Theme: LINCOLN CENTER (37A: Performing arts site where ground was broken 5/14/1959, and a hint to the shared features of the answers to starred clues) - ABE is embedded in the very center of each theme entry.
17A: *Era in which Shakespeare wrote most of his plays: ELIZABETHAN
60A: *Put in order, as files: ALPHABETIZE
11D: *With no tags: UNLABELED
33D: *Veggies of Andean origin: LIMA BEANS
LIMA BEANS is an odd entry, the only ABE that spans two words. A bit of inconsistency here. The theme title entry LINCOLN CENTER is very clever, and it's gridded in the central row # 8. I wonder if the puzzle was originally created for the big 200th Anniversary of Lincoln's birth. (Added later: According to Orange, today is the 50th anniversary of when they broke ground to build LINCOLN CENTER.)
Some sweet baseball sub-theme:
11A: Official in black: UMP
66A: Cobb and others: TYS
8D: Only team besides the Yankees to win three consecutive World Series: ATHLETICS (1972-1974)
61D: Manager Piniella: LOU
ATHLETICS is an easy fill, though I was not aware of their consecutive World Series wins (1972, 1973 and 1974). Neither the Yankees nor the Athletics has won since I arrived in the US in May 2001. Then LOU Piniella was still the manager for the Mariners and Ichiro had all the media attention. Pineilla is currently with the Cubs.
Nice scrabbly upper left corner & lower right corner. I liked those 6 long non-theme words in the Down entries.
Across:
1A: Sign in a reserved parking area: STAFF. Except OFF & EFF, we seldom see a single ?FF ending word, not even BUFF.
6A: Time's Person of the Year 2008: OBAMA. He will probably be again this year. Or his wife. Or both of them.
14A: Screen dot: PIXEL
15A: Communion bread holder: PATEN. Chalice and PATEN. I completely forgot about this word.
19A: __ Palmas: LAS. Have never heard of this remote Spanish province. What's it famous for?
22A: Indifferent: BLASE
26A: Unadorned: NAKED. BARED came to me first.
28A: Border: ABUT. Verb.
29A: "Rocky III" actor: MR. T
31A: Quick-drying paint: TEMPERA. Only one letter difference from TEMPURA, the Japanese deep frying battered veggies.
34A: Jumps (out): BAILS
36A: Article in Elle France: LES. The French definite article (plural). Good clue. I like Elle China.
43A: Leave in the lurch: ABANDON
45A: A followers: BCD
47A: Keats's "__ Psyche": ODE TO. Easy guess since he wrote so many ODES. Here is a sculpture of Cupid and Psyche at the Louvre.
50A: Kennel chatter: YAPS. No plural form for "Chatter"?
56A: Work on the cutting edge?: STROP. Great clue.
58A: English __: LIT. Thought of TEA first.
59A: "Ghost" psychic __ Mae Brown: ODA. Played by Whoopi Goldberg. Loved "Ghost".
63A: Wasn't colorfast: RAN
64A: Foolish: GOONY. Only knew goon. Strange. Why its adjective is not goonish like thuggish? There is no thuggy after all.
65A: "Hungarian Rhapsodies" composer: LISZT (Franz)
67A: Idlers in a jam: AUTOS
Down:
1D: Command to Fido: SPEAK
2D: El Niño feature?: TILDE. Nailed it immediately. Saw identical clue before.
3D: Geometry truth: AXIOM. I don't know what "Geometry truth" is. But AXIOM is truth any way.
4D: Tasseled topper: FEZ
5D: Wing movement: FLAP
7D: Dying art: BATIK. Of Javanese origin. New word to me. Dictionary explains it as "a technique of hand-dyeing fabrics by using wax as a dye repellent to cover parts of a design, dyeing the uncovered fabric with a color or colors, and dissolving the wax in boiling water".
10D: "The Brady Bunch" actress Davis: ANN B. Got her name with Across help. I wanted ANNE or ANNA. Did not expect the B abbreviation.
12D: Calibrated tool: MEASURER. If you say so. What do you call the person who measures then? Not MEASURER?
13D: Old dinero: PESETAS. I forgot. It's the Spanish currency from 1869 to 2002. Then it's replaced by Euro.
18D: Crooked: BENT
23D: Computer site, sometimes: LAP. I was in the wrong direction, thinking of web site.
27D: Editing marks: DELE. And STETS (53D: Leaves in).
32D: "Hardball" airer: MSNBC. I think Chris Matthews has the best job in the world.
34D: The right side-view mirror compensates for it: BLIND SPOT. Nice theme-long non-theme entry.
35D: Farm crawler: ANT. (ANT farm. Thanks, Al)
37D: Symbolic end of summer: LABOR DAY
40D: Garage alternative: CARPORT. New word to me also. We only have garage.
44D: Marshal at Waterloo: NEY (Michel). Learned his name from doing Xword also. Napoleon called him "th bravest of the brave"
45D: Nincompoop: BOOB. Wrote down BOZO first.
48D: Culture: Pref.: ETHNO
49D: Fast-food carriers: TRAYS. And PIZZA (52D: Lunch slice).
55D: It's a long story: SAGA
57D: Hide: PELT
62D: __ Maria: Liqueur: TIA. Coffee liqueur. Made originally in Jamaica using the Blue Mountain Coffee beans, according to Wikipedia. New to me.
Answer grid.
C.C.
PS: Due to some changes in my life, blog posts will be brief from now on, and I will only respond to questions in the Comments section. Thanks for the understanding.
17A: *Era in which Shakespeare wrote most of his plays: ELIZABETHAN
60A: *Put in order, as files: ALPHABETIZE
11D: *With no tags: UNLABELED
33D: *Veggies of Andean origin: LIMA BEANS
LIMA BEANS is an odd entry, the only ABE that spans two words. A bit of inconsistency here. The theme title entry LINCOLN CENTER is very clever, and it's gridded in the central row # 8. I wonder if the puzzle was originally created for the big 200th Anniversary of Lincoln's birth. (Added later: According to Orange, today is the 50th anniversary of when they broke ground to build LINCOLN CENTER.)
Some sweet baseball sub-theme:
11A: Official in black: UMP
66A: Cobb and others: TYS
8D: Only team besides the Yankees to win three consecutive World Series: ATHLETICS (1972-1974)
61D: Manager Piniella: LOU
ATHLETICS is an easy fill, though I was not aware of their consecutive World Series wins (1972, 1973 and 1974). Neither the Yankees nor the Athletics has won since I arrived in the US in May 2001. Then LOU Piniella was still the manager for the Mariners and Ichiro had all the media attention. Pineilla is currently with the Cubs.
Nice scrabbly upper left corner & lower right corner. I liked those 6 long non-theme words in the Down entries.
Across:
1A: Sign in a reserved parking area: STAFF. Except OFF & EFF, we seldom see a single ?FF ending word, not even BUFF.
6A: Time's Person of the Year 2008: OBAMA. He will probably be again this year. Or his wife. Or both of them.
14A: Screen dot: PIXEL
15A: Communion bread holder: PATEN. Chalice and PATEN. I completely forgot about this word.
19A: __ Palmas: LAS. Have never heard of this remote Spanish province. What's it famous for?
22A: Indifferent: BLASE
26A: Unadorned: NAKED. BARED came to me first.
28A: Border: ABUT. Verb.
29A: "Rocky III" actor: MR. T
31A: Quick-drying paint: TEMPERA. Only one letter difference from TEMPURA, the Japanese deep frying battered veggies.
34A: Jumps (out): BAILS
36A: Article in Elle France: LES. The French definite article (plural). Good clue. I like Elle China.
43A: Leave in the lurch: ABANDON
45A: A followers: BCD
47A: Keats's "__ Psyche": ODE TO. Easy guess since he wrote so many ODES. Here is a sculpture of Cupid and Psyche at the Louvre.
50A: Kennel chatter: YAPS. No plural form for "Chatter"?
56A: Work on the cutting edge?: STROP. Great clue.
58A: English __: LIT. Thought of TEA first.
59A: "Ghost" psychic __ Mae Brown: ODA. Played by Whoopi Goldberg. Loved "Ghost".
63A: Wasn't colorfast: RAN
64A: Foolish: GOONY. Only knew goon. Strange. Why its adjective is not goonish like thuggish? There is no thuggy after all.
65A: "Hungarian Rhapsodies" composer: LISZT (Franz)
67A: Idlers in a jam: AUTOS
Down:
1D: Command to Fido: SPEAK
2D: El Niño feature?: TILDE. Nailed it immediately. Saw identical clue before.
3D: Geometry truth: AXIOM. I don't know what "Geometry truth" is. But AXIOM is truth any way.
4D: Tasseled topper: FEZ
5D: Wing movement: FLAP
7D: Dying art: BATIK. Of Javanese origin. New word to me. Dictionary explains it as "a technique of hand-dyeing fabrics by using wax as a dye repellent to cover parts of a design, dyeing the uncovered fabric with a color or colors, and dissolving the wax in boiling water".
10D: "The Brady Bunch" actress Davis: ANN B. Got her name with Across help. I wanted ANNE or ANNA. Did not expect the B abbreviation.
12D: Calibrated tool: MEASURER. If you say so. What do you call the person who measures then? Not MEASURER?
13D: Old dinero: PESETAS. I forgot. It's the Spanish currency from 1869 to 2002. Then it's replaced by Euro.
18D: Crooked: BENT
23D: Computer site, sometimes: LAP. I was in the wrong direction, thinking of web site.
27D: Editing marks: DELE. And STETS (53D: Leaves in).
32D: "Hardball" airer: MSNBC. I think Chris Matthews has the best job in the world.
34D: The right side-view mirror compensates for it: BLIND SPOT. Nice theme-long non-theme entry.
35D: Farm crawler: ANT. (ANT farm. Thanks, Al)
37D: Symbolic end of summer: LABOR DAY
40D: Garage alternative: CARPORT. New word to me also. We only have garage.
44D: Marshal at Waterloo: NEY (Michel). Learned his name from doing Xword also. Napoleon called him "th bravest of the brave"
45D: Nincompoop: BOOB. Wrote down BOZO first.
48D: Culture: Pref.: ETHNO
49D: Fast-food carriers: TRAYS. And PIZZA (52D: Lunch slice).
55D: It's a long story: SAGA
57D: Hide: PELT
62D: __ Maria: Liqueur: TIA. Coffee liqueur. Made originally in Jamaica using the Blue Mountain Coffee beans, according to Wikipedia. New to me.
Answer grid.
C.C.
PS: Due to some changes in my life, blog posts will be brief from now on, and I will only respond to questions in the Comments section. Thanks for the understanding.
94 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - I thought this was gonna be a slog when I first looked at 1A, then 1B. Then 'pixel' was easy, which made 'axiom' easy, and that gave me 'kemo', then I was off and running. I'm curious to see what others think about today's puzzle; I loved it - I think I'm finally starting to 'sync up' with these.
The two unknowns for me were 'Oda Mae Brown' and 'Ann B. Davis'; got 'em from the perps. I think it's the first time in recent memory that we've had both 'dele' and 'stet' in the same puzzle. 'Farm crawler' seemed misleading to me and, while accurate, was unnecessarily limiting. Best clue for me was 'Work on the cutting edge'. Clever theme.
Today is Dance Like a Chicken Day!! Please provide video.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it." -- Writer W. Somerset Maugham
Couple more Fun Facts:
- In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death.
- In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, it is illegal to have sex with a truck driver inside a toll booth. (This is known as the 'Lois Law')
Just finished: my last fills were PATEN and ANN B: I had PATER which I thought was another way to say PADRE.
I thought of ENNUI or BORED for BLASE; EDGE for ABUT; SILLY for GOONY; TAXIS for AUTOS; NET, ORG, COM or EDU for LAP and the A-TEAM for A-LIST. (I thought there might be a MR T subtheme.)
"Changes" can be good or bad, C.C. Please tell us not to worry.
I don't understand the clue "Work on the cutting edge" for STROP. BATIK was also an unknown. I got both words from the perps. My favorite clue was "El Nino feature".
I will get my test results after May 22nd: that's when the results are mailed out.
Martin
Dennis,
ODA was a gimme to me, having watched "Ghost" so many times. I thought LINCOLN CENTER is a very clever theme too. I also like where it's gridded in the puzzle (central row #8). Not really surprising since it's a 13-letter entry.
Martin,
How do you sharpen a strop? Don't worry about me.
Buckeye,
Why would Clear Ayes and I like "Tosca" instead of "Aida"? What's your rationale?
Dance Like A Chicken
Or this
CC:
A strop is a piece of leather used to hone the cutting edge of a straight razor. Back in the days of my youth, before I had any facial growth except peach fuzz, both my grandfathers (and all real men) shaved with a straight razor. My father's generation was the first to take en masse to the "safety" razor.
I always thought the word "strop" was a colloquial perversion of the word "strap", but their is a dictionary entry for it, so it may have a totally different derivation. I'll leave that to the linguists, cunning and otherwise.
When any denizen of this blog announces any sort of trouble, there is an immediate outpouring of concern and interest, so it is only natural that when you of all people mention "changes" in your life, it sets off alarms. Maybe some reassurance that does not violate your privacy would tamp this impulse down before it metasicizes. Otherwise, we will worry. And of course any less participation on your part leaves us to our own devices, and you know what anarchy can lead to. Next thing you know, people will be ending their sentences with prepositions. And then who knows to what that could lead.
I wish you good fortune as you deal with changes, whatever they may be.
Windhover, appreciatively.
Windhover,
I knew what a strop was. Just trying to explain to Martin the rationale behind the STROP clue. No more discussion on this change please. It's pure personal matter. Nothing for you or others to worry about. See? I already end a sentence with a preposition. And it sounds perfectly fine to me.
Dennis:
You used all my comments, since ANT was easy but has nothing to do with farms. I have no idea why I knew TEMPERA and GOOFY made more sense than GOONY, but ETHFOS does not play in Peoria. Themes with a word hidden like this do not help me at all. I guess I will mostly be a slogger. It never occurred to me that LIMA BEANS came from LIMA, a big D'oh! And where is the abbreviation hint for UMP? Very pretty girl on the ELLE, and we see our FEZ again. Oh, and we even had a BOOB for all the df crowd, I can't wait. We also talked about ANN B DAVIS before.
Good morning. Have to agree with Dennis. I'm getting more and more used to the types of clues used and the answers are coming a bit easier. In the old Trib crosswords I was used to the way the constructor and editor "thought" and that is starting to happen with LA Times.
Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) was the fake 'seer' from the movie Ghost. Loved it when she had to hand over the 4 million dollar check to the nuns.
Ann B. Davis was the housekeeper Alice from the Brady Bunch.
I am not going to dance like a chicken, especially if it's to that stupid 'Chicken Dance' song.
The Lois law? Not our Lois?!
Have a good Thursday.
CC:
Got it.
Lemonade, last night:
Blind?
Speaking of BOOBS why would they make thisBRA?
Good Morning,
This is the best I've done on a Thursday grid. Only snag was in the NE corner with PESETOS which I have never heard of. I also wrote LOS instead of LAS. Arrgh! And I was looking for something more specific to calibrate than MEASURER.
I was born in Pennsylvania and only returned once. I've been known to drive a truck or two and now am glad to have another reason not to return to Harrisburg!
Have a great day!
Good morning, all!
This felt more like a Wednesday puzzle to me. I didn't need to google, and could have finished it without red letter help.
I can't recall why I know PATEN. Perhaps I learned it in Latin class, or in Sunday school, but it popped right out.
I did not know NEY, and was trying to figure out how to squeeze 'Lee J." into three letters. TYS came from perps.
I was astonished to find the long answers to be easy to suss out. I have to agree with the guys, it's getting easier to understand the cluing.
BATIK is dear to my heart. More than half of the material in my avatar quilt is Batik, a fabric designed using a wax resist dyeing technique.
Here is a
link to blue examples of Batik.
The only clue I didn't care for was 'A followers.' Since the rest of the puzzle was so much fun, I'll just hush up.
C.C., from "The Princess Bride:" "As you wish," but that doesn't mean we won't worry about you.
Have a good Thursday.
Middle age is when the broadness of mind and the narrowness of the waist change places.
windhover:
I have an extreme case of KERATACONUS which left me with very limited vision as a child. My vision was measured by my ability to distinguish fingers at one inch. I was misdiagnosed when I was about 9, and did not receive proper treatment until I was 15, and finally had my first corneal transplant when I was 20. Long story....
Good morning C.C. and all,...a surprisingly easy puzzle for a Thursday. The only difficult spots were in the NE and the SE corners and did cause me to slow down for a bit. The remainder of the puzzle was completed with quick fills.
I liked the clue/answer for strop and it was a gimme as I, like Windover, used to watch my father and grandfather use the strop. My father, on occasion, found another use for the same strop.
I was not fond of "Farm Crawler"/Ant clue and "UMP" needed an abbreviation.
Way to go Pens!!! Sid the kid sure knows how to play hockey.
Hope you all have a great Thursday.
Wow! I actually got a Thursday puzzle. I almost went nuts with AnnB as I kept using Anne and ennui which really messed up the northeast. I also used "goofy" instead of "goony" and although "ant" fit it didn't make any sense. A better clue would be a Springtime unwelcome visitor. The way to live to 77 is to keep a sense of humor and work out daily. The two best signs I've seen were in hospital parking lots "Don't even think of parking here" and "Fine Parking." I thought it was nice of them as I had a lousy spot so I moved into the "fine" spot.
Pretty straight forward for a Thursday. Needed just a little red letter help (which I may not have needed if I had been willing to think about the answers a little longer).
My favorite clue was for STROP and I like, and was only momentarily mislead by, the clues for TILDE and LAP. But I thought 'farm crawler' was indeed too limited and resisted putting in ANT for several rounds. And GOONY? - nah!.
C.C. In fact there is a "thuggy" expect that it is spelled 'thuggee', an Indian secret organized cult of killers from which we got the word 'thug'.
I am very familiar with Batik method. People often ask if my silks are batik, which they are not. I create my silks with the serti technique, where I draw a design with a resist and fill in the areas by applying dye with a brush.
I'm originally from Philadelphia and now live in the SF Bay area and there are a couple of sports connections between the two - the ATHLETICS and the Warriors. Before moving to Oakland, the A's played baseball in Philadelphia and then Kansas City, and the Warriors played basketball in Philadelphia and then San Francisco.
Hi C.C. & Gang,
Another clever puzzle. I was not familiar with Ann B. and wanted Anna, which led me to aloof instead of blase. After I got the theme and straightened out this section, the rest came together fairly easily. Favorite clues were for strop and tilde (Igot suckered in again)
C.C., we will miss your repartee, and hope you will still have time for your great links, particularly, the sexy ladies!
Happy Thursday.
Good Morning All. This puzzle almost completed itself. After I had the NW corner filled, the rest of it skipped right along. All of the theme answers came easily to me and the seven and eight letter fills were the same.
The clue for STROP was clever and misleading, but I had all but the "T" filled by the time I read it, so it was an easy fill too. Maybe my mind is clearer at 6 AM than at 7 AM and I should be getting up earlier to do the puzzle.
C.C, Perhaps Buckeye was referring to our adventures of leaving our countries, as that is part of the plot of Tosca. I returned after living in Canada, but you look like you are pretty well settled here in your new country. OR, since neither one of us is an Ethiopian princess, we might not relate as well to Aida. OR, perhaps he meant that we are beautiful talented divas. Let's go with the last one. :o)
Time to get ready to go to my morning meeting. See you all later.
Ant farm pics.
First time to comment here, love the blog! Had to comment on the "ant farm" clue. First thought of farm animal, then it made sense, an ant habitat is a farm.
Easy Thursday puzzle for me also.
Hi c.c. and all:
I loved this puzzle. Other than putting in Goofy for Goony and Lab for Lap at first there were no problems and I corrected both when they didn't fit with the perps. I, too feel like I am finally getting the hang of these puzzles. I am doing well on Monday thru Thursdays now, struggle with Friday and Saturday is impossible for me. I hope that will change soon.
I thought I would share with you all that I am leaving tomorrow for Gainesville as my daughter is graduating from Med School and will be heading up to Columbus, OH with her boyfriend to do her Pediatrics Residency at Nationwide Childrens Hospital. Friday evening is a celebration at the Touchdown Terrace and then on Saturday at 9am for the graduation ceremony. Very exciting for our family. The following weekend we are throwing a party for her that we feel is so well deserved.
Ant farm! Duh! Completely missed that one. Thanks.
CC; First a puzzle change and now a "change" with you...(I don`t "adjust" well...)you`ll be in my prayers.
Only got 2/3 of the way with no "help." Favorite "mis-direction" clue: El Niño feature
About the "measurer": Two guys were looking up at a flag pole, trying to figure out how to measure the height. A woman came by, unfastened the bolts, laid the pole down and measured it."Fifteen feet 7 inches, guys", she said.
When she left, one guy said, "Now ain`t that just like a woman! You need the height and she gives you the length!."
Al and Sara: Thanks for reminding us of the Ant Farms. The clue was more clever than we gave it credit for. Uh oh! A sentence with a preposition ending. Abandon ship, all is lost!
I too am starting to think like the LA times. I slowly filled in blanks until they were all gone. It felt good to complete a Thursday puzzle with no G help.
Gotta get ready for work. TTFN
Great Puzzle today. I put "Kennedy Center" in 37A, which mucked things up a bit. KABOR DAY made me rethink it.
I had GOOFY for GOONY, though neither seems quite right.
56A is a great clue. I had STET in 27D (which made it hard to get NAKED.) It's use as a verb in 53D seems wrong. STET is the new ALAR. Lots of 6D this week. 45A is lame, lame, lame.
I was clueless on the puzzle theme until I had the whole thing worked out. ABE is perfectly centered in every theme answer. Very impressive!
CC's recent link to the phrase book, and today's 65A are hints to my heritage.
Ending a sentence with a preposition is bad Latin, but perfectly fine English. (A preposition in that position is transformed into a different part of speech.) Once, when challenged on the topic, Winston Churchill responded, "That is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put!"
Cheers!
I’m with you Vern…did we somehow flashback to Monday or Tuesday? I aced this one this morning. Even though I got all of the puzzle completed without any aid, I still didn’t catch the “Abe” tie in. My favorite clues today were “work on the cutting edge” – strop and “Idlers in a jam” – autos.
G8tormom, you should be very, very proud of your daughter’s achievement. Enjoy your fun filled celebratory weekend.
Lemonade, that bra looks very uncomfortable.
@Dennis, we don’t have toll booths here in MN, but from my memory, aren’t those toll booths pretty small? One also wonders how that law was even passed. Was this an ongoing problem of trucks just being left unattended on the road?
Hi C.C. & ...
I had goofy for 64A: before figuring out that 48D: ETHNO which made 64A: GOONY and that is a shorted form of gooney which made me think of this link: gooney bird
Hi C.C. and everyone: Loved this puzzle and only had a tiny problem with 13D (PESETAS) and 22A (BLASE) but after that straightened itself out, it was smooth sailing all the rest of the way. Are we sure this is Thurs?
Clear ayes from last evening, thanks for 'clearing' up my mis-thinking on the comment Dennis made to Tarajo about being 4'2"..for some reason, my eyes just did not register the ' or ''. I had to laugh at myself over it. Hope I didn't appear to stupid! Geez.
g8rmomx2, many congrats to your daughter! Wonderful achievement! Enjoy the celebration to the fullest.
Linda (9:34) LOL Good one.
As to the truck drivers and sex in the toll booth, maybe it was how they chose to pay their toll...nothing like a tight squeeze!
Is Blogger down? Couldn't access blog earlier.
Good morning CC et al., Loved this puzzle...and on a Th no less! Holy Hotwick! Boobs and TaTas?...
'lit' me right up! Made me want to be a 'measurer' for a 'naked' un'bent''staff' or 'a-but'. Might as well. The old fun in Harrisburg, PA has been outlawed. (Dennis, LMAO!) What a 'flap' that caused! Big 'ado'! Guess too many
'autos' 'raced' to the toll booths and then stalled. 'O-da traffic
'tys'! Plus ya know how those old motors would 'emit' exhaust fumes...not ecologically prudent. Had to 'abandon' that whole scene. I 'bail'ed and found a 'car port'. The former 'liszt' long of troubles is now 'les' and the environment is safer. So the 'saga'
ended. It's all good.
Jeannie: happy belated birthday. Hope you had a great time.
Enjoy this gorgeous day.
@linda, it must have been cloudy that day, right? Otherwise, you just stand a ruler or yardstick upright, measure the length of that shadow, then measure the length of the flagpole's shadow.
The ratio between the two shadow lengths applied to the length of the ruler or yardstick you used gives you the height of the flagpole. No need to take it down ;-)
It will help a lot when I learn to spell.
Had mia for 9d which caused me to misspell "paten". Goofy for goony and I don't think "Ethfo" is a word.
Aside from that and with the help of perps and wags,
"I dood it again".
This is a major victory for me, who, a short time back, had trouble with Monday and Tuesday puzzles.
Yeah, I hear you-------just wait til tomorrow!!!!!
Vaya con Dios everybody.
Happy Birthday Jeannie and (Vern)?
C.C. whatever your problem---Take heart. I know of at least two people that are praying for you and that there is nothing too great for the LORD to handle.
Al: I`ve always used the length of my shadow to calculate with ...
Jeannie: Belated birthday greetings.
never doubt that you are precious in His sight.
Jimbo: Good to "hear" from you. Evidently, you are doing better than I on Thursday through Sunday. I`ve just adopted the attitude, "What! me worry?" Frustration and elevated BP just aren`t worth it( accepting this has been hard...since I`m such a know-it-all! :).
One more word about ending a sentence in a preposition.
It's perfectly okay to end with a preposition as long as there is an object to that preposition somewhere in the sentence.
Example. Whom did you go to the party with? The object to "with" is "whom", i.e., You did go to the party with whom?
Where is he at? Not good. Not only is there no object for "at", the sentence is redundant because "where" and "at" are asking the same question. "Where is he" does the job.
Doreen
Here is a particular egregious example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT-3V3Lv-so
Vern, happy belated birthday wishes. I was glad to read that you had a good day. Congratulations on your success in finishing the puzzles. Feels good, doesn't it? *S*
Elissa, I visited your website today, and your scarves are gorgeous! I'll have to surf to learn more about the technique you use.
g8rmomx2, I see your daughter chose Ohio. Get her a warm coat. It might not be as cold as Chicago, but it will still be a lot colder than Gainesville! Perhaps you can stop by the home and visit with Buckeye on your way to see your daughter. Congratulations on her success, and yours, in raising such a wonderful daughter.
Jimbo, way to go, fella! You're really coming along on these puzzles. You and I can take spelling class together. I'd be glad of the company.
Al, well, DUH! Ant farm. That went right over my head. I got the answer but the cleverness of the clue never clicked with me.
Dr. Dad, what is it about the "Chicken Dance" that you don't like? (It's nice to see you posting again.)
Carol, I thought your response to Dennis and "42" was funny. The ' and " weren't easy to read, so you probably weren't the only one who was confused.
Sex in a tollbooth.... Let's see, a tollbooth is dirty, COLD or possibly very hot, PUBLIC, and, I was going to say a 'tight fit' but changed it to: short on space. I could see it once, maybe.....but not enough to have the tollbooth named after me!
"I used to be Snow White, but I drifted." Mae West
Morning all...C.C. I hope the changes are postive ones that will be keeping you busier...
I can't believe that I finished this in about 20 minutes!..I looked at it and initially thought that I was in big trouble...My expereince was similar to Dennis' and it just sort of started filling itself in. Of course, I didn't help things by putting in EDGE for ABUT and PLAIN for NAKED...once I fixed that and replaced the B for E(which gave ELASE because, for some reason I did know PESETA???) Anyway...surprising and amazing and satisfying.
Al & Sara... Thanks for the ANT Farm...big DUH! ;o)
CA...I second the talented diva, but without the accompanying attitude.
g8termomx2: Huge congratulations, you must be bursting with pride.
WH...DF??? You clever fellow.
Dennis...loved the WoW...I'm working on it.
Lois...you get another gold star for your wordsmithing...you are just so clever...LMAO
Good news...the business that is taking my paintings for the show asked for 7 of them...big WOOT!
Really, folks,
I was only joking about the preposition thing, using it as an example of all the really bad things that might happen if our level of supervision was reduced. My main rule is there ain't no rules. I have been known to cross the street when the sign says , "Don't Walk". Very wild child, I am. I was hoping to draw out the cunning linguists, but got the cops instead. I thought they would be busy eating donuts in the toll booth. We removed our last toll booth in Kentucky about ten years ago, and cell phones have killed the phone booth (you couldn't get enough kissin' cousins in one of those to have a party, anyway), so we've taken to air mattresses in the back of the El Camino. There's he'll to pay when the dogs start " fighting" in there, though. My dad said they were fighting, anyway.........
High, Buckeye.
Lemonade, how's your vision now? Did you have to go through many 'procedures'?
Al, a great catch on 'ant farm' - a lot of us thought it was just a bad clue, but it's now a very good one. Certainly shows the depth of my thinking...
Clear Ayes, I think you're right: I've found that 'the earlier, the better' works best for me in solving puzzles, before the little 20MB hard drive gets overwhelmed with daily stuff.
g8rmomx2, what a wonderful accomplishment, graduating from Med School - I can't imagine even sitting still that long, much less learning something.
Tarrajo, yes, toll booths are small, but that's not a bad thing. And there's a ton of hilarious laws like that in PA, the state that gives us Intercourse, Blue Ball, etc.
Carol, thanks for the correction - a 42" waist is what we all fight to stay away from. <~~~Oh look, a preposition!
Lois, as always..........just perfect. However, you've got way too much time on your hands.
Jimbo, CONGRATULATIONS!! Just a matter of time until you're saying, "this is the best they can do on a Friday?"
Doreen, my father's stock answer when I, as a kid, would say, "where's he at?" was "behind the at". Amazingly, I finally caught on.
Kitty B, great Mae West line; why do I think of Lois?
WM, 7 paintings?? That's just outstanding. I guess you'll be saying goodbye to us little people soon, huh? What's next, the MOMA?
It's really good to see so many of us getting the hang of these new puzzles. Perseverance and patience definitely pay off with these.
Afternoon, all!
The puzzle wasn't too bad today, although at the end I had one wrong letter that I finally had to switch over to "regular" mode in order to see. I always misspell PATEN (usually as MATEN), but this time I misspelled it as PATIN. Oops.
Other than that, I didn't know ODA (I don't think I've ever actually seen "Ghost"), wasn't particularly fond of GOONY (it just doesn't look like a real word to me), and didn't care for the clue for MEASURER (I get it now, but at the time I kept thinking a MEASURER would be better clued as a "calibrating" tool instead of a calibrated" tool).
Other than that, though, no hang ups and a good solving experience for me.
Have a great one!
@Dennis...maybe I have to find that little guy from yesterday.
Does Blue Ball come before Intercourse? Here in Minnesota you have to get to Aiken before you get to Remer.
@Lois, you really should write a book.
Congrats g8rmom! You must be very proud.
Windhover, You and Buckeye should work up a skit and take it on the road!
Lois, I think the constructor had you in mind when he made this one. LOL!
I'm headin' upta camp for the weekend to help Dad celebrate his 75th. I'll bring the local rag so we have a grid to work on. Keep the wheels turning so we don't rust up!
Have fun!
Sara, welcome, and thanks for joining us! How long were you lurking before you decided to add your voice to the conversation?
Sara, welcome, I hope you stay and play.
We don't bite, just a little nibble now and then.
WM: Again, congrats...we have a star among us!
Ah, the ol' V-8 moment re the Ant Farm.
KittyB, thanks - I now realize that the 4'2" was a play on Tarajo's comment yesterday about there being a "small guy in the lobby waiting for me to jump"...I admit I didn't put the two together - obviously!! LOL
Dennis, thanks - sorry about the reference to your waist measurement, I really know yours is not where in the vicinity of 42", not the way you work out! Keep it up...;)
8:38 today, though it certainly seemed a lot easier to me than Wednesday's puzzle (sometimes the fumbling fingers just take longer, I guess). TEMPERA was my last fill as I had LAB for the computer locale, which seemed plausible (I've worked in many a computer lab), and only found my error when I didn't get the "tada" screen after filling in the grid.
I got the ANT Farm immediately, though haven't we seen that clue before? Maybe it was in the NY Times.
c.c.: LAS Palmas is the largest city of the Canary Islands (a Spanish possession), though I admit I didn't realize the province was named Las Palmas. I was totally shocked to see that Las Palmas is the ninth largest city in Spain. Who would have thought? Las PalmasAt any rate, certainly a better clue than the more mundane ____ Vegas that we see from time to time.
It seems that discussions of the English language are an important part of the comments. Here's one for the experts...can you correctly fill in the missing word?
There are three ways to spell_____:
too, two and to.
gr8momx2 - Congrats to your daughter. We are heading to my daughters graduation, but for her undergrad degree. I am just elated she did it in 4 years while playing golf. Can't imagine med school.
This was an easy Thursday puzzle generally. I didn't get the theme until I came here. Good work CC. Hope only good things are keeping you busier. Don't know how you commit to this each day as it is.
I liked so many z's in the puzzle. That is rare.
Did not like the UMP clue. I don't think of umps in black. They are stripped in football. Traditionally in baseball they wore blue, so were (and still are) referred to as BLUE. They may often wear black now, but I wouldn't think of that clue being obvious.
Has anyone every danced the chicken dance and sang lyrics? At the roller skating rinks here, they always sing:
I don't want to be a chicken
I don't want to be a duck
So shake my butt . . .
Had never heard that before my kids started going there. I thought it was funny and of course, so did they.
Martin, I have been gone a few days. What test results? I hope they come out well.
Merle Reagle said this puzzle had "three theme levels going on." From this post I see two (the "ABE" theme and the baseball sub theme), what's the third?
KQ, you're right about the umps familiarly being in blue, but in football the officials are called refs (referees).
Back to waiting for paint to dry...I hadn't edge painted one canvas so had to take care of it...Thanks to everyone, this is my online family...I consider all this baby steps towards a bigger goal...Dennis, one of the paintings they took was the caramel apples!
Trying to convince Elissa to submit a few of her lovely paintings to a local juried show...with prizes, and $$! Plus they only take 15% of the sale price...a deal at twice the price...
Welcome to Bergie...this is just so cool to have all kinds of new people joining in...keeps us old fogies on our toes.
Major breakthrough last night...I finally figured out how crop and format a photo...Woo Hoo...someday I may figure out that link thing.
C.C.
I can't believe you never heard the word "carport" before. Also, I missed the Sunday, May 10th puzzle. Do you know where I can find it?
Dennis,
Outside the toll booth too!
How does one put a pic on here?
Luxor, I usually just tape 'em to the screen.
WM, I still wanna eat that painting.
Dennis,
You probably lick 'em first too.
Sure. Oh wait - the pictures?
Bergie @2:29pm, C.C. mentioned ABE is embedded in the very center of each theme entry. The theme title entry LINCOLN CENTER is gridded in the central row # 8.
To you flagpole folks:
Why not just measure the length of the flagpole line? This could easily be done by attaching the measuring tape to the line and running it up the pole.
Bergie,
Further to what Anon said @ 4:01pm, another one is probably the 50th Anniversary of the LINCOLN CENTER.
Sara,
Hey! Great to hear from you.
Luxor,
Go to LA Times' website. They have a month's archive. WM probably can explain to you again how to attach a picture.
Al et al,
Thanks for the ANT farm and other answers today.
LUXOR...set up a gmail account by clicking on the No Google Account-Sign up Here found below the Leave Your Comment box. Then click on Google Blogger. You will get a page of info to fill out( If you click on one of the avatars here you can see a sample of the page)...as much or little as you would like. There is a space to upload a photo. I just Browse from folders on my desktop...click on the photo you want and it will upload it. There is also a place to view your info with the photo.
Once you do all this you will get the little orange "B" and you will become Blue for us.
If I can do it, so can you..as everyone here knows, I am a complete Luddite when it comes to computers.
Good Luck and if I missed anything, maybe one of the smarter people here can help.
Gotta go drop off paintings...Ta
Dennis, While the football officials are generally referred to as referees, there are several positions, the umpire being the most dangerous. There is also the head referee (who wears the white cap), the line judge, back judge and field linesman (or sometimes referred to as a side judge). My father-in-law was an official for both the Big Ten and NFL for many years, hence I am familiar with some of the names. He almost missed our wedding because he was scheduled for a game.
KQ, you are, of course correct. I have a mental block remembering that that position. When did your father officiate?
Good afternoon CC and all,
Ok, I'm writing before reading, but I was very excited that I finished without G-ing and only had 2 minor errors. I had press on instead of prey on and kimo for kemo (never seen it, just heard it). I danced around pesetas with many variations; peseros sounded good to me. I had Anne for Ann B., but that changed with blase.Had a few things filled in with perps that I did not grok, such as dele and ethno.Changed lab to lap. I thought ant was a silly fill in until I read it here.. ant farm.
Have we seen the last of Omoo yet? When I can remember that, there is something wrong!Laughed when I filled in Oda; I love that movie!
We listen to MSNBC a lot, and although I enjoy C. Matthews ( who interrupts wayyy too much), I prefer Rachel Maddow.
Guday c.c. and my fellow cunning linguistologists.
c.c., good to see your photo on the c.c.over of "China Elle". Very nice. Puccini is considered more "lyrical" than Verdi and I would guess you and Clearayes, being beautiful divas, would prefer Puccini. (I hope your conundrum is brief and solved to you satisfaction. My positive thoughts are with you).
High, Windhover.
Easy Thursday for me. Had "Anne"(10d) at first, but that got handled, didn't like ump, for reasons stated, and I think "Cam"(40a) is also an abb. not clued. Otherwise, a fun day. Liked "strop"; my father had one hanging in the hallway when I was as kid. All he'd have to do was point to it and say, "Don't make me use that!"
Now you understand why I'm so well adjusted.
The gang here at GBRV was all excited to discover the 50 year anniversary of the Lincoln Center.
Ella Vader asked, "Is that where Lincoln was shot?"
"Naw," said Adam Zapple. "He got kilt in a Ford".
I love these guys!!
I must be off!!
Looks like another fun day on the blog.
Got through the meeting just fine. Is Tuesday, May 19th an election day anyplace other than California?
If LIMA BEANS originated in South American (LIMA, Peru?), I wonder why we don't pronounce it Leema beans?
Congratulations to g8rmomX2, KQ and to WM also. Things are changing and it is all good stuff.
I also wonder why it is so often assumed that a change indicates something bad. We all go through changes all the time and I've found that most of them are good.
Carol, Never stupid! Always fun to read your posts. Your response made Dennis' post even funnier.
Dennis, LOL, was the 20MB hard drive referring to "morning brain" or your computer?
JD, Should I admit that I actually have a copy of OMOO? I have read it, but apparently it didn't make much of an impression on me, except that it is about the narrator's experiences in the South Seas AND it is an often used crossword fill.
KQ, my congrats to your talented daughter! Hard to accomplish!
Clear Ayes, thanks again:)
Buckeye, I hear my friends Ben Dover and Skip Tomylu are staying at the GBRV..how are they doing???
g8rmomx2. Congrats on your "spawn of Satan" becoming a Doctor. She will find Children's Hospital in Columbus a wonderful group. They, and Children's in Cincinnati are both "top shelf".
She is now entering true "football country", where you sometimes have to wear a coat to the games. I think we have Miami(Fla) on a home and home basis in the near future. Being a "Gator", we'll expect her to be decked out in Scarlet and Grey when the "Canes" come acallin'. I know there is no love lost between youse Fla. teams! (Good luck finding a ticket).
My best to you and her and her boyfriend. Truly, my door is always open.
IMBO
Buckeye, it's my sad duty to report that I've come up dry in my search for the elusive Lime Lifesaver. I've scoured the ends of the Earth, not to mention the known universe (I did avoid Uranus), to no avail. I'm convinced they no longer exist, except perhaps in the seat cushions of '60 DeSotos.
Clear Ayes, Haven't you noticed that we frequently Americanize foreign names when we use them in the U.S.? i.e. Cairo, Il is "long a"; Berlin, WI has the accent on the first syllable, etc.
C.C. I respect your desire for privacy & will join the others in praying that all will be well with you.
Dot
Windhover, I didn't know what a strop was (everybody's fav. clue!!)so thanks from a DENSA!
Kitty B, loved the middle age comment!
Welcome, Sara
g8rmom, you must be brimming with pride, but save some of it for yourself! What a feat!
embien, I agree about this being easier than Wed.; I also ended with tempera due to lap AND pes.. whatever.
WM, your caramel apples are my favorite food ones; it's your clouds that are AMAZING!!!Gooo Elissa! Just do it!
Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine. ~Robert C. Gallagher
and for you C.C., hopefully ...
Change always comes bearing gifts. ~Price Pritchett
Thanks to Dennis, Tarrajo, Carol, KittyB, WM, Mainiac, ClearAyes, and Buckeye for your congrats. It will be nice to finally get her off our payroll, lol! My daughter and her boyfriend did "couple matching" so they were both selected for the Pediatric Residency program at Nationwide.
KQ: Congrats to your daughter also! Wonderful!!!
KittyB: Yup, she already has her coat, I'm sure it will be a cultural shock to be in that kind of cold weather. I was hoping for Tampa, but sadly that was their 5th or 6th choice.
Jeannie: Happy Birthday!
Buckeye: I'm sure my daugher will be wearing Ohio colors unless Gainesville, FL (Gators) plays them and then all bets are off. She did her undergraduate at UF also so her heart is with UF Gators. But, if they play Miami (The Canes)then she will probably go with Ohio.
Dennis: You got to be kidding me, no lime lifesavers???
c.c: My thoughts are with you, I hope the changes will be good ones.
C.C. & WM,
I filled in the info and clicked on continue and got the same screen back only it was blank.
help.
Dennis, He probably retired about 5 years ago after a stint of 10 years doing the observing only for the Packers. He did a Superbowl in '85. Sometimes we watch the old classic Big 10 games on the Big 10 network and there he is on the field. He had a famous call while he was on his back on the ground once, and was at the game where Joe Theisman broke his leg so horribly. He finally quit on the field after he got knocked down and punctured a lung and broke a bunch of ribs. He loved it though. Contrary to what most people think, they are extremely dedicated and review films weekly. They are very concerned about bad calls.
WM,
I clicked on 'no google account- sign up here' and got a page asking for: email addy, password, username, then continue. That brought me back to the 'leave a comment' page where I started. And by the way, I never did see 'Google Blogger' to click on.
To you flagpole folks:
Why not just measure the length of the flagpole line? This could easily be done by attaching the measuring tape to the line and running it up the pole.
post
WM,
Well I got this far but my pic is not on here.
Luxor - Log in to your blog. Click on the button that says edit your profile. There is an area for photograph where you can upload a photo from your computer. Then you can add all kinds of information about yourself if you want.
KQ,
how do I log on to my blog?
KQ...thank you, for Luxor, who, like the Cheshire Cat, is slowly becoming visible to us.
LUXOR...You're Blue! and halfway there...Yea!
Also Congrats on your daughter also. We have a nephew who is golfing his way through college up in the wine country (Sonoma, CA.) He is actually quite good...he's the one that played the Scottish Open courses...Turnberry, Troon, Carnoustie(or as my brother calls it "Carnasty", King's Barn and St. Andrews)...at 18, he beat the argyle socks off of everyone ...
JD...loved the 2 quotes...Change can be good. My brother always says that when a door opens, you have to walk through...I am diligently practising that...Also a major Rachel M fan!!!
CA...that is exactly like you to be helping run the election process! ;o)
I think this is #4
Luxor, you are almost there.
Go to this site: https://www.blogger.com/start
Enter your email address and your password. Be sure the spelling is correct, and then click on "Sign In."
On the next screen it should say DASHBOARD. Click on the blue link that says "Edit Photo."
You can choose a picture from your computer or from the web.
Choose your photo. Blogger will show you the photo you've chosen. Then, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Save Profile."
If you need more information on how to browse for a picture, you may need to email one of our members who can do tech talk. Like Wm, I'm a Luddite.
My new avatar is a picture of my soon to be five year old granddaughter, when she was just a year old. She was a butterfly for Halloween. This picture has been on my desktop ever since.
Luxor, good luck with the pic!
Luxor....you will probably get a reprieve here tonight, but keep in mind it is a 5 day per limit post.
is this it?
I want to thank all my advisors, namely: WM, KQ, Kitty B, and C.C. .
All your help is greatly appreciated.
WOOT! LUXOR...this is worth using my last post...you've been here for so long and now you're REALLY here...the Cheshire Cat has materialized...Congratulations...
What a great photo...KQ and KittyB you are awesome...and KittyB, love the photo!
A successful evening and so I bid adieu...
#5 and outta here...WM
Luxor:
A difficult metamorphosis for sure, but worth it. A star is born.
WM: Could you step around the corner for a moment?
Hi everyone.
I was gone for a funeral all day today since last night, so had no puzzle. Got back tonight and went to work on it before coming here. I was amazed that I actually got it all out on paper with no help. Haven't properly read all 91 posts of today but saw enough to realize that I wasn't the only one.
My hardest section was the NW corner--trying to think of windy things for El Niño, and only after pixel and staff occurred to me did tilde dawn on my tired brain.
Welcome to all the newbies and the newly exposed LUXOR!
c.c.,
I too hope the changes in your life are psoitive ones!
Woo Hoo! Great picture Luxor! What an encouraging group you all are. This is really a special place!
Busy day at work, I'm late late late posting. I just wanted to make the point that PIZZA isn't just for lunch!
Would appreciate not having to read your opinion re the Iraq War..I was teed off enough about 911...and don't really give a damn how the rest of the world thinks about US...evidently Chino-Californians would prefer not to remember the terrorist attack on NYC...Also, don't care whether that attack originated in Iraq or not. At least we have struck at the heart of the source...Asia...hope we keep striking....
95 comments already?!? Doesn't anybody go to work anymore? (I don't)
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!
Ach. Nevermind. This belongs with tomorrow's blog.
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