google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday June 15, 2009 David W. Cromer

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Jun 15, 2009

Monday June 15, 2009 David W. Cromer

Theme: Two-way Talk

18A: "Framed" toon in a 1988 film: ROGER RABBIT

27A: Xerox product: COPY MACHINE

47A: In an awkward position: OVER A BARREL

61A: Like oysters in summer months: OUT OF SEASON

Argyle blogging.

These words are used when talking to someone using a two-way radio, like CBers and fire and police personnel or on walkie-talkies.

ROGER indicates that a message had been received and understood.

COPY refers to hearing a signal clearly enough to be understood.

OVER means "I have finished speaking for the moment, but am expecting your reply - go ahead".

OUT means "I have finished speaking, and the conversation is finished; don't reply."

#1 "Did you Get a COPY on that?"

#2 "ROGER that."

#2 "Anything else, OVER?"

#1 "That is all. OUT."

Across:

1A: Candy in a collectible dispenser: PEZ. Often with a theme.

4A: Great time: BLAST.

9A: Get to one's feet: STAND.

17A: Pi-sigma link: RHO. Greek Alphabet.

20A: Splendid display: POMP. A little Pomp and Circumstance.

22A: Keystone lawman: KOP.

23A: Houston team that became the Tennessee Titans: OILERS.

24A: Provide weapons for: ARM.

26A: Barn topper: VANE. As in a weather vane.

32A: Seaman's pronoun: SHE. All ships are SHE.

37A: Go through rehab, in a way: DETOX.

40A: Funny Philips: EMO. I never thought he was funny.

41A: Pusher chaser: NARC.

45A: "Goosebumps" author R.L.: STINE.

50A: Popular jeans: LEES. WHAT? Not Levis!

52A: More than dislike: DETEST.

57A: Gyro bread: PITA. But what is NAN? nan or naan?

65A: College town near Bangor: ORONO. And 66A: Mission to remember: ALAMO. Crosswordese places.

70A: TV-watching room: DEN. Who has a TV den anymore.

Down:

1D: Criminal, to a cop: PERP. That isn't what it means to us.

4D: Tap room: BAR.

5D: Kid's cry before "No hands!": LOOK MA. And 9D: Discolored with a spill: STAIN. How's it going, Tarrajo?

7D: Resign, with "down": STEP.

8D: It paves the way: TAR.

10D: Restaurant booth alternative: TABLE.

11D: Parisian cleric: ABBE. And 12D: Blanc's opposite: NOIR. French.

13D: Kids' book connectibles: DOTS. Connect a Dot is a precursor to crosswords, right?

21D: Bribe to a DJ: PAYOLA. Payola is a portmanteau of the two words "pay" and "Victrola" meaning to bribe to play on the radio. It came to light in the Sixties that some disk jockeys were taking money to play certain songs, which the record companies hoped would boost sales.

25D: House divisions: Abbr.: RMS. Some of those RMS are BRS.

26D: Abe of "Barney Miller": VIGODA. Abe VIGODA played the old detective on the show, Phil Fish. He had a short-lived spin-off show called Fish. He and his wife, Bernice, ran a group home. He's in the front; she is in the back.

29D: Land maps: PLATS.

30D: Blintz relatives: CREPES. Do you want some now?

31D: Funny business: HUMOR.

34D: Do very well: EXCEL.

38D: Lure via a sting: ENTRAP. One of the sneakiest I ever heard of, was a man and a woman want to purchase alcohol but the man says he left his wallet in the car and she pays it. She is not of age.

43D: Really likes: GOES FOR.

48D: November honorees: VETS. Veterans Day in 2009 is on Wednesday, the 11th of November.

49D: Turn into: BECOME.

50D: Sierra __: African republic: LEONE. Southwest of MALI. And 55D: Niger neighbor: MALI. Northwest Africa Niger is to its east.

53D: Peseta replacer: EURO. Former Spanish currency.

54D: Sporty auto roof: T-TOP. Removable panels over the driver and the passenger but leaving a center section, in theory, for greater strength in case of a rollover.

56D: Quickly, in memos: ASAP. As Soon As Possible.

63D: Sine qua __: NON. This phrase is Latin for "without which not", meaning, if an essential element is missing, it's not gonna happen.

Answer grid.

Argyle

63 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - a simple but fun puzzle this morning. The only unknown, which the perps quickly got, was R.L. Stine. I finally caught the theme after the first three of the four were filled in; very clever. And 'pusher chaser' was my favorite clue.

Today is Smile Power Day. Let 'er rip.

Today's Words of Wisdom: "After your death, you will be what you were before your birth." -- Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer

And the daily dose of Fun Facts:

- Fingernails are made from the same substance as a bird's beak.

- Pain is measured in units of dols. The instrument used to measure pain is called a dolorimeter.

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

Dennis,
R.L. STINE was also my unknown. I thought the EURO clue is a bit tough for Monday. But both were easily obtainable. Have never heard of dols. Very interesting FF. Maybe it will show up in a crossword someday. I wonder where it originated.

Argyle,
Terrific write-up. You are sine qua NON to us. The Indian bread is more commonly spelled as NAAN. Sometimes it's nan. Chinese Muslims call it nang. Thanks for PAYOLA. I thought of our divided congress when I read The RMS clue (5D: House divisions: Abbr.). Is the man in your ENTRAP story a cop?

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

Jerome,
I love your "Alaskan governor's mansion" clue for Palindrome. Did not know numbers can be palindromes too. Thanks. What do you think of the POD and IPOD in today's grid?

JD,
Happy Anniversary to you and Bob!

Clear Ayes,
What a nice surprise! Remember some poet also commented on a crossword poem you linked to the blog several months ago? You are an extraordinary linker.

Dennis said...

C.C., I did some quick research and 'dol' as a unit of pain measurement originated at Cornell University in the 1950s.

Dick said...

Good morning Argyle, C.C. and all,...a speed race today. Only unknown was R. L. Stine. As usual Argyle nice job.

Didn't we have NAN in yesterday's puzzle?

I am curious how pain is really measured. Is it a rise in blood pressure or something similar. Guess a trip to the G-spot is in order.

Hope you all have a great Monday.

Mainiac said...

Good Morning All,

Quick and easy. A little trouble in the SW corner when I wrote MOON instead of TTOP. I also wrote LEVI first. Couple of scratches and got it.

Had a Karate tournament Saturday and of course it rained all day yesterday. Still haven't gotten my seedlings planted in the garden. Hopefully this week.

Thanks Argyle.

Have a great day!

Dick said...

The answer to my earlier queswtion.

Dolorimeters apply steady pressure, heat, or electrical stimulation to some area, or move a joint or other body part and determine what level of heat or pressure or electric current or amount of movement produces a sensation of pain. Sometimes the pressure is applied using a blunt object, or by locally increasing the air pressure on some area of the body, and sometimes by pressing a sharp instrument against the body.

Lemonade714 said...

Good morning:

Happy Monday, I hope we all have a great week; my Aaron’s wedding is Saturday, so I may disappear soon. Meanwhile, once again I never saw the theme but was done quickly.

MY boys were the perfect age for GOOSEBUMPS and I still have some books around the house. Little boys love being scared.

I, on the other hand, grew up listening to radio (had not TV) and was shocked by many of my favorite Boston radio personalities being involved in the PAYOLA scandal; where are you Carl deSuze, Juicy Brucie, Dave Maynard and Dick Summer?

Last, there is our old friend FISH, better known as ABE VIGODA who is miraculously still alive after 25+ years of being rumored dead. He just has that look.

Buckeye said...

Guday and Yo.
To all of you who were concerned about my health, I say Thanks. Haven't gotten to the puzzle yet, but wanted to say it's about love and to "Climb each step every day." Thanx

I must be off!

melissa bee said...

good morning c.c. and all,

a zero on the dolorimeter today. my kids also read goosebumps, so STINE was a gimme. nice to see HORNE instead of OLIN for a change. EMO was one of those names i knew but have no idea why. appropriate to see HUMOR in the middle on smile power day.

great job as always argyle.

@jd: 'mini-moon,' i like it.

tfrank said...

Good morning all,

Easy ride today. My only unknowns were Stine and Vigoda, but got both through the perps.

Good job, Argyle.

Agree, Dennis, about pusher chaser, but I have to be careful about how I pronounce it!

Have a good day and week.

lois said...

Good morning Argyle, CC et al., Fun puzzle that knocked my 'halo' cockeyed (LOL). I've had too much 'humor'ous 'pomp' and cicumstance 'blast's this wkend to be anywhere near sane today. Need to 'detox' and stop chasing
'tale's..uh, ones that 'Stine' would be proud to claim if only the 'perp's were the same kind of "spirits". I put a different spin on raising the 'bar'- one that had me out the 'door' and possibly 'over a barrel'on 44A
'pea holder' in conjunction with 'goes for', 'stand' and 'sat'. Then came to 32A Seaman's pronoun? I just have to say 'Amen'.

Argyle: great job! thanks for the explanation on 'payola'. Always wondered about that.

Denis: haven't finished reading the posts from this wkend , but did see the 'porn' look ups on yahoo reference LMAO...but just to let you know, I'm always looking for your upstanding morel self among the more notable and inspiring high quality shots.

Enjoy this glorious day. 2 days and a wake up!

kazie said...

Really easy morning this time. Only real unknowns were OILERS, EMO and STINE, which all came easily via perps. I wasn't sure what a blintz was and had never heard of Goosebumps. A few other clues I didn't even look at because the perps took care of them before I got to them.

I didn't take the time to think about the theme until I got here, as I'm in a hurry to leave for the day.

The Dol word comes from the Latin dolor meaning pain.

Thanks again for a great job, Argyle!

SandbridgeKaren said...

POC puzzle. Thanks Argyle. Clever theme and nicely executed. Since I gave up on Saturday and didn't have time yesterday to do the xword, it was nice to run thru a puzzle today to start the week off with a smile.

My local paper, The Virginian Pilot, has been promising another puzzle for weeks since there were so many complaints about the LAT puzzle being too tough. So today it appeared. A king features 13 x 13 puzzle - I'm not even bothering - total waste of time. Grrrrr. I'm bummed. Somehow I expected another good puzzle - what was I thinking???

Need some help from all you smarties and world travelers. Thinking of going to Halifax, Nova Scotia in August and would love any info on good places to stay (or to avoid), plus fine dining suggestions as well as tips on things to see. All info greatly appreciated to improve vacation travel.

Off to Power Smile at all the Aquarium guests.

Anonymous said...

Worked straight thru today without problems, I only wish Norris would find a happy medium between Monday and Saturday. I note by one comment that a paper in Virginia has dropped his puzzle - maybe he will get the idea

Mel

Karen said...

Good morning all,
Very easy puzzle today, almost too easy. Only hang-up was Stine & I goofed once when I put "rowed" for oared but corrected it quickly when I looked at the across clues.

Everyone have a great day.

Elissa said...

I'm back. After being puzzle-less for three weeks and being severely jet lagged, I was pleased to finish this puzzle in about 10 minutes with no stoppers.

The cruise around the Med was great. After the cruise, we followed the suggestion to visit the Chocolate Museum in Koln on our last day in Germany. It was a cold, rainy day and after touring the museum (which was fun and educational) we had lunch in the Museum Cafe - chili con carne with spicy chocolate - delicious and perfect for the weather.

Anonymous said...

Good morning everyone. I've been to a very strange wedding, but it was DH's relatives, not mine. Interesting experience. So no xwords for a while.
(Except U.S. News.)
Jerome, your palindrome suggestion took me until this morning to figure out. Loved Yreka Bakery.
Argyle, thanks for a neat job.
And ClearAyes, your story of the UK correspondent is priceless. And your comments so true. DH has email to and from a man in the Czech Republic. It's great.
My comments about today's puzzle are about the same as has already been written. Was perplexed about Seaman's pronoun, but the perps helped me out.

Anonymous said...

A very easy puzzle for me. I zipped right through it. I didn’t know what a Pesata was so just took a stab and guessed at Euro. I also always thought Keystone kop was cop. My favorite clues today were “barn topper” – vane, and “pusher chaser” – Narc.

Argyle, nice write up and thanks for the “payola” information. I have heard of the word but really never wondered where it came from. I just thought it was slang for payment.

SandbridgeKaren, I spent about 10 days in Nova Scotia, and only two of them in Halifax. I recommend a terrific reference guide called “Doers and Dreamers.” It is chock full of information including lodging, restaurants and sight seeing. It is a free book and you should receive a copy in about a week. The place I enjoyed the most was taking the drive around the Cape Breton trail. The scenery was breathtaking.

Littleguyjo got his stitches out this morning and he didn’t even wince. I guess his dolorimeter was at a low settting. Here was my smile…he asked the doctor if he could keep the stitches. Boys will be boys…

KQ said...

Super simp today. Really nothing that stumped me. Was a little surprised by IPOD, POD and MAC all being in the same puzzle with nothing relating them to the theme. I got the theme, but only after everything was completed. They really didn't help me get the answers. I also liked "It Paves the Way - TAR clue. R.L.STINE was not a stumper for me having kids who read the books. They are wildly popular.

Interesting facts on PAYOLA and dols. The only pain meter I am aware of is when you are in the hospital and they ask what your level of pain is on a scale of 1 to 10. Have been asked that question too many times.

Dennis - Hopefully there is a lot of smiling around here today. Pretty stressful weekend for us. I will have to go back and look at the last few days posts as they sound interesting.

SandbridgeKaren - One of our bloggers just came back from Halifax in the past few weeks. I am terrible at remembering who, but I asked if there was a museum relating to an explosion they had there in 1917. There was. It was an interesting event. I would love to go there. Hope they chime in with some info for you.

My daughter is moved back and moved in with us. Should be fun - for a while at least. I don't think she will overstay her welcome. Somehow, our car key got packed in one of her bags and we spent hours looking for it. We had to disassemble much of the U-haul that we had packed up. The boys were thinking they were being kind and locked the car - without the keys. It was quite the mess. But we did eventually get home.

Hope everyone's week is good. Lovely day here again.

Warren said...

Hi C.C. & ... a real speed run today, no need for online help.

I was wondering how the phrase over the barrel started and I found this


"One case was that of a student hazing at a college in Ohio, reported in the Frederick Daily News in Maryland in 1886: “Once inside he was at the mercy of his captors, and the treatment he received was cruel. Bound hand and foot, he was rolled over a barrel.” This is by far the more likely origin, since a person held over a barrel is helpless, whether face down or face up. It fits the meaning of the phrase much better than the resuscitation one does."

Dr.G said...

Hi all. Like everyone else, a quicky. Never heard of RL Stine either. Sounds like something my yougest grandson would like to read.

KQ said...

Just went back and read prior posts. It is always interesting to go back after you have been away to see what has been going on. Wondering how I missed Dennis becoming the Pope. I don't remember seeing that anywhere else.

Carol, with regard to those shoe machines. They have one of them at our Science Museum. It came from Milwaukee where they manufactured them and was called the Shoe Fitting Fluoroscope. They stopped using them in the 60's or so due to the high level of radiation exposure. It was fun to see one.

Jazzbumpa said...

Are you all really going to let me be the first one to say,"I got 1D from the perps?" Wouldn't a better clue have been "crosswords' cross word?"

Very enjoyable puzzle today. Shows that it doesn't have to be difficult to have high quality. I didn't notice POD, IPOD, and MAC. They are such staples now.

I'd like to see 7D clued as "part of 32D." and 32D clued as "It has a riser."

Tarrajo - Stitch tread is a great souvenir. Even better than snake skins.

Summer park concerts start this week. Also have the Mich jazz fest and a warm-up concert in July. Very busy Summer ahead - now that is seems to actually be Summer.

Cheers!

Barb B said...

Nice puzzle, not exactly a cake-walk for me, which is nice. It’s not much fun to just zip through without any challenge at all. I knew most of the answers, which made me feel smart, -- (I know, an illusion. ☺ but had to work at a few, like ORONO and VIGODA.

Good job as usual, Argyle. I didn’t grok the theme (I rarely do) until you pointed it out.

R. L. Stine’s books are very popular at our library. We have about 30, and they are constantly moving. It’s fun to hear the kids talk about them. One very sturdy looking boy told me a while back that one book scared him so bad he would never check out another. But he liked it.

Who has a den anymore? I wonder if the new word for den is ‘Great Room?’ I keep seeing those, and they are usually no bigger than a bedroom, but placed near the living room, and/or kitchen.

KittyB, I think the fact we both thought of ghostbusters yesterday means we were reacting exactly as the puzzle maker wanted us to. After all, he did put Bill Murray in the puzzle. So, we’re just smart, that’s all. Right?

WM said...

Morning all...Easy and quick...did it last night after a weird day...no computer access.

Looked in the paper today expecting the Commuter puzzle and lo and behold...the LATimes is back! Hopefully to stay, but I'm sure the complainers will start in again...time for a complementary email to the editor. Perhaps if others out there would join in we might be able to keep it this time.

No real unknowns except Goosebumps author as it has been way too many years since the girls read them...remembered the title, not the author. Now if it was Beverly Cleary I would be good to go.

Argyle...as always, you are awesome! Look forward to your blogs.

I have to say after finally getting to the Sunday puzzle late last night and this morning...it was harder than the Sunday NYTimes(from a week ago)which I actually completed...go figure!

CA...loved that you got the email from the son...amazing who is reading what, all over the world.

Elissa...so good to see you back and it sounds like you had a fabulous trip!

Lemonade...thanks for the Abe Vigoda link...I guess I also thought he wasn't with us anymore. I loved his character Fish.

On crepes...took our youngest daughter and her husband out to celebrate her 30th at a terrific restaurant that we all love as an over-the-top dining experience...dessert was fresh peaches wrapped in crepes, wrapped in filo and baked, with a frozen peach mousse on the side...YUM!

Will probably be busy the rest of day so...sorry for the really long post(yesterday and today combined)

carol said...

Hi C.C.,Argyle and all: Fast and easy this morning (no DF'ness intended).
All the pros and cons have been mentioned so I won't.

Argyle, nice job as usual.

Tarrajo, That was so sweet and typical about your son wanting to keep his stitches! That was my 'smile' for the day, thanks.

Barb B, The room I always knew as a 'living room' is now referred to as the 'Great Room', a name I find silly.
This has been used in the last 9 years or so with new homes. The names for rooms in homes changes with the decades. You are never asked to sit in the 'parlor' anymore! Dens are also: Rec rooms, man-caves, family rooms.
Guess it just depends on the age of the person describing the rooms.

bubba said...

Argyle,
Good job man!

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All. It's nice to restart our engines with a nice Monday puzzle. Great job again, Argyle.

I wasn't sure of PLATS or T-TOP but, with a nod to 1D, everything came pretty easily with the PERPs.

EMO Philips' comedy comes at you from angles you don't expect. For instance, "When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me." And in response to the question of dols and pain measurement, "I once heard two ladies going on and on about the pains of childbirth and how men don't seem to know what real pain is. I asked if either of them ever got themselves caught in a zipper."

Sandbridgekaren, Lucky you going to Nova Scotia! I wish I could give you some recommendations, but I was only there when I was a kid and that was only for a few days. I do remember that it was very green (trees) and blue (ocean). You probably have already visited the Nova Scotia Tourism site.

Welcome back, Elissa. How about some photos of your trip?

Sallie, Sounds interesting. Strange in what way?

tarrajo, did you take some photos of Littleguyjo's lip before the stitch removal, so he could show off a little?

Barb B said...

Carol,
..or the builder. In my neighborhood (houses built in 2003), we have living rooms and great rooms. No difference at all, both are pretty small. You have to laugh, I guess. "Great Room" sounds like something from a castle, doesn't it? Not like a 12'x 14' room that contains the front door of the house. I only have a living room, alas.

Dennis said...

Dick, belated congratulations on the Pens - a much-deserved victory.

Lemonade, you're on the money about Abe Vigoda - he just looks dead.

Lois, simply amazing what you can do with otherwise innocuous words. All hail Queen DFette!

SandbridgeKaren, it sounds like these papers only hear the complaints about the new format. I suggest we all take a minute and drop Rich Norris a note showing our support (if you do in fact enjoy the new format).

Elissa, welcome back - sounds like a great time. Favorite spot in the Med?

Sallie, ok, you can't just say you were at a strange wedding and then not give us the good stuff. What happened?

tarrajo, tough little guy you got there. My compliments.

KQ, yeah, pretty interesting Saturday. And the Pope bit came about when I told tarrajo that if she wasn't a DFette, then I was the Pope. Went downhill from there...

Jazzbumpa, great pickup regarding 1D. I'm the one that coined the damn term and even I didn't catch it.

Bubba, good of you to join us - hopefully you've realized that we're not really "a group of losers".

Mainiac said...

Had a chance to look back to catch up at lunch.

Dick, My buddy the Police Chief has a Berner. She's a little over a year old and 120 pounds and has a great disposition. Hopefully Zivah will be very similar. So far so good.

Tarrajo, I cringed when I read what happened to Littleguyjo. What a trooper getting his stitches out. I have tons of stories about stitches. I haven't quite figured out why my oldest is the one I taking to the ER. Knock on wood that hasn't been needed for awhile!

Sandbridgekaren, the Cat is a high speed ferry that goes from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. I think Halifax is a couple of hours from Yarmouth. Depending upon how you travel you might sneak a visit to Acadia National Park on the States side of the trip. The Cat site has all kinds of links.

Anonymous said...

Jazzbumpa, I will have to draw the line if L.G.J. ever even attempts to bring a snake skin in our house. I hate snakes.

Clearayes, no I didn’t take any pictures. It is something I would rather forget. I think his scar will be reminder enough.

Jacktwin…the four of us share the same birthday!

Dennis thanks for the compliment, and yes he is a tough little guy that makes this mother proud.

Jerome said...

Well done, Argyle, you have a nice way with words. But you just had to sneak in that BRS didn't you.

C.C.- IPOD and POD in the same puzzle is no big deal. Most folks won't even notice, or care. However, CREPES at 30d could have been changed to CHIMES, and voila, MOD instead of POD.

In the NW corner there's a real cool flow of words- PEZ, PERP, POMP and PAYOLA.

It's fitting that NARC crosses ENTRAP. And in that same area we have SHE, HORNE, EXCEL. She certainly does.

Slick puzzle and a fun solve.

Argyle said...

Well, yes...yes, I did. Now how do we abbreviate great room and what is it in Spanish?

KQ said...

Tarrajo, I cannot believe you didn't capture that memory. I confess that I am a scrapbook junkie, but everything gets documented in our household. From one-eyed Scott whose eye swelled shut from a gnat bite, to our most horrific picture - when our son JD who was around 10 at the time got beaned in the middle of the forehead with a pitch. A cat scan ensued and he had a huge knob on his forehead. You could see the stitching of the ball embedded in the swelling. He ended up with two black eyes and still has a small lump to this day (he is 17 now). I think they find it kind of fun to remember. However, I do understand wanting to keep it in the past though also.

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

SandbridgeKaren,
Does your paper carry the new 13*13 in addition to LAT or has it dropped LAT completely?

KQ,
It's Warren. He mentioned he visited Halifax some time ago.

Elissa,
Great to have you back. Kazie will be happy to hear that you visited the chocolate museum. (Kazie, thanks for dol and dolor.)

Jerome,
Nice rework. think I prefer your MOD. Now I am eager to solve your next puzzle.

embien said...

6:06 today. Easy, breezy Monday, with STINE being my only unknown.

I have no kids, and hence no grandkids these days, and hence no children's books laying about. Our local library seems intent on buying tons of childrens books, so when I make my annual donation, I specify that they use it to buy adult stuff. My wife and I like "reading" books on CD in the car (we live so far out of town that we get plenty of "reading" time on our nightly trips to restaurants for dinner.)

@jazzbumpa: ,"I got 1D from the perps?" Wouldn't a better clue have been "crosswords' cross word?"

I'll just point out that this blog is the only crossword blog to use the term "perps". The other blogs all use the term "crosses" to mean the same thing. Just sayin'.

Oh, and jazz you were so right yesterday in your comment on POROSE. I totally missed that the clue had "variant" in it, so an alternate spelling of POROUS is more likely, as you said.

Anonymous said...

OK, ClearAyes & Dennis: I'll give on some of the wedding observations. It was on the beach in Florida at 6 PM and attire was to be semi-formal. There were people playing around and swimming very close to the ceremony. They slowly served champagne while we were on the hot beach even tho a reception followed at a thankfully air-conditioned place. The bride's mother gave a long speech in the middle of the ceremony. I couldn't hear what all she was saying. Nor could DH who has excellent hearing.
Bride wore long dress which trailed bedhind her in the sand; groom wore short-sleeved shirt untucked and no jacket. DH was very uncomfortable in his attire as he always wears shorts and untucked shirts.
Enough! I am not being gracious.

Dennis said...

Sallie, I'd pay for pictures. Sounds like an SNL skit.

embien, isn't it great that we're unique in our use of buzzwords? Gives the blog some individuality.

luxor said...

Does anyone know how a crossword puzzle is constrcted? If so, would you please explain it to me.

Anonymous said...

The most bizarre wedding I ever attended was one that took place in a deer stand. We were all to wear blaze orange and the bride and groom wore camouflage. Oh, and we drank beer during the ceremony.
The meal at the reception (VFW hall) was a wild game feed. Hey, this is Minnesota afterall, and hunting is a big pastime for our men. Thankfully everyone left their guns at home.

SandbridgeKaren said...

CC - the local paper now carries two puzzles - the LAT and the 'new one'. For a month they've been heavily advertising this 'great new thing' (two puzzles like they were giving us some grand treat) so of course I expected something more than the silly 13 x 13 we got (and boy it sure looked like an easy one so why bother?). I'll continue with the LAT's and ignore the other. To make it worse, they dropped a Dear Abby column to make space for the 2nd puzzle on the page and I miss reading about dysfunctional people seeking advice from a stranger.

Sallie - LOL at your wedding story. We have a lot of them here at the beach and it's always amazing what they think up to do - no orange and cammo that I've seen but just about everything else.

Embien - I like the word 'perps' instead of crosses. Makes us sound just a tad nonlaw abiding.

Thanks to all for the Nova Scotia hints - some good stuff there that I haven't checked out yet. You guys are the best!!!!!!!!!

Elissa said...

My favorite stops on the cruise were in Mykonos and the two stops in Turkey. They were beautiful, interesting and definitely on our list to go back to for a longer visit. Here is one picture. That's our ship in the background. I took almost 600 pictures over the three weeks.

We chose this trip to stand up for my friend at her fifth wedding (bride is 60, groom is 76 and on his 3rd wedding). The ceremony was lovely, but we couldn't believe the bride wore a traditional wedding gown which she wouldn't let the groom see before the ceremony. And for some reason the bride was no nervous I had to administer medicinal champagne at 10 am while I was helping her dress for the ceremony, which was attended by the bride, groom, my husband and me.

WM said...

First...welcome back bubba...stick around... and Dennis, the pope, is being snarky. He has a very quirky sense of humor but we love him lots anyway.;o)

Love the wedding stories! LOL

Elissa...so would love to see your photos.

Jerome...as always, your insight adds an extra level and appreciation.

Barb B said...

Sally, thanks for the wedding story. I think it’s great that they had what they wanted.

After my late husband and I set the date for our wedding in 1986, the SF 49’ers announced the western divisional play-offs on the same day – same time, too. His friends were actually having trouble deciding which event to attend. Actually, husband-to-be was also having trouble. He was an avid fan of the 'niners. Since it was a casual wedding, I agreed to have a television brought to the party so we could watch the game first, and prayed for the Niners to win. Thankfully they did, and we had a great time celebrating both events.

Tarrajo, I love hearing about your littleguyjo.

JD, happy anniversary.

Dennis said...

Truly wasn't being 'snarky' this time. I really did hope he realized we were a pretty good group. The more people on this blog, the better.

Lola said...

Hi all!

It's kind of nice to have a rhythm to our puzzle week. We struggled through Fri., Sat., and Sun. with the sure knowledge that Monday would restore the shine to our egos. As everyone has mentioned this one was a slide on ice, but enjoyable none the less. I liked the position of detox right above narc.

Thanks Kazie for the info on the Latin root for dolor. I thought this might be the case as dolor is the Spanish word for pain.

SanBridgeKaren, I'm such a x/w puzzle junkie that I can't help but fill them in even if they are super easy. I now do the one in The Oregonian as well as the LAT. It has added a puzzle to my morning ritual, but that one never takes more than about ten minutes.

We're finally getting some sun in the N/W so I guess I'll head outside to see what's become of my yard. TTFN

Clear Ayes said...

tarrajo, Your camo wedding wins. It sounds like an episode of "Weird Weddings" on one of the offbeat TV channels.

Sandbridgekaren, About Dear Abby, "I miss reading about dysfunctional people seeking advice from a stranger." Isn't that pretty much what we do here? LOL

Speaking of which, is there an ankle equivalent of carpal tunnel? GAH's left ankle has really been hurting lately and it is time to find out what the problem is. He has an appointment with his orthopedic surgeon later on this month. He is hoping that it won't interfer with golf, but it sounds like he may have to take some time off.

Warren said...

KQ, C.C. copied me about Halifax? The last time we were there was 6 years back in 2003 for Hurricane Juan. I posted a link to our home page (http://www.mcdunn.com/halifax/default.htm) once before? I can remember most that the people up that way are very friendly to strangers and we noticed in one town if you stand on a city street (on the sidewalk that is) cars will stop and ask if you want to cross to the other side? Take a tour of Halifax and you'll find out about the 1917 explosion too.

;-)

Anonymous said...

Hello All,
Hooray, our Mercury-News had the puzzle printed today. I will take WM's advice and e-mail our editors with a thank you. I didn't like doing the puzzle on-line.

The CW was easy today, almost as easy as the commuter puzzles that have been in the papter the past few weeks.

Stine was a given as we had LOTS of R.L. Stine's books in our school library. I also enjoyed seeing plat as it too was a given. I've gone through many a plat map looking up land ownership in doing genealogy.

Must pick the berries in my garden before the birds get them all.
Chickie

bubba said...

Dennis,
Thank you for the kind words. I owe you and the entire group here an apology. I apologize.

Dennis said...

bubba, no apology necessary - welcome to our eclectic group. Hope you'll be a frequent poster.

SandbridgeKaren said...

Hey Bubba - class act. Join in and have fun - that's pretty much what we're all about.

Clear Ayes - yes, but this group is sanely dysfunctional unlike some of the letters to Dear Abby.

Warren - appreciate the Halifax link.

Clear Ayes said...

Bubba, Jump on in. The water's fine.

Sandbridgekaren, You're right. At least we enjoy our dysfunctionality, where Abby's people do nothing but moan and groan over their problems.

Buckeye, I meant to thank you for Jennifer Warnes and Joe Cocker. Both of them were favorites before An O. And A G.. Great song.

Jazzbumpa said...

C A -

There is an affliction that's fairy common among people who work on floor coverings, due to the way they have to pound them into place. It's called carpet pummel syndrome.

I always wanted to part of a group that's electrically disfunctional

Cheers!

Dennis said...

I find carpet-pummel syndrome most pleasant...

Anonymous said...

Tarrajo: Your wedding adventure is the best I've ever heard.

When my two teenage sons and their father and I were traveling in Austria, the boys kept pointing our castles high above and saying, "weird". I finally told them to stop and say something like colorful and historic. So when older son was about to be married, he called and said the wedding was going to be colorful and historic. It really was, and not weird as he was trying to warn me.

JD said...

Good evening cc, Argyle, and all,

Fun c/w today, altho I needed the perps to fill in emo, plats,Orono and non.I did not know what peseta was either, and I disagree that Lees are popular. Who knew?

Argyle, loved the "Pomp and Circumstance" clip from 1931!! and the payola explanation.

All 6th graders love Goosebumps.

Yesterday's c/w was a thing of beauty, although I could not finish it.I highlighted all the par ones so Bob could see just how perfect it was. WM, I agree that the NY Times was easier, and that was easier than USA Today.When I'm out of town, I get all that are available.
Thanks all for the ann.kudos. The coast (Carmel& Monterey) was gorgeous..no fog!? Spent morning at the Monterey Acquarium smiling at the otters, and all afternoon at a wild animal refuge where we were told NOT to smile at the baboons or they's throw shit at us. LOL!

JD said...

Welcome back, Elissa! Would love to hear more.

CA, wow, nice note!

Barb, do not grieve. Having a living rm and a fam. rm is such a waste! When we 1st lived here we had a stereo and maybe a chair in our L.Rm. The girls used it for doing gymnastics. Now,Truman loves it because the cat sleeps in the window.He also sneaks in there to jump on the couch.

WM,great news! I will write the editor tonight.

Buckeye, I so enjoyed that Joe Crocker moment, but now you have me worrying about you.Hugs!

Hey, I have an old Daffy Duck Pez dispenser if anyone is a collector, free of course.

Anonymous said...

@Dennis, I am not that big a fan of carpet pummel syndrome. I'm not the biggest gal out there and I usually get pinned....

Darn that Littleguyjo.

WM said...

JD...there is actually a PEZ museum in San Mateo or in that general area...I looked into it one time because we still have our youngest daughter's entire collection of PEZ dispensers...all still in their wrappers...it's quite a few...I wouldn't even want to look ant the candies...LOL

Dennis...just kidding. But it is good to add bubba...apparently a good guy...

I'm with Jazz re: 9:32

The only bad news about the LAT being in the paper again is that you have to practically have a magnifying glass to be able to write in the squares.

Jerome...absolutely loved the Yreka Bakery palindrome...we used to drive through there all the time on the way up to Oregon because there was this really good ice cream shop and it was always a good place to stop. I think there is also a very cute restaurant called Grandma's House that we used eat at...odd name Yreka...is it Indian?

Been trying to write a press release for this upcoming show and it is really hard to be serious about it...

Jeannie said...

@WM, good to hear that your mural
is coming along.

@Melissabee...enjoy your upcoming GGW weekend. I am counting down with you.

@Tarrajo, good to hear that the LGJ has survived his accident. Are you sure we weren't at the same wedding? The beer kinda makes it all hazy not to mention the blinding orange. I don't think I wear that color very well.

@Dennis...hmmm...carpet pummel syndrome. Let's not get me started...we all know where those end up, and it ain't pretty.

@Windhover, raking hay? How's that going for you? Do you need a Crane? I might have a man for you.