly boring, or else wince-inducing, is a really really hard thing to pull off.

A solid, smooth construction. GG is a pro.

rp

kazie said...

We have rain here today, and the nice warmth of last week is gone --for a while at least.

I sailed through this one until the SW corner. I thought it was going to be my downfall, until I looked at the down fills and that did it for me. I still took a second to see NY YANKEE instead of NYYANKEE, wondering who could have a YY in their name. But other than that and an erasure of MALL before MART, it was a breeze.

I think "as horses" narrows it down to SPOOK. I wouldn't use spook as readily for people.

c.c.,
Nice morel picture!

Seeing EARP reminded me of one of my son's friends, whose name is Wyatt and his car license plate is EARP. I giggle each time I see it.

Row houses in inner cities in Oz are called terraces, and some of them are remarkable for the iron grated balconies. Here are some in Randwick and GlebeMainiac,
Just google Susan Boyle and take your pick of the U-tube videos. The 7+ minute one shows the whole thing, and on some of the others you get her back story.

kazie said...

Mainiac,
Oops! I forgot to space out (or maybe that was my problem!) before your name in my last after adding the link. Just wanted you to notice the Susan Boyle comment.

Elissa said...

As others I had MALL for MART. I also had DARES for FACES. But the perps straightened them out although FOREGOES didn't jump out at me - maybe because if you remove the first E you get 'forgoes' which means something nearly the opposite.

I filled in MERCY ME before ARRAY or DOESN'T KNOW SQUAT, which made me hesitate on the last letter of ARRAY because I couldn't believe that YY was going to be correct.

MOC looks like an abbreviation to me but the clue didn't indicate that.

'NMI' is widely used in the military where conformity is an overriding principle and every form asks for your middle name. I had a client who introduced himself to me as "Raphael NMI Ortiz". And I have been trying to stop putting my middle initial in my signature for the last 25 years without success.

T. Frank said...

elissa@9:21,

Your comment about nmi brings to mind a problem I have had all my life. My full name is Thomas Frank Armstrong, Thomas being my Dad's name and Frank being my grandfather's. My Dad went by Tom, so I was called Frank by my family and school mates. When I joined the military, all the forms called for first, middle initial and last name, so I became Thomas F. and everybody wanted to call me Tom.

When I went inactive and took a job with a big company in Chicago, all that was permitted was initials, so I was T. F.

When I changed jobs, I decided I would become T. Frank, which worked out fine until PCs came along. Most of the name forms call for first, m.i., and last, but I discovered that I could defeat them by entering T. Frank in the first name box.

Moral: parents, think carefully about what you name and call your children!

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning, everyone! I also put in MALL at first, then saw the error of my ways.

My brothers and I all use our muddle names, and it is tough when you get a standardized form that has plenty of spaces for first name and one for middle initial. I did finally educate the DMV so I now have picture ID that matches the name on my credit cards and such.

We've had two days of "Today's Crossword" in The Oregonian, and I can't say that I'm impressed. Multiple words are indicated (2 wds.), even hyphenation (hyph.). There seem to be more black squares (42 each day), but that may be just my perception. So far there don't seem to be many obscure popular culture references. There are some, but not a lot.

T. Frank said...

P.S. to my previous post.

I now get most of my medical work done at the VA clinic. I am now back to being Thomas F.

kazie said...

I also have the m.i. problem because I'm known by my middle name. Signatures are no problem because I've always only used initials for both first and middle name. But for anything official, (transcripts, passport, license, etc.) I use both names in full. Since my second name is only three letters, that's not too problematic on forms unless there are boxes for each letter. But I have received mail with the first initial after the middle name, and computer-generated things addressed to "Dear M.K." which looks pretty weird.

Warren said...

Hi C.C. & gang,

Another quick puzzle for Tuesday.

Re: "lace 'em up" This appears to be an insiders phrase because if you look for this it appears to be used in several other sports including hockey.

I couldn't find a definition for lace 'em up but I assume it means to get ready to play by putting on your boots and lace 'em up?

That's my best guess anyhow. Perhaps someone else in the blog can explain this better?

;-)

Razz said...

Morning CC – Loons & Yaks:

11 minutes this morning.

I think the 48D MOC is okay because the clue is slangy as is the answer.
Comfy – Comfortable / Moc – moccasin. Very much like the dash/tach combo.
IMHO

Anonymous said...

Al: I'm pretty sure I have the correct answer to your 2nd puzzler.

I have a working solution for the first one as well. It fits most of your clue well, but my fit for the way the boss speaks doesn't feel quite right to me yet. So I plan to mull it over a bit more.

I'll post my solutions this evening (PST) if I don't see good answers showing up here before then. That way anyone else who wants to take a crack at them will get their chance for puzzle solving glory.

Best,

anon-hp

carol said...

Morning C.C. and all - Quick puzzle today and only 2 goofs..I spelled 4D 'troups' so that messed up 28A 'eire' and I just could not get 21D 'nmi' and felt that V-8 can when I saw what it was!

C.C. - Very nice morel picture - what a bunch of perky plants ;)

I am of the same opinion as Crockett - our Oregonian puzzles are really too easy and present no challenge at all. I am glad I can print out the LAX.

We are going to have another beautiful day here in Portland..yesterday was 83 and might hit that again. I planted all my patio containers yesterday and am feeling the effects!! Maybe my bike ride will work out the soreness.

Dennis, interesting that your Dad would have collected Elvis records when you are more the right age to have enjoyed his type of music. He must have been a fun father, most of our folks thought Elvis was a bad influence on us!

Warren said...

I never knew this about
Harry S. Truman quoting:
"His parents chose the name Harry after his mother's brother, Harrison Young (1846-1916), Harry's uncle.[5] His parents chose "S" as his middle name, in attempt to please both of Harry's grandfathers, Anderson Shippe Truman and Solomon Young; the initial did not actually stand for anything, as was a common practice among Scots-Irish.[6][7] "

Anonymous said...

I too went for mall at first today. And like c.c., I had initially filled in Around the Corn for my first theme answer. I was expecting more vegetable wordplay to follow, but saw I was on the wrong track when squash failed to fit in right in the next theme answer.

anon-hp

Anonymous said...

Al: A little more mulling, and I now see the light! I had the right working solution earlier. I just didn't immediately see how it all fit together, for lack of a tiny little addition. Cool!

anon-hp

Doug P said...

C.C., my profile on Stan Newman's page is a little out of date. I'll turn 40 later this year!

Warren said...

Hi again C.C.

I looked again and found more about Harry S. Truman's middle initial"He once joked that the S was a name, not an initial, and it should not have a period, but official documents and his presidential library all use a period."

Anonymous said...

I didn't like 57D: Salvage ship equipment, it just felt clunky to enter SONAR for me. Just being picky I suppose.

I too had trouble with the NY YANKEE clue. Kept wondering what name was NYY until I got it.

I've always heard it as "He's gone around the bend" when referring to someone a tad bit crazy, using past tense. Giving directions was always present tense "Just go around the next bend and it'll be on your left". Perhaps my midwestern roots are showing through.

Not as easy as yesterday, but still enjoyable.

~puzzled_in_pdx

OrAngie said...

Hello again. I think some sources might put a dot after the S in Harry S Truman for aesthetics. If my middle name were only a letter, I'd want to put a dot after it to make my name appear that much more ordinary.

Can someone explain to me why VAT is clued as "Sonoma Valley container?" I know what a vat is, but I'm wondering why Sonoma Valley specifically? We had "COLDSINUS" for 11 down initially, but eventually corrected it when we reread the 25 across and 38 across clues.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I usually solve the puzzle in thirds, top third Across, then Down to fill in blanks, second third, etc. Like many others, I started off with MALL and didn't realize my mistake until I came back to 3D and 4D. LAN ON and LROUPE were obvious errors, so MALL was changed to MART. Goes to show you not to be too cocky.

The rest of the puzzle was "Tuesday easy" with no further difficulties. I do like more "themey" puzzles and wanted to find a connection in nine letter 11D and 35D, but no luck.

PERRY COMO brought back a lot of nice family memories. His Kraft Music Hall theme song was Dream Along With Me. But the best part for me were the drippy, gooey Velveeta cheese recipes that were featured during the commercials. I know, it was/is processed food at its worst, but I did love that grilled Velveeta cheese sandwich.

Interesting takes on AROUND THE BEND. I agree that having "gone (a)round the bend" is going a little bonkers", while "waiting round the bend", as in the lyrics to Moon River is pleasantly anticipatory.

OrAngie, It may be a little "too California", but Sonoma Valley is so well known for its wine production, VAT is an easy connection.

Jeannie said...

I too went to the mall instead of the mart...other than that, I managed to complete it without help.

Today I am training in a "slug", that "mercy me" "doesn't know squat." It's "sorta" sending me "around the bend" and making me "testy."

Patience is really not my best virtue.

DoesItinInk said...

Despite the BENDs, SQUATs and STOOPS, I did not get much of a workout here! It was a very easy puzzle with a clever theme.

The house in which I grew up in sourthern Indiana had a stoop...concrete steps to a square, concrete landing. I don't recall ever having heard that term used in Chicago. There are other regional terms I used growing up that are not used here...sack instead of bag, pop instead of soda are others that comes to mind. And mangoes for green peppers, which we have discussed here before.

"Catch A Falling Star" is a song from my childhood. I knew the entire song by heart, learning it from a favorite tv program, "Your Hit Parade".

Mainiac said...

Kazie,

I took some time at lunch to google. What an amazing story!

I have a family full of Johns. I through VI starting with NMI, T, K, P, H, and Y. I stayed away from the tradition with my kids since my brother (named John) aptly carried it on.

My best friend is also named John. He's nine years older than me and from upstate New York so he celebrated many holidays, birthdays, weddings etc. with us. I enjoyed introducing them as my father John, brother John and other brother John. Our birthdays are all in May so we partied those into one big gathering. That tradition ended because of an apple crisp w/ whipped cream food fight. Wasn't Mom pissed!! What a party but the clean-up was hell. Glad to say we have all since mellowed.

Anonymous said...

What does "2 and a wakeup" mean Dennis-that two of the things you mention really are what you say they are and one isn't? Yesterday I thought you were purposely misleading us with the first inflight movie but you weren't.

Crockett1947 said...

@orangie I think Sonoma was picked because it brings to mind wine. You didn't think rutabagas when you saw Sonoma, dis you?

@anon-hp Glad you've chimed in and become a regular, but remember that there is a five post limit per day, so use them wisely!

@martin (from last week) The baseball team in Cincinnati is the Reds. They haven't been called Redlegs or Red Stockings in a blue moon. I don't remember for sure if that was your comment last week, but I thought I'd put that out here.

@anon@1:11 Dennis is going to Florida for vacation in three days. Two more days and then when he wakes up on the third day he'll be Florida bound.

KQ said...

Looks like MALL was the universal mistake of the day wasn't it? It certainly got me. Nothing was really that difficult. Good thing as I am swamped and strapped for time. I didn't even look at the NY Yankees clue as I got it completely filled in with all the perps.

Lots of Middle name people here. My youngest goes by his middle name. While I really like it, it is a pain in the keister whenever you are doing anything official. Don't know why they cannot make that easier. His brother goes by his initials, another pain. However, as their first names are common (John and William) and they go to Catholic schools, the variation has been good. Despite this, the NMI answer never looked right to me. Had no idea what it meant until now.

Dennis said...

GET THIS: A porn movie company has just offered Susan Boyle one million dollars to appear in a porn movie and lose her virginity.

I may never get aroused again...

Dennis said...

Dick, thanks so much for sending even more rain and cold weather, although it'll make leaving even better.

T.Frank, I really enjoy savoring a puzzle too. It's just that when it's that simple, I like to challenge myself and see how fast I can do it. That's why I enjoy Thursday - Saturday ones so much more.

Jeanne, thanks, but it looks like warm weather's coming to our area too, this weekend. Enjoy it.

Lois, what is your posse comprised of?

Warren, I think 'lace 'em up' is pretty widely used in sports, and in the service as well. Service-wise, it meant 'get ready to move out'.

Carol, my dad wasn't really a collector, but in his job, he received a copy of every record that RCA produced, usually a few weeks before they went public. The entire basement was comprised of shelves of records. He'd get me extra copies of any rock and roll stuff, but RCA really didn't have a ton of R&R singers outside of Elvis.

Doug P., great of you to check in with us. When will you be in the LAT?

Oh, and my middle name is Trafford, which is why I never use my middle name.

OrAngie said...

Clear Ayes and Crockett:
Ah, thanks! Wine is aged in vats or barrels. That makes sense! I'm not 21 yet, so I have an legitimate excuse as to why I'm not at all knowledgeable about where wine is produced here in the states. So yes, I might have associated rutabagas with Sonoma Valley before wine, ;)

embien said...

7:50 today (see below for discussion of MALL as to why it took so long)

@c.c.: 1A: Shopping center: MART. Penned in MALL first.(Embien raises hand) Me too. MART was my last fill, when I went back to check for errors (no "ta da" screen).

@OrAngie: Can someone explain to me why VAT is clued as "Sonoma Valley container?" I know what a vat is, but I'm wondering why Sonoma Valley specifically?Quite often clues use a specific instance to point the way to a general term. In this case, Sonoma Valley is supposed to make us think of wine, and hence the correct answer.

This is typical of early-week cluing. On Friday, the clue might read simply "container" or some such (if not "English tax, for short", for Value Added Tax).

Every year, I fill in my middle initial (B) in TurboTax, and every year TurboTax obediently appends a period (B.), and every year, the Oregon state tax part of TurboTax flags "B." with an error, since only one letter is allowed on the Oregon Form 40.

(And every year I submit this as a bug to Intuit support, but nothing ever changes.)

WM said...

Well...when I first started to read everything it was an hour and a half ago...interrupted by a phone call from an artist friend from high school...and potential mural assistant...we apparently had a lot to catch up on.

So now, everything has pretty much been covered. Ditto CA's first paragraph for me too...the rest was fun and and, again, I got the theme words and filled those in handily. I don't time myself but did take a peek at the clock today...so, about 10 min. Also interesting, yesterday's end of the day Calif wine discussion...deja vu all over again... ;o)

C.C. Thank you for the cruciverbalist website...a number of those people are represented in my much mentioned NYT 1,0001 puzzle omnibus...it was neat to see faces.

It is also very cool to hear from Doug Peterson and Rex Parker. Makes me feel like, with C.C.'s help, we are making progress.Nice to hear from form you both...

Lemonade...from yesterday as I had used up my alloted posts...Peter Robinson is terrific fun...first 3 books are...in order...GALLOW'S VIEW, A DEDICATED MAN, A NECESSARY END...they have been reprinted or may be available in used book stores. Peter Lovesy, PETER DIAMOND mysteries are fun and Simenon's MAIGRET mysteries, set in 1940's Paris are charming and clever. Be careful of the newer M. Grimes mysteries as she is really getting on her soapbox lately with animal rights issues.

Sorry for the super long post...another 95 degree Spare the Air Day and heat advisory here...BART tracks in the East Bay were warping yesterday...now that's HOT!

Anonymous said...

Crockett, just for the record, regarding the 5 posts a day limit, unless C.C. chooses to pare down the postings, I believe you may be off a by a factor of 10. That's based on what Google has to say on the subject. I expect there's even a workaround to that for the most incurable postaholic. Not that I have any desire to go there myself.

Best,
anon-hp

Dennis said...

anon-hp, C.C. has a 5-post-per-day-per-person limit on her blog, and has for some time. Did you mean something different?

lois said...

Dennis: my posse at that moment was comprised of some wild and crrrraaaazy guys! Fun times. Wonderful young 'uns.

Where does 'Trafford' come from? Family name? Interesting name.

Thomas said...

Hello C.C. & all

I too, raise my hand to the mall/mart gaffe, but then nailed the rest of this puzzle. It seems Ms. Grabowski and I are on the same wavelength, because I do enjoy her puzzles.

C.C.,
The difference between a yawl and a ketch is in the placement of the mizzen mast. Both have tall mainmasts with one or more foresails, and a shorter mizzen mast, but a yawl's mizzen mast is placed behind the rudder post (way astern) and a ketch's mizzen mast is closer to the mainmast.

Dennis,
What kind of cookies? Skim milk for me, please.

Terrry313,
Never toked? Right... What was Chevy Chase's line to Goldie Hawn in "Foul Play"??

My mother and all of her sisters went by their middle names. One advantage? When the phone rings and somebody asks for Mary, you know it's a telemarketer. Click!

TJ in Osseo

windhover said...

T. Frank@ 9:48,
The rule here is to never name children or dogs anything you wouldn't stand on the back porch and scream. Had a neighbor once with a dog named "Dammit".

Anonymous said...

Dennis, I've seen several references under the blogger forums to a 50 post daily limit. I think this may be my 5th post for the day, and certainly is past my 5th post in 24 hours, so if you don't hear from me today after this, maybe the 5 post limit really is in effect. It might work differently with anon posters though. I think you may have had more than 5 posts yourself on yesterday's column, but maybe you're a special case.

anon-hp

Dennis said...

anon-hp, it's C.C.'s request, which everyone honors. She gets a copy of each blog entry in her email, and she's getting overwhelmed. Has nothing to do with any blogger protocol, it's simply her wish that posts be limited to 5 each day. And yes, she's asked me to help with the blog, so I have temporary immunity.

Hope this helps clear up any confusion.

Clear Ayes said...

It's so nice to see both KittyB and Doesitinink again. When people have to bow out for a while, it is that much more appreciated when they can come
back.

It's a lovely spring day and I am in the mood for a poem about love. It has been a while since I've posted any romantic verses.

Gaius Valerius Catullus was a 1st century BC Roman poet. He wrote many poems to, or about his lover Lesbia. This one demonstrates that, although times may change, human emotions have remained pretty much the same.

Song FiveMLet us live, my Lesbia, and let us love,
and let us judge all the rumors of the old men
to be worth just one penny!
The suns are able to fall and rise:
When that brief light has fallen for us,
we must sleep a never ending night.
Give me a thousand kisses, then another hundred,
then another thousand, then a second hundred,
then yet another thousand more, then another hundred.
Then, when we have made many thousands,
we will mix them all up so that we don't know,
and so that no one can be jealous of us when he finds out
how many kisses we have shared.

- Gaius Valerius Catullus

The new patio table and chairs are installed...such an improvement. A post-lunch glass of iced tea will hold me over until an alfresco dinner with some of that good California Folie à Deux red.

OrAngie, :o) I sometimes forget that not all of us are wine-sipping grandmas (or grandpas). Your viewpoint is always welcome.

Anon-hp, C.C. has asked us to keep track of our own individual daily posts and not to exceed five per day. She often has more than 100 total posts per day and they all go to her personal "in-box".

Yes, Dennis has C.C.'s OK to help her out with questions/answers and can post here more than five times per day. I admire both of them for their dedication to the blog.

Clear Ayes said...

Dennis...Ah yes...great minds and all that.. LOL (#3 for me)

Doug P said...

@Dennis-

I'll have a puzzle in the LA Times next week. I hope you all enjoy it!

embien said...

In a continuing discussion of middle names, I found the following link at LA Crossword Confidential regarding the problems they are having in China with names and the bureaucracy.

NY Times articleThe quote I loved was "There are nearly enough Chinese named Zhang Wei to populate the city of Pittsburgh." Now that's a fun factoid!

Dennis said...

anon-hp, I know you're at the limit, but if you have further questions about this, please email me and I'll be glad to help.

When people have to bow out for a while, it is that much more appreciated when they can come
back.
ClearAyes, I'll certainly blow that theory out of the water....although I may still do the morning bit next week.

Embien, I once knew a guy that had more chins than a Chinese phone book.

carol said...

Clear ayes (12:44) Thanks for the 'Dream Along with Me' - good memories, and I STILL love grilled Velveeta cheese sandwiches but I don't eat them anymore.

Jeannie (12:51) LOL but remember you were there once upon a time. (patience is not my best trait either).

Ink (12:58) love that song too...still know all the words! We watched the Hit Parade each week (my folks loved it). Remember Snooky Lanson, Geiselle McKinsey and I can't remember the other 2 singers. Maybe you can enlighten me.

Dennis, thanks for the explanation..I remember now that you said your family met Elvis and how. I know what you mean by a record collection taking up too much space. Joe collected for quite a few years and sold 3/4 or more of it in 2000. By then he had transferred all the sound into the computer. We still have too many record left IMHO but they are his.
As to Lois's possee - it probably resembles that lovely group of morels!

kazie said...

Windhover @ 2:51,
Your comment reminds me of Bill Cosby's story about a parent who used to get mad at the kids and curse so much they thought those were their names.

c.c.,
I also forgot to thank you for the link to the constructors. It was very interesting to see faces with their names and realize what their ages and backgrounds are.

Lemonade714 said...

WM, Thanks for Peter Robinson, I have the read the others, and have enjoyed Rankin, though he is a bit dark. Maybe I will make a list one day of every mystery, or science fiction author I read, from Asimov to Zelazny

CA, Back in the day when I was studying Latin, Catullus was a favorite, because he wrote lots of love poems, and they are much easier to translate than epic battle poems, "Arma Virumque Cano..."

Lo-li-ta, how fun to see you begin to list your virtues, so far we know that patience is not among them, but we are bereft of other information....

OrAngie, ah to be so young as to not associate Sonoma with wine...this blog is enhanced by your point of view.

I also am so pleased that we do receive regular comments from active constructors, thanks to all.

It would be rather limited if the blog was turned off after 5 posts, most of our ladies are not even warmed up by then.

My wandering mind: Perry Como's regular bit about "We get letters, lots and lots of letters" is actually a precursor to blogs....

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

Martin & Kazie,
It's not your fault. Something is wrong with Blogger software.

Lemonade,
Is University of Arizona more prestigious than Arizona State? Is University of Michigan better than Michigan State? Is there a pattern?

Jeanne,
Thanks for row house. Hope Thursday's puzzle will be perfect for you. Do you miss the old Thursday quip/quote?

SandbridgeKaren,
How do you know Gail Grabowski puzzles are always a little slangy?

Jeannie said...

On this day April 21st...

1789 John Adams was sworn in as the first vice president of the United States.

1816 Charlotte Bronte, author of "Jane Eyre," was born in Thornton, England.

1918 Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace known as the "Red Baron," was killed in action during World War I.

1977 The musical "Annie" opened on Broadway.

2004 Five suicide attackers detonated car bombs against police buildings in Basra, Iraq, killing at least 74 people.

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

Doug Peterson,
Oh, I see, maybe Stan wants his constructors to stay young. Look forward to your next puzzle. Hope it's as friendly as the Doug in the picture.

Argyle,
BJ's does not stand for anything, really?

Warren,
You are indeed a internet search specialist.

Crockett,
I was confused by the Redlegs as well. Thanks for clearing it up. Have you found out who edits your puzzle yet?

Anonymous said...

Greetings all.
I am trying to change my avatar again to the one Argyle sent. But when I pull up my name or picture, I don't get a place to change, edit anything. Any suggestions?

JD said...

Good afternoon to all you mall rats,

me too;also had zips for attn, so it was not a good start.It took a little bit more effort today, but did the whole puzzle during 20 minutes of SSR while kids were reading.
BTW Dennis, there is no more milk and cookies in school anymore.. no sweets of any kind in this distict.K is really structured now; no more painting the fences with water.

Enjoyed your FF. Cats have 30 muscles in each ear which enables them to pivot them 180 deg.

CC, loved the new morel picture, a whole colony of the capped creatures.And thanks for the great link on the c/w constructors.

Jeanne, you can have our 95. It came on too quickly to be comfortable. Our classrooms have no air conditioning, so kids have wilted.

Maniac @ 1:00...funny story!

Anonymous said...

Somehow, having posted my plea for help, the edit showed up. So I now have the avatar that Argyle found for Sally Lightfooted crab.
Enjoy. She really is prettier than the one I had. Thank you Argyle.

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

Embien,
Great post on VAT. Don't forget we have 1.3 billion people in China. Zhang is the third most popular surname in China (after Li and Wang).

T.J.,
What was Chevy Chase's line to Goldie Hawn in "Foul Play"?

Anon HP,
Different blog has different rules. Like every other regular here, soon you will be good at spacing out your 5 posts. You can have one more post today on Al's cryptic though, since you were not aware of the post limit before. You are very good at wordplay.

Al,
Re: Go Game. Lots of Japanese culture in your life, why?

Warren said...

FYI for all puzzlers;

You can find the Newsday & Universal puzzles at: thestar.com;

My wife links that URL to our homepage at.

The Universal puzzle is usually a little tougher than the Newsday except maybe for the Saturday stumper...

;-)

Lemonade714 said...

C.C.,
Generally the first University in a state becomes the more prestigious and attracts more funding and better students and professors. The University of Arizona was the first university in that state, while ASU was begun as a Normal School (a teachers
's college, which did not offer a full academic program, only preparing its students to teach) while U. of Michigan is one of the top Universities in the nation, MSU has become a well respected school as well, despite beginning as an agriculture college. Here in Florida, Florida is also well regarded nationally, while FSU has been progressing from its origin as a girls college. You might want to read Public Colleges.

Thomas said...

C.C.,
Chevy played a police officer in the movie, assigned to investigate Goldie's case. After getting her into his apartment, and with obvious amorous intentions, he asked "Wanna get high? Cop's have the best dope." A memorable line in a pretty forgetable flick.

Windhover,
Still LOL re your neighbors dog!

TJ

Warren said...

For Anon at 1:11 PM
I found this link to
xx and a wakeup Check out "you Vietnam vets will recognize the term "XX and a wake-up"

I suspect Dennis will comment also but it looks to me that it is an insider Vet thing.

WM said...

#2

Sallie...I looked at Argyle's link yesterday and that is the most gosh-darned pretty crab I have ever seen...what a great avatar and namesake! ;o)

Lemonade..you're welcome and enjoy. DO also try some Simenon. There are a lot of "collections" of his work...6-10 stories in a book.

Mr. Peterson...looking forward to your puzzle...really hopeful that it isn't a Friday or Saturday so that I can be more gracious in my praise...less AARRRGGHH-ing,GRRRR-ing,forehead slapping and mumbling in the solving process. Also, REALLY like your avatar! Go Batman!!!

Sticking to indoor pursuits today...it's not a good thing when you can SEE the air...cough, cough...

Anonymous said...

It's 100 degrees today (and yesterday) in Los Angeles. Very unusual for April. We're supposed to be back down to the low 80s and high 70s by the end of the week.

Doreen

Linda said...

CC: Visited granddaughters this weekend...bought an xw puzzle book and turned the seven year old into a fan! The 12 year old is too into
"Facebook"!

Enjoyed LAT and NYT puzzles today...even though my paper ran the March 17th NYT and I had to backtrack with RP for help with a couple.

Concerning the horrible offer made to Susan Boyle...when I think about how much our world has degenerated just in my life time, I shudder to think what my granddaughters are facing. So, I`m either part of the problem or part of the solution. In that light, my daily choices become even more important. I`m praying I make the correct ones.

Dennis said...

Warren, I am a former Marine and Vietnam vet ('65-'66). That's where we first started using 'xx and a wakeup'. My 'shorttimer's calendar' was on my helmet.

Doug P., looking forward to next week.

Jeannie said...

Okay Lemonade let's see...we need to take a "stipulated round" and approach the "teeing ground" and take a "stroke" and we head "through the green". We encounter a "water hazard" and I end up with a wet "tee"? Am I getting the hang(time) of this golf thing?

Okay, my best virtue...sense of humor. Lo-li-ta.

Oh, and being born and raised in Michigan, my brother attended U of Mich. which was known for their engineering programs and medicine. He is a Nuclear engineer. My sister attended Michigan State which is known for their agriculture and all things food related programs. She is a Q/A inspector for Gerber. I attended the school of hard knocks and somehow became first a cost accountant and then a procurement specialist. Go figure. Football season though is Go Blue!! (my sister included).

Auntie Naomi said...

Good Evening C.C. and Co.,

"CIAO is very close in pronunciation to CAO, the bad Chinese F word."
Good to know!

TEN PM is now CDT in the Midwest.

"Frighten, as horses: SPOOK. Why "as horses"?"
Horses, along with cats are animals that are known to be "spooky". They are easily spooked.

I have heard of GO, but never have played it. Were you one of those geek kids, C.C.?

Bev was one of yesterday's 'anons'.

Also, it is interesting to think that they could grow enough pineapples on Hainan to lead the world in its production. I'd bet that they grow a lot in Yunnan and the other areas bordering Vietnam, just North of Hainan.

Auntie Naomi said...

I would like to see SLUG clued as Casper's big wig?.

"Hibernophile refers to those who love all things Irish."
I couldn't help but think of Windhover.

Lemonade, I am pretty sure that C.C. would never get any mail sent to her in care of the LAT ;)

T. Frank,
"I wonder how the "squat" expression originated."
I suspect that the expression originates with the ancient Greek Hierodulai. They were the women who attended the Oracles (such as the one at Delphi) and were known to squat over the open volcanic vents. Those vents reputedly emitted vapors which had a narcotic effect upon them, after which they uttered their prophecies.

Crockett1947,
"I did finally educate the DMV"
You're kidding, right?

Auntie Naomi said...

Wm,
"BART tracks in the East Bay were warping yesterday...now that's HOT!"
This doesn't bode well for the California summer. I abstained from posting some thing yesterday about global warming, the future of the California vineyards, the Columbia Valley wineries and possible speculation surrounding potential B.C. vineyards.

Doug P.,
Here's looking forward to your puzzle!

Embien,
That link to the Chinese 'Middle Name Dilemma' just dropped me to the main page for that blog. Can you provide a more specific link?

What was it that Redd Foxx said? Oh yeah: "Only one thing kept me out of college ... high school. They kept asking us to spell those BIG words, like 'POSSE'.
I got it wrong, but I was close!"

Andrea said...

Not much to add about the puzzle that hasn't already been posted. But I will share a story from this morning at our breakfast table.

I do the puzzles every morning while my almost three year old eats breakfast and watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I read Dennis's fun facts today, and must have said "Hmmm..." out loud about the human ear having nine muscles. After all, who knew. My daughter asked why I said "Hmmm..." so I told her "Your ears have 9 muscles in them." She paused for a moment, looked at me very sincerely, and asked "But how am I going to get them out?"

Dennis - thanks for the chuckle to start our day!

the_JVN said...

As expected, the Tuesday puzzle is more difficult than Monday, still fun to solve. I stalled out with 11 letters missing or wrong.

Regarding 64, SPOOK -- yes, it already means to frighten, also implies running away. Spook is used mostly with regard to horses, often in U.S. western movies.

Elissa -- regarding 48D, I agree that MOC is an abbreviation, but perhaps the editor considered "comfy" to be an abbreviation for comfortable? This is one of the words that I missed.

C.C. -- thanks to your asking, I looked at the Susan Boyle link. What a wonderful thrilling voice! Too bad that she had to appear on that crude sort of television show to be discovered.

70A -- I have played Go, but not enough to develop any skill. The game is deceptively simple. I like the way initial stones may be placed to assist a weaker player.

WM said...

#3

PMT...you won't be telling me anything I don't know and already worry about...this is our 3rd year of drought and last year we spent most of the summer under ash clouds from all the fires. It didn't matter which way the wind blew, we got it from all directions. The tomatoes took forever to ripen from lack of sunlight and some things never entirely matured.

Australia is already having severe issues with many of the vineyards...'nother discussion, 'nother day.

Lemonade...sorry, senior moment...you DID say that you had read the other authors...I have also read and enjoyed Issac Asimov and Roger Zelasny...blast from the past and my science fiction days...also read off the Anne MC Caffery books and E.E.Doc Smith...those were the days.

I also have an autographed copy of Ian Rankin's Scotland...a beautiful collection of photographs that tell the Rebus story.

WH...we used to have lab/shep mix that thought her name was "get off the couch". ;o)

Andrea1263..LOL!

Razz said...

Dennis - Speaking of ear muscles - is there a relationship in toned muscles of the ear and a certain muffin discussed on this site a few months ago? Will regular exercise of this type improve my hearing?

Recently seen on A Bumper Sticker:

Beer - Helping ugly people have sex since 1765-------------------------------------

Warning! I brake for hallucinations

Elissa said...

Dennis:
I thought there is no such thing as a "former" Marine.

Razz said...

Just a fun video - enjoy...Sound of Music | Central Station Antwerp

Dennis said...

Razz, it's an excellent way to improve ear muscles. Practice is everything.

By the way, your avatar looks amazingly like my sister.

Elissa, there's no such thing as an ex- Marine. 'Former' is ok.

carol said...

Razz at 7:33 LOL - it's true!!! You keep working those 'ear' muscles and you will be able to hear a bull roar in Dallas!!

Razz said...

Dennis - Oh hell no...this is Yak not a Dri...(by the way is she available and what's her number)ROFLOL ;~P

Argyle said...

I was getting ready this morning to publish this post but I had to leave unexpectedly.

Rex Parker, you're right, I'm wrong. Today's puzzle is not mundane.

Re: spooked horses. I found this interesting Neil Young song, Don't Spook the Horse.

Razz said...

Lastly - Argyle: Here is a cover of an oldie David Sanborn - SpookySee ya in the funny pages...

Anonymous said...

Today's puzzle was about the right difficulty for us, although we did make it through all of the puzzles last week with the exception of the one (Friday's?) which contained so many name references.

I'm one of the people with a middle name story. When I started kindergarten there were three Dorothys in my class. So when I went to first grade, we decided I should go by my middle name. By second grade, one Dorothy had moved away and the other 'stayed back'. (They did that back in the olden days.) So, although my class basically stayed together through ELHI, there was not a Dorothy in the class. I used first initial, middle name, last name which caused no problem in our small school or small town. When I got married, I started using my middle name as my first name and maiden name as my middle name. This was before the feminist, liberated woman movement. My husband was stationed at Nellis AFB near Las Vegas where we built a home. When we moved from there we sold the house. As we were leaving town, pulling a trailer loaded with our belongings, the real estate agent chased us down & flagged us over. He said,
"Hey, Sarge, did you get divorced and remarried while you were here? Because one woman signed the initial purchase papers and another signed the sale." We went back to his office,and redid the paper work. As we left town, again, my husband said, "I don't care what name you use but make up your mind who you are and when we get to Wisconsin, don't tell anyone your other name." I've adhered to that fairly closely until I started using the Internet and this Blog - where I've gone back to Dot for Dorothy.

Dot

windhover said...

Lemonade@ 5:11
In many states that have 2 state universities, one of them is a "Land Grant" institution. Space and the Iphone limit my ability to explain, but Google will enlighten.

Razz @ 7:33, it may not improve your hearing, but you will be hearing a much higher quality of "noise". Please report on any trials.
Windhover

Crockett1947 said...

C.C., I have not gotten a response from the Features editor yet. I was told it's a Universal Syndicate puzzle, but I can't find any connection online.

@warren Thanks for the links, but neither one of those is the puzzle in The Oregonian.

@PMT Nope, my license has First Initial, Middle Name, Last Name. Maybe that's just a small victory and not an education, though!

@razz Thanks for the video link. That was a hoot and a half!

KittyB said...

Good Evening, C.C. and all.

Dick, I do love that cat of yours!

Row houses share walls, and there is no space left around each house. If you have row houses A B C D, A&B share a wall, B&C share a wall, and C&D share a wall. They were usually made of brick or (more recently) block. Of course, Argyle has come through with the definitive picture.

Dennis, my Dad was Lynn Cochran, so he used his first name, too. I do like the idea of using the mother's maiden name as a son's middle name. It seems that's done more often on the East Coast than in the Midwest.

Clear Ayes, the depth, or is it breadth, of your knowledge of poetry is astonishing. Give us some others on kisses, won't you? *G*

WM, thanks for the mystery suggestions. I'll see what my library has on their shelves.

Ah, JD....I was thinking about the phrase "mall rat," too.

The puzzle was easy. I finished it in a lazy, laid back nine and a half minutes. I tripped over mall, but never had to worry about NYYANKEE because the across words fell into place.

C.C. thanks for the link to the information on the puzzle creators. Gail Grabowski lives just an hour away.

I hope you're all having a good evening!

Jeannie said...

Razz and Windhover, I must confess the best I have ever "heard" anything was through my ear.

The best anyone has ever "heard" anything was one night in my 1969 Pontiac Catalina in 1980.

Lemonade...you out there? I am trying to "chip" one out there fore you. Lo-li-ta.

Anonymous said...

Ok, it's after 7 pm on the left coast, which surely qualifies as evening here. Since I don't see the answers appearing here yet, here are my answers to Al's two cryptic clues of the day, as I'd promised earlier.

1) The way the boss speaks is over grave.(9)

Headstone (over grave) > Head's Tone (way the boss speaks)

I had settled on headstone pretty early as the answer. It worked as a GRAVE marker and could use HEAD for boss, but what the heck could I do with STONE? That surely couldn't be the way the boss speaks. Tones or notes as stone anagrams didn't sound quite right to me either. The light finally went on with the addition of an apostrophe.

2) Concerning a fight (5)

About (concerning) > A Bout (a fight)

------

With what Warren and Dennis have said, I'm guessing the xx and a wakeup may be a reference to the anniversary of President's Ford's historic speech at Tulane University on April 23, 1975. If not that, it clearly is some sort of countdown to April 23rd.

------

Crockett, Dennis, C.C., et al. on the subject of post counts:
Thanks for your patience and the friendly heads up. With the exception of my extra activity here today, I plan to honor the requested post count restrictions in the future.

Lemonade:
Regarding your take on this: much too funny!

Anon-hp

Lemonade714 said...

Hey everybody:

Sorry, major work day; had to help process 120+ Nurse applicants for a Swiss hospital, and catch up from last week.

Anon-hp: we are here to entertain ourselves, so enjoy.

Lo-li-ta, see I knew they were wrong when they said you had no virtue. You are also persistent and witty, with an appreciation of dimpled balls. I am glad you did not fall in my TRAP, and find yourself burdened with that HANDICAP. Well, I am a bit STYMIED, so I will let you have the HONOR.

WM, yes I have read and reread all the Maigrets, along with Ngaio Marsh, Margaret Allingham as well as trying many of the new ones, MC Beaton, Joanna Fluke, Joan Hess, and all of the Janet Evanovich mysteries. Like I said, one day, I will make a list; I loved Asimov, both sci-fi and mystery.

PMT,
you have the advantage of posting later in the day, rather than trying to be creative and expressive while still sipping morning coffee, a good choice by you, no doubt.

Windover, yes I am aware of land grant, and many other variations of early educational start ups, but, as a general rule, the first university in a state, ends up both being called the University of...and being somewhat more prestigious, than the "State" University.

Auntie Naomi said...

Lemonade,
I tend to post late because my mornings are usually tied up with things more important than the XW puzzle. I did not mean to offend you.
However, I don't mind saying that I do not drink coffee and do not need caffeine to get my brain going. I would not have failed to notice your mistake had I just woke up. Don't be so thin-skinned.

Jeannie said...

I can't resist Lemonade...took your 100. I am going to measure to the flagstick with my putter and "chip er" in. You took too long on the approach and that might have granted me a penalty shot, at least an extra stroke. You can douse me with the winning bottle of champagne and see a wet "tee". I'll set up the "clubhouse".

Anonymous said...

Razzberry: I truly like your avatar. Didn't notice it before, so maybe it's new.
Now we need some loons (no insult to any blogger intended.)

Crockett1947 said...

Wednesday's puzzle flowed fairly easily. Shouldn't be a major stumbling block. See you all in the morning.

Anonymous said...

41D: one of the Bx. Bombers

J DiMaggio or Wally Pipp

Should have been clued as team from the Bronx.

or 26 time World Series Champs.

NY YANKEES

THE MONKEYS DEAD THE SHOWS OVER SUE YA!