Theme: Sit-COM
20A: Soothe Geronimo's people?: COMFORT APACHE (Fort Apache)
28A: Sherman tank, for one?: COMBAT MOBILE (Batmobile)
43A: "If Tarzan's bothering you, speak up!": COMPLAIN JANE (Plain Jane)
52A: Speak highly of enclosures?: COMMEND FENCES (Mend Fences)
Our local Star Tribune had a boringly incomprehensible article yesterday about a British scientist who has somehow proven that RNA is the key to the origin of life. There are two sentences that caught my eyes: "The author, John D. Sutherland, a chemist at the University of Manchester, likened his work to a crossword puzzle in which solving the first clues makes the others easier. "Whether we've done one across is an open question," he said. "Our worry is that it may not be right." You can read more here (third paragraph) in NY Time's website.
I was not familiar with John Wayne/Henry Fonda movie "Fort Apache". Did not know Batman's car the Batmobile either. But I got one across immediately today, and I got it right. Conquered the upper fairly quickly and got the COM theme early on. Struggled in the lower right corner though. Once again, several long & interesting words in the Down entries.
Just checked my blog archive and found out that most of the Doug Peterson puzzles have 4 theme entries. Some has 3. All of them are truly about synonyms, rhyming or some kind of wordplay, as he mentioned in his interview.
Across:
1A: Iraqi seaport: BASRA. Sigh. The Iraq War. Not worth the fight. Democracy should be fostered from within. BASRA is the second largest city in Iraq, after Baghdad.
10A: Dessert chain with Waffle Cone Wednesday: TCBY. Interesting, the first TCBY was opened in Clinton's Little Rock, AR (1981). I did not know that.
14A: Pigment of iron oxide: OCHER. Also spelled as OCHRE.
15A: Tolkien brutes: ORCS. And the Tolkien talking tree is ENT. Learned both from doing Xword.
16A: Anorak feature: HOOD. I forgot the meaning of anorak. It's the Eskimo parka.
19A: Lodge group: ELKS. Often clued as "Part of BPOE" (Benevolent and Protective Order of ELKS".
25A: Wedding setting: CHURCH. Nice rhyming clue.
31A: Bygone rulers: TSARS. The crossing letter S from STOOP (32D: Condescend) prevented me from thinking of CZARS or even SHAHS.
34A: Strong wagon: DRAY. Got it with the down help. I can never remember this wagon. It sure looks strong.
35A: Crow cousin: DAW. Alliterative clue again. I faintly remember seeing this bird somewhere before. OK. It's black. I guess it's indeed Crow's cousin then. Dictionary says it's "often nesting in church towers and ruins".
36A: DOJ employee: ATTY. Did not know DOJ is Department of Justice. ATTY was easy to obtain though.
37A: Spice often added to curries: CUMIN. No curry for me. Strange taste.
39A: Fiend: OGRE. I am used to the "Fairytale baddie" clue for OGRE.
40A: English site of a royal flush?: LOO. I got the answer and understood the "flush" part. But why "royal"?
41A: Hold one's own: COPE
42A: Massage: KNEAD
47A: Skillful pass: SPIRAL. No idea. Football term often stumps me.
48A: Ocean State sch.: URI (University of Rhode Island). Dr. Dad mentioned this abbreviation as a possible clue for URI when it's clued as "Swiss canton" in our old puzzle last time. But it did not register well in my brain. Wikipedia entry says CNN's Christiane Amanpour & John King both graduated from here.
49A: Doo-wop syllable: SHA. SHA is also the abbreviation for Shanghai.
56A: River through Kazakhstan: URAL
58A: Hippie's "Yeah, man!": I DIG
59A: Brag: VAUNT
60A: Star followers: MAGI. The three wise men. Good clue. I thought of GAZE first, you know, stargaze.
61A: Diamond complement: NINE. Another baseball answer is HOP (23A: Infield bounce).
62A: Money with hits: EDDIE. I knew immediately that the Money here is not the real money. But I had never heard of this rock singer. So, total blank here.
63A: Top: APEX
64A: Letters from Plato: ETAS. Alphabet letters. Lovely clue. Learned a lot about Sartre and his chasing (not just after girls) from reading Simone de Beauvoir's "A Translantic Love Affair: Letters to Nelson Algren".
65A: Printer acronym: LASER. Have never bothered to check what LASER stands for: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. TASER is short for Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle.
Down:
1D: "The Garden of Earthly Delights" painter: BOSCH. His name revealed itself after I filled in the Across blanks. Here is the painting. All those people are naked.
2D: One may precede a blessing: ACHOO
3D: Oldest of Stooges: SHEMP. No idea. All I could think of is Moe, Larry and Curly.
5D: Gulches: ARROYOS. Nailed it this morning.
6D: Warm place to chill: HOT TUB. Nice clue.
7A: Subject matter: AREA. Got the answer. Do not understand the rationale.
8D: Ottawa-based law gp.: RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)
9D: Derivative '80s game in which one ghost's name was changed from Clyde to Sue: MS. PAC-MAN. It's clued as "'80 arcade game" in an Allan E Parrish puzzle last Dec. Those ghost names mean nothing to me.
10D: Old Boston name: THE HUB. No idea. Only knew the "Beantown".
11D: "Kubla Khan" poet: COLERIDGE. This is the same picture of Kubla Khan we used in our history book. He's the founder of Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Song, Yuan, Ming & Qing. The last four dynasties in China.
12D: With 22-Down, Asian cabbage: BOK. And CHOY (22D: See 12-Down). It's "Chinese cabbage" to be exact.
13D: Abbr. on a golf tee: YDS. PGA Championship 2009 will be played here in MN in August.
26D: Bow in pictures: CLARA. I got the answer immediately. She is "The it Girl".
27D: Cut down: HEWED. "Cut" is a very tricky word tense-wise.
29D: Campaign creators: AD MEN
30D: Half of sex-: TRI. Somehow this clear prefix mark - after sex (Latin for six) made me laugh. Why not "Half of sex?". Too DF?
31D: Easily scratched minerals: TALCS
33D: Era that began with a blast?: ATOMIC AGE. Holy cow! I had no idea that we still live in ATOMIC AGE.
37D: Montana resource site: COAL MINE. Is Montana famous for its COAL MINE like West Virginia? Doug Peterson is from Montana.
38D: Press initials: UPI
39D: Fused: ONE. Did you get this answer immediately?
41D: Casino delicacy?: CLAM. Big stumper. Not familiar with Clams Casino at all. What are those blackened stuff? Looks like they are burned.
42D: Either of two notable jumpers: KNIEVEL
44D: Long-winded: PROLIX. New word to me. I thought of PROSAIC.
45D: Story that tells the story of Samson: JUDGES. No idea. All I know about Samson is that he is a strong man and Samsonite is named after him.
46D: Strip yip: ARF. Oh, comic strip.
49D: Scoots along, as a cloud: SCUDS. Always have trouble remembering this cloud moving meaning of SCUD.
50D: "Thin Ice" star, 1937: HENIE. I am sure it's a gimme for Clear Ayes. Me? I forgot all about Sonja HENIE.
51D: Autumn blossom: ASTER. Greek for star. I just found out that disaster is actually rooted in ASTER. How surprising!
54D: Ricci of fashion: NINA. These NINA Ricci models all look like famished.
55D: Zilch: NADA. Would love to see ZILCH as answer some day.
56D: She played Emma in "The Avengers": UMA. Easy guess. It's either UMA or EVA (Longoria). I've never seen "The Avengers".
57D: Good thing to beat: RAP. "Beat the RAP" is a new slang to me.
Answer grid.
C.C.
20A: Soothe Geronimo's people?: COMFORT APACHE (Fort Apache)
28A: Sherman tank, for one?: COMBAT MOBILE (Batmobile)
43A: "If Tarzan's bothering you, speak up!": COMPLAIN JANE (Plain Jane)
52A: Speak highly of enclosures?: COMMEND FENCES (Mend Fences)
Our local Star Tribune had a boringly incomprehensible article yesterday about a British scientist who has somehow proven that RNA is the key to the origin of life. There are two sentences that caught my eyes: "The author, John D. Sutherland, a chemist at the University of Manchester, likened his work to a crossword puzzle in which solving the first clues makes the others easier. "Whether we've done one across is an open question," he said. "Our worry is that it may not be right." You can read more here (third paragraph) in NY Time's website.
I was not familiar with John Wayne/Henry Fonda movie "Fort Apache". Did not know Batman's car the Batmobile either. But I got one across immediately today, and I got it right. Conquered the upper fairly quickly and got the COM theme early on. Struggled in the lower right corner though. Once again, several long & interesting words in the Down entries.
Just checked my blog archive and found out that most of the Doug Peterson puzzles have 4 theme entries. Some has 3. All of them are truly about synonyms, rhyming or some kind of wordplay, as he mentioned in his interview.
Across:
1A: Iraqi seaport: BASRA. Sigh. The Iraq War. Not worth the fight. Democracy should be fostered from within. BASRA is the second largest city in Iraq, after Baghdad.
10A: Dessert chain with Waffle Cone Wednesday: TCBY. Interesting, the first TCBY was opened in Clinton's Little Rock, AR (1981). I did not know that.
14A: Pigment of iron oxide: OCHER. Also spelled as OCHRE.
15A: Tolkien brutes: ORCS. And the Tolkien talking tree is ENT. Learned both from doing Xword.
16A: Anorak feature: HOOD. I forgot the meaning of anorak. It's the Eskimo parka.
19A: Lodge group: ELKS. Often clued as "Part of BPOE" (Benevolent and Protective Order of ELKS".
25A: Wedding setting: CHURCH. Nice rhyming clue.
31A: Bygone rulers: TSARS. The crossing letter S from STOOP (32D: Condescend) prevented me from thinking of CZARS or even SHAHS.
34A: Strong wagon: DRAY. Got it with the down help. I can never remember this wagon. It sure looks strong.
35A: Crow cousin: DAW. Alliterative clue again. I faintly remember seeing this bird somewhere before. OK. It's black. I guess it's indeed Crow's cousin then. Dictionary says it's "often nesting in church towers and ruins".
36A: DOJ employee: ATTY. Did not know DOJ is Department of Justice. ATTY was easy to obtain though.
37A: Spice often added to curries: CUMIN. No curry for me. Strange taste.
39A: Fiend: OGRE. I am used to the "Fairytale baddie" clue for OGRE.
40A: English site of a royal flush?: LOO. I got the answer and understood the "flush" part. But why "royal"?
41A: Hold one's own: COPE
42A: Massage: KNEAD
47A: Skillful pass: SPIRAL. No idea. Football term often stumps me.
48A: Ocean State sch.: URI (University of Rhode Island). Dr. Dad mentioned this abbreviation as a possible clue for URI when it's clued as "Swiss canton" in our old puzzle last time. But it did not register well in my brain. Wikipedia entry says CNN's Christiane Amanpour & John King both graduated from here.
49A: Doo-wop syllable: SHA. SHA is also the abbreviation for Shanghai.
56A: River through Kazakhstan: URAL
58A: Hippie's "Yeah, man!": I DIG
59A: Brag: VAUNT
60A: Star followers: MAGI. The three wise men. Good clue. I thought of GAZE first, you know, stargaze.
61A: Diamond complement: NINE. Another baseball answer is HOP (23A: Infield bounce).
62A: Money with hits: EDDIE. I knew immediately that the Money here is not the real money. But I had never heard of this rock singer. So, total blank here.
63A: Top: APEX
64A: Letters from Plato: ETAS. Alphabet letters. Lovely clue. Learned a lot about Sartre and his chasing (not just after girls) from reading Simone de Beauvoir's "A Translantic Love Affair: Letters to Nelson Algren".
65A: Printer acronym: LASER. Have never bothered to check what LASER stands for: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. TASER is short for Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle.
Down:
1D: "The Garden of Earthly Delights" painter: BOSCH. His name revealed itself after I filled in the Across blanks. Here is the painting. All those people are naked.
2D: One may precede a blessing: ACHOO
3D: Oldest of Stooges: SHEMP. No idea. All I could think of is Moe, Larry and Curly.
5D: Gulches: ARROYOS. Nailed it this morning.
6D: Warm place to chill: HOT TUB. Nice clue.
7A: Subject matter: AREA. Got the answer. Do not understand the rationale.
8D: Ottawa-based law gp.: RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)
9D: Derivative '80s game in which one ghost's name was changed from Clyde to Sue: MS. PAC-MAN. It's clued as "'80 arcade game" in an Allan E Parrish puzzle last Dec. Those ghost names mean nothing to me.
10D: Old Boston name: THE HUB. No idea. Only knew the "Beantown".
11D: "Kubla Khan" poet: COLERIDGE. This is the same picture of Kubla Khan we used in our history book. He's the founder of Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Song, Yuan, Ming & Qing. The last four dynasties in China.
12D: With 22-Down, Asian cabbage: BOK. And CHOY (22D: See 12-Down). It's "Chinese cabbage" to be exact.
13D: Abbr. on a golf tee: YDS. PGA Championship 2009 will be played here in MN in August.
26D: Bow in pictures: CLARA. I got the answer immediately. She is "The it Girl".
27D: Cut down: HEWED. "Cut" is a very tricky word tense-wise.
29D: Campaign creators: AD MEN
30D: Half of sex-: TRI. Somehow this clear prefix mark - after sex (Latin for six) made me laugh. Why not "Half of sex?". Too DF?
31D: Easily scratched minerals: TALCS
33D: Era that began with a blast?: ATOMIC AGE. Holy cow! I had no idea that we still live in ATOMIC AGE.
37D: Montana resource site: COAL MINE. Is Montana famous for its COAL MINE like West Virginia? Doug Peterson is from Montana.
38D: Press initials: UPI
39D: Fused: ONE. Did you get this answer immediately?
41D: Casino delicacy?: CLAM. Big stumper. Not familiar with Clams Casino at all. What are those blackened stuff? Looks like they are burned.
42D: Either of two notable jumpers: KNIEVEL
44D: Long-winded: PROLIX. New word to me. I thought of PROSAIC.
45D: Story that tells the story of Samson: JUDGES. No idea. All I know about Samson is that he is a strong man and Samsonite is named after him.
46D: Strip yip: ARF. Oh, comic strip.
49D: Scoots along, as a cloud: SCUDS. Always have trouble remembering this cloud moving meaning of SCUD.
50D: "Thin Ice" star, 1937: HENIE. I am sure it's a gimme for Clear Ayes. Me? I forgot all about Sonja HENIE.
51D: Autumn blossom: ASTER. Greek for star. I just found out that disaster is actually rooted in ASTER. How surprising!
54D: Ricci of fashion: NINA. These NINA Ricci models all look like famished.
55D: Zilch: NADA. Would love to see ZILCH as answer some day.
56D: She played Emma in "The Avengers": UMA. Easy guess. It's either UMA or EVA (Longoria). I've never seen "The Avengers".
57D: Good thing to beat: RAP. "Beat the RAP" is a new slang to me.
Answer grid.
C.C.
76 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and fellow solvers - what a great way to start the day: a Friday puzzle without g-spotting (albeit with lots of perp help). As with yesterday, this one seemed easier given the day, but a great puzzle nonetheless.
I thought the theme was extremely clever, and made the puzzle that much more enjoyable. I find Doug's clues to be among the most interesting we see, highlighted by 40A, 'English site of a royal flush', and 41D, 'Casino delicacy'. And you know any puzzle with a Stooge reference has to be great.
All in all, just an outstanding way to start the day.
Today is National Bike to Work Day, National Police Officers' Memorial Day, and.....National Chocolate Chip Day.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "If I had known when I was twenty-one that I should be as happy as I am now, I would have been sincerely shocked. They promised me wormwood and the funeral raven." -- Writer Christopher Isherwood
More Fun Facts for your reading enjoyment:
- The longest sausage made in Australia was 6.9 miles long. Kazie, were you involved with that?
- And if you're debating where to go to lunch today, fast food provider Hardy's Monster Thickburger has 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat.
C.C., a perfect pass in football has a tight spiral to it; no wobble (those are called 'wounded ducks').
Off to the gym.
Dennis,
Thanks for SPIRAL. I got flush & LOO connection. Why "royal"? I feel I'm slowly getting into Rich Norris' wavelength too. Filled in lots lots of blanks this morning. Hope it's not an eased-up puzzle though. Too early for sausage and meat FF.
KQ et al,
Thanks for the well wishes yesterday. I'll try my best to make the main blog post as informative as I possibly can, when time allows.
Good morning:
Just when I think themes do not matter, this puzzle COMpletely changes my opinion, as it was the only way I got through. A very nice puzzle, with some wit and new clues for old words. MAGI, LASER, VAUNT and CLAMS stood out for me.
I believe it was a "royal flush" just to mislead a bit, by bringing the card playing meaning to the clue.
The answer was BOK CHOY, even if CHOI is the correct spelling.
Happy Friday
Had a tough time this morning with this puzzle. Some googling to get through.
The best Emma Peel was Diana Rigg. Emma was so named because one of the requirements of the character was that she have "M" Appeal (aka Man Appeal).
C.C. - thanks for remembering about the URI answer.
Have a great Friday.
CC:
Re: royal flush clue.
Lemonade is clearly correct about the misleading poker hand meaning of royal flush. I think the clue alluded to the fact that England still has a royal family, and that they like all of us are " subjects" to calls of nature "in the loo".
It was fun last night (although it added several posts) to watch the struggle to emerge of Luxor. I remember posting "in the black" for a while last winter. And I still haven't figured out how to put up an avatar via the iPhone.
I still enjoy reading your breakdown of the D & A's and find it interesting how many entries coincide with those in my NYT puzzle nearly every day, as if the constructors were channeling each other.
Wish you all a nice mid-Spring weekend.
C.C.; A subject matter expert usually has a limited in scope, but very deep, specific area of expertise. For example, in my line of work there are many different relational database engines (DB2, Sybase, Oracle, SQL Server, Informix, IMS, Redbrick, Netezza, others) that run on various operating systems (mainframe, Unix, Windows). I only know how to administer two of those databases when they are running on the Unix operating system, but I am (immodestly) very good at what I do know, my subject matter. All the other combinations are out of my area of expertise. This makes me both invaluable and useless.
Good Morning, all.
From last night, way to go, Luxor! We can see you now.
JD...great quotes, on a theme, no less. *G*
Welcome, bergie.
WM, thanks! Lana's a sweet little girl. Congrats on the sale of the pictures. You're wonderful to encourage Elissa to join you.
Clear Ayes, I wonder if you are the only person I know who has actually read OMOO?
KQ, you must be very proud of your daughter, and rightfully so.
Today's puzzle was easier than I expected. Rich Norris must have given us one more week to settle in before unleashing the toughies on us. I breezed through the upper half of the puzzle except for the "Y" in TCBY. If I had read the clue for 13D completely, I would have figured it out, but my eyes, and my mind, stopped at "tee." Duh!
I have never used the word PROLIX, but it flew right off my fingers. I was astonished. I've read of daws as 'Jack-daws," so that helped.
Knievel was slow to come, but the crosses helped to establish the way, and the "I" of UPI held me up. I read news for the college radio station (in the dark ages). We abbreviated the feed names to UP and AP, and I couldn't remember the last letter.
In all, a fun crossword!
I hope you all have a good day, and a great weekend.
Good morning everyone,
I think this puzzle was much easier than it worked for me. My mind is definitely elsewhere this morning. As I see some of the answers they make more sense. But I don't think of the BATMOBILE as being a Sherman Tank, although I suppose it is.
My proudest moment of this puzzle was the immediate filling in of LOO. Sadly, says a lot about me doesn't it.
I too worked the top fairly successfully, but was completely incompetent with the bottom half. Never hear of VAUNT or PROLIX. EDDIE never came to me despite having known his work (good clue though) and neither did MSPACMAN or SCUDS - or many others for that matter. Things I knew but it just wasn't clicking. I was thinking of the series Avengers, not the remake with UMA in it (didn't remember they did the movie). I am sadly lacking in brain power today - must be jet lag, too much going on and lack of sleep. Maybe next week will be better.
Hope everyone has a nice weekend. Off to do some exercise before a busy couple of days.
Luxor - Congrats on getting your blog set up. Sorry I ditched you after my first advice. Duty called last night. Good that KittyB was available to finish the job, who by the way has an awesome avatar.
WM - Continued good luck to your nephew. It is so enjoyable to watch the kids compete. I was teary eyed in her final round a few weeks ago. I will miss it terribly. Who does he play for? Yes, our daughter can beat the socks off of any of us - and she usually plays the men's tees.
Anon@7:17am from yesterday's post. I believe it was meant for today's and is very unwelcome. I am confused as to why your opinion on the Iraq war is more valid than anyone else's.
Luxor, congrats on becoming fully bloggerized (see Buckeye).
KQ, I think the fact that the dolt posted on the wrong blog says all that needs be said.
Anonymous:
" Would appreciate not having to read your opinions re the Iraq war"
Last time I checked, there was no requirement for you to read anything at all. Just like your TV, there is an off button. Just go away, and stew in the juice of your xenophobic hate. When you think you are about done, "stick a fork" in yourself. Since Fox News does not deal in nuance, I will explain: it's a metaphorical Cheneyism; Go $&@% yourself. Somewhere else.
What he said.
No, Dennis,
I knew nothing of that sausage. It probably was after I was here.
I managed about two-thirds of this XW before hitting the g'spot today. I have never looked at a golf ball up close, so don't know why they'd have YDS on them (yards?), don't know what EDDIE has to do with money, didn't know Montana has coalmines, didn't know arroyos and lots more. Also haven't been to Vegas since 1974, so half of what I saw has probably bitten the dust now. They seem to be always imploding buildings to build new ones.
There was no hint that NADA was Spanish--I had NILL for a long time there, and RING for NINE, since I don't speak baseball either.
But the theme is clever, and my favorite clue/answer was LOO--cute. I also, like Dr. Dad, thought of Diana Rigg for Emma Peel and had to guess UMA, since I had no desire to see a remake of the old show.
Just glad to get it all out and get so much before I caved in and used Mr. G.
c.c.,
I found that Shemp was the real name of one of the Stooges.
From Wiki:
Shemp Howard
Real Name: Schmool Samuel Horwitz
Born: March 4, 1895(1895-03-04)
Died: November 22, 1955 (aged 60)
Stooge years: 1922–1925, 1929–1932, 1947–1955
windhover: easy big guy; you'll show your intolerance. if you can turn the other cheek to 9/11 surely you can handle one blogger.
Good Morning All!!
This was a fun puzzle, even though the S/W did me in. I got apex for 63A, then could not think of a word ending in x that meant wordy. Star followers just totally eluded me, even though I had Atomic Age in place. I initially had hearth for 6D, but Bat Mobile soon showed me the error of my thoughts.
I think Royal Flush was meant to turn your thoughts to poker rather than Nature's call.
I hope Saturday is as enjoyable as today's offering.
TTFN
I am semi-proud of myself for how I did on this Friday puzzle. I don’t want to “vaunt” (new word for me) but it seemed pretty easy. I caught onto the theme right away so that really helped me. I had to look up what an anorak was, and had to hit the thesaurus for a word that started with a “v” for brag. My favorite clues were “English site of a royal flush” - loo and “Money with hits”- Eddie. Being a huge football fan, I was happy to see a football clue for once in “skillful pass.” Being a big Vikings fan….please, please, please don’t sign Favre!
On to my sweet tooth….for the longest time I thought TCBY stood for Twin Cities Best Yogurt. Ha!
And National Chocolate Chip Day? Try thisrecipe.
Dennis, now that's a big sausage...
Damn, Tarrajo, you scared me. I thought I'd put the wrong blog picture up...
Back from vaka and playing catch up - hopeless task. I'm still jet lagged - got yesterday's xword with no problems but slogged thru today's a bit - just not enough brain cells working. Couldn't find LAT's on the trip so did NY Times and USA Today instead to stay sharp.
From blog comments, appears plenty has happened while I was gone. My belated congrats to the birthday folks and all the others who had/have special events in their lives. I did get in a bike ride this a.m. so feel like I've celebrated Bike to Work Day as best I can but not as much as I'll enjoy celebrating National Chocolate Chip Day.
Ummm Dennis, now I am wishing you HAD!!
Not too bad for a Friday. It helped when I got the theme, which I really liked. (I always 'like' it when I 'get' it.)
It also helped that I knew Bosch and Coleridge right off the bat. Saw the Bosch painting at the Cloisters museum in NY, after studying it in art history. With all that is going on, I thought it would be a big canvas, but it is actually quite small.
I did not get ONE for 'fused' right away, but from the perps.
Loved the 'diamond complement' clue. Didn't like 'casino delicacy' for CLAM, because it is clamS casino. And hippies didn't say I DIG; that was the Beatniks. Hippies said 'cool' or (God forgive us) 'groovy'.
My husband thinks Diana Rigg is the ONLY Emma Peel. Uma - ugh, too skinny.
I really appreciate WM's encouragement to market my paintings, but am having trouble focusing on that right now. I am going to Europe for 3 weeks a week from Sunday and am preparing for an art and wine festival where I will show my scarves in early July. I also have a lot of family events and pressures from volunteer activities. Is that enough excuses?
Made it through the puzzle, though rather slowly. Good theme.
Grandson Nate (1st grade) had a patriotic program at his school today, and I have a concert tonight. Only enough time for this brief entry. Busy weekend ahead, too. Gotta run.
Cheers!
The confluence of National Bike to Work Day, National Police Officers' Memorial Day, and.....National Chocolate Chip Day works for me. With more bikes on the streets, the police officers' may be busier than usual. But if you bike to work then you won't have to feel guilty about that handful of chocolate chips you eat. (That cookie dough is just to keep the chips together.) BTW, the best packaged chocolate chips are the dark chocolate ones from Ghirardelli. YUM!
This sausage talk is annoying and borders on distaste. Bloggers should respect the host and her friendly forum and not abuse their posts.
askl -
Repeat slowly:
There is no 9/11 to Iraq connection.
If that ever sinks in, then please rejoin us from your not-quite-parallel universe.
Why is it even necessary to say this?
Before I forget again, congratulations Gatormom, Gainesville is a nice place to graduate from, and it is fun to watch the kiddies progress, even if it is from warmth to cold winters.
Also, to LUXOR for getting BLUE, nice job guys.
To all you ladies, we have a filly as the favorite at the Preakness, so you can all make some money this week end supporting your sister in the flesh.
KittyB, your family just keeps pumping our precious, cute females. Did you make the costume?
Al, you going to start back on the cryptics?
Tarrajo, be careful what you don't wish for. Favre keeps popping back up like a WEEBLE WOBBLE.
Great job Doug P.
Good Morning All, Am I getting better at this? Here's a Friday puzzle and although I had to jump around, I still filled it in with no errors and no "g-ing".
There were so many clever clues, but I am learning to catch more of them all the time. "Half of sex-" was the most difficult clue. I got TRI as the fill, but I didn't understand what it meant until I came here.
I liked seeing a couple of theme red herrings with COLERIDGE AND COAL MINE. But they only began with CO and didn't lead anywhere.
Yes indeed, C.C. I got a kick out of seeing my childhood hero, Sonja HENIE in the puzzle.
Askl, You're making a huge, and unwarranted assumption there.
Xword lover, Sometimes a sausage is just a sausage and a little bit of word play is just a little silliness.
CC: I tried what Crockett (or was it Embien) does and filled the downs, first. Put kim chee for bok choy and blew a large chunk of puzzle and time. Finally gave up (I do that readily on Thursday through Sunday)and came here for the theme. Funny how easy it is after that...
To anonymous/9-11-Iraq:...Perhaps there would be less flak if you ID`d yourself...normally, all opinions which are "owned" are at least tolerated (and argued, if the wrong "flavor.".)
xword lover, I'll give you the courtesy of one post, since I know that's what you're looking for.
First and foremost, those of us on this blog hold C.C. in the highest regard; we would never do anything to bring shame to her.
Second, we kid on this blog - we enjoy each other's company and occasionally push the envelope. If we go through that envelope, C.C. is quick to rein us in.
Third, if you're looking for a crossword blog where there is strictly a sterile dissection of the day's puzzle, and limited interaction between the members, then perhaps this blog isn't for you.
Brain dead today. Didn't get the theme. Too many words I had no idea about. Did get Shemp and loo.Looked up Samson in the Bible and knew magi. Hippies definitely didn't say I dig!!
If today was this hard, tomorrow ought to kill me. Guess I need more coffee before I try to do these things.
Now, if this dumb thing will let me sign in and post I'll be doing good!!
Thanks for the comments, everyone. It's nice to see that C.C. and the rest of you are getting tuned in to LA Times wavelength. The "royal flush" clue was one that Rich Norris came up with. Very clever.
The entry that was the seed for this puzzle was COMBATMOBILE, because I'm a huge Batman fan (see avatar).
Good morning CC and all'
No vaunting from me today. It was out of my comfort zone.Groking the COMS did not give me any comfort. It was comical. Combining past knowledge did not enable me to complete it. Ended up comatose. No more comments; must compose myself.
Loved the commode clue.
for the royal flush i think they wanted to confuse us by saying something about a royal flush and make us think of poker.
Good morning C.C. and all.
Another nice puzzle today. It's always interesting to hear how everyone goes about solving the puzzle. I just read the clues until I find one where I'm absolutely sure of the answer, fill it in and link from there. I rarely fill in a guess because that can just come back to haunt you if you're wrong.
I did'nt know about clams casino but did know that clams is slang for dollars and what can be more delicious than leaving a casino with a couple hundred clams or more !
C.C. - Judges is a book in the Bible.
Also, a royal flush is ace, king, queen, jack, and ten all in the same suit. Everyone is right - a misleading clue.
Cryptics today, not of the same type:
Demand is and isn't wrong! (6)
Very big bearing in tank (4)
Amazingly, I made it through the puzzle with only a little g-spot stimulation. UMA totally stumped me, and I wanted Heddy Lamar instead of Sonja Henny. Wanted star followers to be fans. I loved MAGI; much better. I really liked COMPLAIN JANE; I know a lot of docile women and…..you know. Sometimes humility can be annoying.
I’m so enjoying my visit to Calif. Aside from the fun of spending time with the amazing MelissaBee and the divine KK and J siblings, the pleasure of being with people from all cultures is something I miss terribly. So boring to live day after day with people of my own (non) ethnic background - Heinz 57 variety.
JD – great, creative post.
I remember that last year we had a discussion about the meaning of "circling the wagons". It always makes me smile when one (or more) of our blogging COMmunity is unjustly criticized. In spite of our varied opinions...and we have lots of them...we circle the wagons and stand up for our fellow blog posters.
Makes me proud to be a Chino-Californian! BTW, isn't that somebody who has lived (not necessarily incarcerated) in Chino, California? :o)
I DIG, or "Can you dig it?" certainly didn't start with the hippies, but I remember it being used in the late 1960's hippie era. I heard it in the earlier beatnik era (think Dobie Gillis' Maynard Krebs) and I think it was common with jazz musicians in the 1920's and 1930's too.
Tarrajo, I love allrecipes.com. It is one of my standard go-to sites.
Their semi-homemade cake recipes are always winners.
Joyce, clever tie-in with CLAMS as money.
JD, Sharp!
Dennis, thanks for the heads-up about National Police Officers' Memorial Day. Let's take a serious moment to think about all the dedicated police officers out there.
Hi C.C. and all:
Off to a controversial start I see...oh well, it's bound to happen every month or so isn't it? I always think of "Whack-a-mole" in these cases.
JD, LOL - good COMMENT!
I had some major trouble with parts of this puzzle but laughed at others with their great clues: 39D FUSED and 46D STRIP YIP. I didn't understand 30D (HALF OF SEX)either until I read C.C.'s explanation.
That little "-" by the word sex is clever, wonder if intentional?
Could not figure out 41D CASINO
DELICACY...when I saw the answer, I brought out my trusty V-8 can! All in all, I did better than I usually do on a Friday...what will tomorrow bring :)
I agree that Diana Rigg was THE Emma in The Avengers, loved that show!
Those Nina Ricci models are just plain scary!!! Why would anyone want to be that thin??
Elissa - thanks for the comment on the Hippies and Beatniks - you are so right! I guess it takes being of a certain age to know the phrases. I am not up with the current ones at all.
By the time I get up to speed on current terms they aren't current any more. Anyone want to get jiggy?
Hey everyone, its been a long, busy week on the farm. Geez, I caved on that lower part today. I had NO idea of vaunt, scuds, or prolix. I googled the Sampson book. I've got a bunch of things to do today so I got the answers from you guys. It's supposed to rain tomorrow so maybe I'll be able to sit longer and not feel so guilty. :-) I made some really good camembert cheese this week, but, I'm the only one who likes it in my family. It is quite yummy with some bagette and red wine.
Have a great weekend!
Morning C.C. and all...Have to go do some things for mom this AM so will try to be brief(ha ha)...
To Doug Peterson...LOVED the puzzle! I was so proud of myself for getting the clever theme. It was terrific fun and I also managed to finish in a reasonable length of time.
Only got hung up a bit at the bottom...REALLY wanted Diana Rigg and had to jog my memory to get UMA. CA...got HENIE right off and I also had RING for NINE. Wanted URAL for the river but because of the UMA thing...I held off a bit then finally caved. It is most gratifying to actually finish a Friday offering all on my own.
I will let Elissa off the hook this year if only for the vacation trip. I plan on visiting her at the Art and Wine festival...have already given one of her scarves to my mom who loved it!
WH...Hang 'em High!
JD...LOL...Clever.
Congrats to LUXOR...and now we await WH...Cheshire #2.
Rabindranath Tagore was an Indian poet, playwright, artist, novelist, social reformer and composer during the first half of the 20th century. I don't know exactly when he wrote this poem, but it was probably about 100 years ago. So on this lovely spring day I can pretend that this talented polymath had me (or you) in mind when he wrote this poem.
The Gardener (LXXXV)
Who are you, reader, reading my poems an hundred years hence?
I cannot send you one single flower from this wealth of the spring,
one single streak of gold from yonder clouds.
Open your doors and look abroad.
From your blossoming garden gather fragrant memories of the vanished
flowers of an hundred years before.
In the joy of your heart may you feel the living joy that sang one
spring morning, sending its glad voice across a hundred years.
- Rabindranath Tagore
First, let me say how supportive you all were last nite helping me become a full blogger. Thank you.
Truly a reflection of the sponsor.
Next, I think i've seen all of the episodes of 'The Avengers' on t-v and I remember only two ladies as Emma Peele,,,,Dianna Rigg and a blonde named Tara. never saw an Uma. What was Uma's last name?
that last post is from me.
I seem to have problems with a password.
LUXOR...Uma Thurmond was in the movie version...nowhere near as good as the TV version...clever of you to remember Tara. I actually have the first season of the tv version in B/W on video...you remember video?
Why did you dissapear again?
#2
Good Morning C.C. and gang---Just a quick comment on xword. Slowly filled all with INK, except for sw cnr, had 57d as RUG and knew I was right. WRONG. Supposed to be in 90s this weekend and have alot of planting to do. Have a great weekend.
Lemonade….please don’t take my wishes away…either of them. As far as the Preakness, I am still going to root for Mine that Bird. I always shoot for the horse that won the derby go on to win the triple crown. Filly or not, Rachel Alexandra sounds pretentious for a horse’s name. Besides, I like males better.
Xwlover, I was merely commenting on the 6.9mile long sausage and I believe Dennis thought he might have linked a picture of Brett Favre. What did YOU think???
tarrajo, be careful with your comments. You don't want to be banned by c.c.
Hey, am I missing something here? Can someone tell me what was inappropriate about my posts? I didn't mean to offend anyone.
tarrajo, you offended no one; just another rock-dweller best ignored. All they want is attention.
16:46 today. I really struggled in the southeast. I had TAUNT instead of VAUNT and filled in APE at the end of the Tarzan clue. Those two major errors early on made KNIEVEL very hard to see, but I eventually KNEADed out the knots.
I, too, only know Diana Rigg as Emma Peel. I didn't even know they made a movie of The Avengers, much less that UMA Thurman starred in it (I mainly know her from Kill Bill, where she was amazing).
Dennis @8:27 -
"KQ, I think the fact that the dolt posted on the wrong blog says all that needs be said."
Oh, my, I hope not, having done the same doltish thing myself, right behind anon.
To anon -
Last time I looked, this was C.C.'s blog. Unless I seriously misunderstand things, she has the right to way whatever she pleases, on any and all subjects. There are any number of ReichFluegel blogs that might be more to your taste. That's why we have the Google. Or feel free to start your own.
To askl -
Forgot to mention this earlier, but if you reread what Windhover said, you'll find that he did "handle" the blogger.
Add Diana Rigg as the ultimate Emma Peel: who can resist the combination of a little bondage and British dry wit?
Emma Peel tied up@linda Yes it is I who have started solving downs first.
Thanks for the kind words about my granddaughter, on my avatar, KQ. And, I was happy to help with Luxor. You got him most of the way, and I had a little time on my hands last night.
Lemonade, thanks for the compliment on Lana, my granddaughter. This is the first family picture I've posted, so you may have confused me with one of the other ladies, WM, perhaps who has posted pictures of her Lucy. I'll have another picture in a week, of my niece who is graduating from high school. I have a HUGE family, so these pictures could be endless.
Elissa, no excuses are necessary. It's nice that WM is offering the contacts if you want them. You both do spectacular work!
Luxor, I thought we'd lost you for a moment. I'm glad you figured out your password.
"Star followers" left me wondering if there was some sort of ending for the word star that I was missing. Clever clue, but 'Diamond complement,' and 'Money with hits' were much harder for me to get. I've never heard of Eddie Money.
Hallo, c.c. and gang
What a fun puzzle !
Could not do it online today, as i was outdoors early am, but after wrecking my brains for a couple of hours, off and on, had only the top half filled in and a few more .
You' d think that working for the Brits for so many years I would have got " The Royal Flush " what a Doh or Duh, moment that was, and a favorite clue.
Ms. Pacman, wow, i used tp play that for hours on end , there was an arcade that had a sit-down table-game for two, and away we'd go.
So many clever clues in this puzzle, Bok-Choy, should have known that one, i use it in my salads.
Luxor, congrats. i see you got properly posted !
I never read Omoo, either, is it worth reading ?
Ciao for now,
have a nice rest of the day, ya' ll.
Isn't it so simple to argue, especially re politics. I've finally figured out the reason why others seem so unreasonable. For many years, I thought that living the Golden Rule would result in no conflict. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." What could be better? But many times it backfired when I applied it and it took me some time to figure out why it failed so often. Add the words, "according to my values" and it all comes clear. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you--according to my values" AHA!!
Guday c.c., et.al.
18 holes this morning and felt I had no chance today with the x/w. Got the top quickly and then managed to com-plete the rest unassisted. Great clues and answers, as mentioned earlier, and I agree with Diana Rigg.
Tarrajo, Dennis is right. Forget the rock-dwellers. Your posts are great fun and you fit right in with this "nutty" group. The regulars will comment if you, or anybody, gets out of line and c.c. will DEFINITELY not anyone get out of line.
I've been "HIP" since the 50's and know all the "up-to-date" cool thingies to say. Here at GBRV, I like to take the "Homelys" back to my "crypt" and watch the "tube"; or take them for a ride in my "coupety". As Gene Wilder told Richard Pryor - "We be bad! We be bad!"
As for those "rock-dwellers"- They can "twizzle" on their "pizzles".
I must be "BAD" off!!!!
Luxor, I ALWAYS have to put my password in twice. It's annoying, but I'm used to it. Maybe because it's only a "fair" password.
I see that folks have been posting photos of their children and grandchildren. My new photo is of granddaughter Rachael. She is 10 years old now and all elbows and knees and won't hold still long enough for a photo, so here is one that was taken when she was less than a year old. I love it because she is giving me that "Who do you think you're looking at?" look. Beside that, I love the hat.
Because of the name connection, I will have to root for Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness.
Maria, If you like Herman Melville, you might like Omoo (see, I told you I had a copy). It is about 18th century sailors and their adventures in Tahiti. It isn't a classic like Moby Dick, but it's a pretty good story.
CA's...What a cutie...I bet you can't believe she is 10 already! And, why am I not surprised that you have a copy of Omoo? At least I didn't have to eat worms today on that one!
Tarrajo...you be cool... ;o)
I think "I dig it" was even before my time. Elissa..."jiggy"?...LOL
I apparently and gladly missed the post in question being a not-early riser on the left coast.
Just had a great visit with daughter and granddaughter...such an incredible pleasure.
Fun evening to you all.
#3
Buckeye@7:09: For shizzle!
Dr. Dad: Can you expound a bit about nano-technology? Reading Michael Palmer`s "First Patient" and what he has to say about it is fascinating...but it is a novel.
Hi everyone,
While I recover from another week, let me remind you all that HONOR BLAKMAN was John Steed's first female partner on the Avengers, Dr. Catherine Gale. Ms. Blackman also was the eponymous PUSSY GALORE in Goldfinger with Sean Connery. Ian Fleming was not known for his subtlety.
If I offended XWord Lover or Anonymous with these facts, tough toogies.
Ladies, love all the beautiful baby pictures, and yes they do grow quickly. I do not understand how my kids got older than I am.
Mr. P. what was your clue for LOO? I was trying figure out a way to work SKIP TO MY LOO into a clue. Somehow, country western dancing is on my mind, maybe because I live 400 yards from the Round Up, and the music is hopping tonight.
CA. What a darling picture of Rachel, but the hat really does it, why, she is a natural born model.
Thanks for the Omoo update, now i' ll have to get it on my next trip to Barnes&Noble
I mean, Omoo always pops up on x/w' s just like Lena Olin, never knew who she was, until i saw " The Reader ", small part, but powerful.
Just finished watching the Farrah Story, brave, brave woman . . .
nitey, nite
Maria,
I watched Farrah's Story too. I don't think I could be that brave. I agree with her about wondering why alternative treatments available elsewhere are constantly avoided or put on indefinite hold here.
The wife of one of my former colleagues is still alive roughly 25 years after being diagnosed with MS because they went to a clinic in Germany and got treatments and continued medications sent to her all these years. When do you hear of anyone surviving that for so long?
Yeah, Kazie,
they allowed deregulation of the airlines, which was a disaster, yet the Medical sector is under tight control.
You cannot buy an aspirin (so to speak) without a prescription, simple medical remedies one could buy over the counter in Europe and elsewhere, one cannot here. There is too much red tape and somebody at the top is raking in the money, you know that !
It is a crying shame, one has to go to another country to look for a cure, with all the technology there is , right here at home .
Hard to get back to the blog today; I love my 1 day a wk with my grandson(20 mo).His new thing is saying mmmmm while he is looking at a book or doing puzzles, as if he is thinking very hard. LOL
CA, Rachel's picture is precious. I'm loving that you are the only one who has read Omoo, and we seem to get it every other puzzle. NYT uses it too.
Linda, I think I'm in your league on Thurs to Sun. I zip around once and then I seek out CC's clues. Then I reattack on my own, sometimes G-ing if I think it is interesting enough to read about. Also, good advice to anon. Our blog is great at tolerating differences as long as they ID themselves. Otherwise, we see them as cowardly.
x word lover, lighten up! For crying out loud, a sausage joke has your panties all in a bunch??I guess that is not a good example of tolerating differences. OOPS!
Doug P, so nice for you to write to us. I love your clues, even if I can't grok them yet.
Tarrajo, you rock(not as in ugly rock dweller). It's a joy to read your comments.
Kazie, I'm wondering if Annette Funicello has had outside treatments. She's had MS for a long time. We also have a retired H.S. football coach, Charlie Wedemeyer, who has had ALS for over 20 yrs. His story is amazing; they made it into a TV movie, "One More Season." He communicates thru his wife Lucy. She understands everything he wants to say. She also sells more real estate in this town than anybody else because people love her and Charlie.
OK, I'm rambling...sorry CC
First let this be known....this is not a drunken post as some have thought that of me in the past. If anything I am finding it very hard to sleep as one as my best friends lost her mom from cancer and we had her service the day before my birthday. From one banished poster turned lurker...Tarrajo, you have nothing to worry about. Your posts are entertaining and witty. Thanks JD and Dennis and all for sticking up for her.
When I was young I went through a Melville phase and I read Typee and the sequel Omoo, I read Moby Dick (oops XWord lover, is it okay to say DICK on this sight?) Billy Budd, and Bartleby the Scrivener do I get a prize?
Billy Budd was weird, and perhaps confusing to my young brain.
Lo-li-ta you almost made it through a serious post, and I express my condolences for the loss, and hope you and your friend are making things better for each other, but even in this serious post, you have to tell Dennis and JD that they "sticking up" for Tarrajo. Now if that is not out and out morel df, I do not know my french!
@Lemonade...I am taking baby steps here, in saying what I thought was right and true...including Dennis "sticking" up for her; literally. As for JD...I am pretty sure she's a retired teacher just giving Tarrajo a gold star.
Jeannie...nice to see you back. So sorry for your loss.
This group is getting a bit snarky... remember PMT's links...never, ever feed the trolls.
Well, I just got back from picking up my little guy from one of his first sleep overs. As you can tell from me saying, "just got back from picking him up" it didn't go too well. He missed his own bed is what he said. It is so hard to be both Mom and Dad. I am never sure whether I am giving him enough "guy" stuff. I think I am as he is a pretty tough little guy. I am a firm believer though that a man needs to be in his life. I am doing the best that I can and he really is a well adjusted, smart, athletic boy.
Enough of that...Jeannie, thanks for your input on what happened today on the blog. I was somewhat taken aback and really didn't know for sure what I had done wrong. I am really sorry about the loss of your best friend's mom. I am just guessing if she is one of your best friends, you also had a relationship with her mom. I hope to see you more often than this. Why were you banished, or dare I ask that question?
Jeannie, Lolita, whoever she claims to be was a filthy mouthed person who was on this blog long enough in my opinion. I say good riddance and sorry to see her back, as I am sure C.C. is as well.
Post a Comment