google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday June 27, 2009 Barry Silk

Advertisements

Jun 27, 2009

Saturday June 27, 2009 Barry Silk

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

Total words: 70

Hard puzzle for me. I actually filled in lots of 3-letter answers, but the long ones did not jump out as they should. Really had trouble biting into the chunks of stacked 9's and 8's in each corner.

Both of the grid-spanning 15-letter anchors are new to me also:

33A: 9/15/63 site of the only concert including both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones: ROYAL ALBERT HALL

8D: Whom "feeling good was good enough for," in a 1971 #1 song: ME AND BOBBY MCGEE

Favorite clues today:

50A: Bacon bit?: ESSAY. Francis Bacon.

1D: Unlawful firing?: ARSON. Set on fire. I was thinking of the job dismissal "fire". The question mark should have tipped me off.

Across:

1A: Stardom?: ASTRONOMY. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are! I was at sea.

15A: Hicksville: RURAL AREA

16A: "I speak for the trees" speaker: LORAX. Not familiar with this line. Have never read Dr. Seuss's "The LORAX".

17A: Peter Parker's alter ego: SPIDER-MAN. Couldn't remember who Peter Parker is, even though I saw the 2002 "SPIDER-MAN".

18A: Query in Matthew: IS IT I. Ha ha, mine was WHY ME.

19A: Work: OPUS. Had ???S sitting there forever.

21A: Understands: GETS IT

22A: Three-time all-star reliever Robb: NEN. Sigh. I forgot this guy again. I actually had several of his baseball cards, in Giants uniform.

23A: One spooning: FONDLER. This sounds very DF, no? I wanted FEEDER, but the answer has one extra blank.

25A: Dance: HOP

30A: Sing, in a way: HUM

32A: Ring: PEAL. Bell ring.

38A: At any point: EVER

39A: Johnny of the CSA: REB. Johnny Rebel. Slang for the Confederate soldier.

40A: Hawaiian tuna: AHI

41A: Intelligence concern: LEAK. Nailed it. Wanted LEAK for yesterday's "Security concern" (MOLE) also.

42A: Lively: GAY. French for GAY is GAI.

43A: Rich deposits: LODES. Wrote down LOAMS, which is "Rich soils".

46A: Yossarian's friend, in "Catch-22": ORR. No idea. The only ORR I know is Bobby ORR.

47A: Meteorological topic: AIR MASS. One of our local meteorologists is obsessed with tornadoes.

49A: Recommendations: DO'S

51A: Bern or Geneva: CANTON. The Swiss state.

53A: Abridged: CUT

54A: Rocker Matthews: DAVE. Nope. Was ignorant of this rocker and his band.

55A: "What? keep __ away? seven days and nights?": "Othello": A WEEK. Oh well, I guessed DREAM.

56A: Like farming: AGRONOMIC. Agro is prefix for "soil". ARABLE has a different root.

58A: Earth: TERRA. Latin for earth.

59A: Advertiser's confirmation: TEAR SHEET. New term to me.

61A: Prime time shows, e.g.: TELECASTS

Down:

2D: Last __: SUPPER. I felt stupid not to get the answer immediately.

3D: Father, Son and Holy Ghost, e.g.: TRIUNE. Only knew TRINITY.

4D: Some extremist: RADS. Radicals.

5D: "Hooray!" relative: OLE

6D: Horse's nose, say: NARROW MARGIN. Oh, I see, win by a nose.

7D: "The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom" author: ORMAN (Suze). She sure can talk.

9D: Chinese chef Martin: YAN. "YAN Can Cook". Martin YAN was born in Guangzhou, the city where I worked before moving to the US.

10D: More furtive: SLIER. Or SLYER.

11D: Party leader: HOST. Nice clue. Five letter answer would be EMCEE.

12D: One end of St. George's Channel: IRISH SEA. No idea. See this map. St George's Channel seems to connect Ireland with Wales.

13D: Like some debt: NATIONAL

14D: Questions to those who are leaving: EXIT POLL. Tricky clue. Quality answer.

21A: Rural retailer: GENERAL STORE. Not fond of the clue, as RURAL is part the answer for 15A.

23D: __ tip: FOUL. Baseball term. FOUL tip is counted as a strike.

24D: Stow below: LADE

27D: Whiz: SHARK. To me, SHARK has a negative connotation, while whiz does not.

29D: Greenfly, for one: APHID. I always fail to get APHID, regardless of what the clue is.

33D: Have a moving experience?: RELOCATE. Great clue.

34D: Intimidates: OVERAWES. New word to me.

35D: They're filled with longing: YEARNERS. At least, there is real love involved in Governor Sanford's case.

36D: Tragic king: LEAR. King LEAR. Two Shakespeare references today.

37D: Pres. Jefferson: THOS. I did not know the abbreviation of Thomas is THOS. I wrote down THOM.

44D: "My Cup Runneth Over" singer: ED AMES. I forgot. Saw identical clue somewhere. Here is the clip.

45D: __ bloc: SOVIET. Also called Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc. The "bloc" in the clue should be capitalized, no?

47D: Perfect: A-OKAY. Wrote down IDEAL. More familiar with A-OK.

48D: Like an otological test: AURAL. "Oto" is prefix for "ear".

50D: Quakers et al.: SECTS

52D: Trillion: pref.: TERA. Unknown to me.

54D: Qatar's capital: DOHA. Interesting, Wiki says DOHA came from Arabic ad-dawha, meaning "the big tree".

56D: J.D. holder: ATT. I wonder if our J.D. filled in BOB. I liked this funny dancing Frostie she linked yesterday. Snowball is cuter.

57D: Iran-contra affair org.: NSC (National Security Council). CIA was involved too.

Answer grid.

C.C.

44 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - a great way to start a Saturday morning, with a Barry Silk puzzle. Although I really fought this one, and had to g-spot my ass off, I loved the puzzle.

I slid all the way across and halfway down before I got any traction, and even that was tenuous at best. I finally bounced around, filling in random clues that were simple, then went back and tried to think outside the box, as Barry does so well. Great clues, for me, included 'stardom', 'bacon bit', 'party leader' and 'questions to those who are leaving'. I really wanted 'bundler' for 'one spooning' and was surprised to finally see 'fondler', which I don't find synonymous. I like the thought, however.

I found it funny that when I gave up and g-spotted '9/15/63 concert', up pops our blog with the answer.

Today is Paul Bunyan Day and Sun Glasses Day (which we're finally going to need here in the NE).

Today's Words of Wisdom: "Old age equalizes -- we are unaware that what is happening to us has happened to untold numbers from the beginning of time. When we are young, we act as if we were the first young people in the world." -- Writer/Philosopher Eric Hoffer

Fun Facts:

- The average pregnancy of an Indian elephant lasts 650 days.

- The average car in Japan is driven 4,400 miles per year.

Anonymous said...

Hard puzzle for me. I actually filled in lots of 3-letter answers, but the long ones did not jump out as they should. Really had trouble biting into the chunks of stacked 9's and 8's in each corner.

I had the opposite experience: I was able to get ASTRONOMY (of course), SPIDERMAN (of course), IRISH SEA, EXIT POLL and YEARNERS so I was feeling okay even though I couldn't finish the puzzle. I couldn't google because my wife was busy watching videos on youtube this evening.

My first instincts were JIG for HOP, MOLE for LEAK, WEATHER for AIR MASS, PERSONAL for NATIONAL and MUST SEE TV for TELECASTS. My favorite clue was "Like an otological test" because "otological" and AURAL are synonyms. Sorry but I prefer straightforward clues.

Martin

Anonymous said...

Oh I forgot! I wanted REDS (communists) for RADS. The clue "Some extremists" didn't indicate an abreviation.

I also liked the crossing of TERRA and TERA. And there were at least three Biblical references: SUPPER, TRIUNE and IS IT I?

I remember Martin Yan from CBC's Wok With Yan.

Martin

Linda said...

Good morning CC and fellow headscratchers:

Googles aplenty! "Fondler?" It that allowed in a "family xw?" "Tearsheet?" It ONLY came with other fills. Wanted some kind of "front' for the weather topic...wouldn`t fit. "Johnny of CSA" was my favorite clue...being from the "Sow uth" or as Granny calls it "The War of Northern Agression!"

Going to play...daughter-in-law`s BD and it`s a movie and then dinner. She wants to see "Pelham"...I`m relunctant because I try to stay away from "R"s"...guess I`ll hide my eyes...I have a theory that the more violence you see, the more de-sensitized and even prone to it you become...having formed that opinion over many years of observation.

714: God and Time

eddyB said...

Good morning everyone. Do not understand 27D, except that is what the fills said it was. It
is supposed to go to 96 today. It's time to load the canoe onto the truck and find an estuary.

eddyB

Argyle said...

Yeah, eddyB, I thought SHARK for Whiz (27D) was weak, too. True, a card SHARK or a pool SHARK is good at what they do, as is a Whiz, but SHARK has a negative connotation that Whiz doesn't.

KittyB said...

WHEEEEE! Barry Silk!

I don't blanch at the thought of one of his puzzles now, but I still need plenty of red letter help to get through the c/w.

I was able to finish all of it but the "N" where TRIUNE and NEN crossed. I simply have not heard of either word. I started, as Dennis did, filling in at random, until I had enough letters to make more informed guesses. Like Dennis (again) 'bundler' came to mind for 'one spooning,' and like Linda, I was very surprised to find it was FONDLER.

'Bacon bit' is a great clue! So is 'Unlawful firing.'

AGRONOMIC, TELECASTS, and TEARSHEET, were among the last answers to fall.

This puzzle was a challenge and a lot of fun. I don't believe I would have been able to complete it without red letter help, but I'm beginning to think more like Mr. Silk. YEA ME!

Depending on the heat....maybe some more weeding. If it's too bad, I may hibernate and work on quilts today. I hope you all have a great weekend!

KittyB said...

Argyle, so nice to see you back! I hope the computer problems have been resolved.

I agree about the 'Whiz'/SHARK pairing. Perhaps the clue could have been something to do with a pool shark, or ocean nemesis.

Dennis said...

Linda, 'fondle' is defined "to handle tenderly, lovingly, to caress" - why would it not belong in a "family xw"?

KittyB, Barry does stretch the mind, doesn't he?

Jazzbumpa said...

Hey gang -
Over 120 K were without power after Thus's storms. Daughter Karen & kids spent Fri nite with us. Hubby Joe went home to hold down the fort. Power came back about 1 a.m. today. We had a delightful time together.

Off to T-Town for mom mainenence today.

Good, tough puzzle today. I never got TEARSHEET, (and don't think much of the clue) though I had TEAR__EET. Obviously missed NSC and DOHA as well.

I agree with the posted quibbles, but a very good puzzle over all. Looked impossible for a while bit chipping away finally got me all but 2 squares.

Cheers!

kazie said...

Very tough, I had to hit the g'spot for some of the NE and SE corners and some names. Actually knew/quickly guessed Dave Matthews, Royal Albert Hall, Spiderman, tearsheets, and "me and Bobby McGee" But struggled on some other longer ones.
I like ESSAY, I should get that one next time though. Was trying to figure what the cities of Bern and Geneva have in common before canton revealed itself.

See you all later--off for the day.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All. As soon as I saw Barry Silk's name I knew I was going to love this puzzle! I wasn't disappointed because I got ME AND BOBBY MC GEE right off the bat. I filled in the BERT of 33A and the rest of ROYAL ALBERT HALL was a gimme.

Most of the longer fills just fell nicely into place for me. I did have to depend on perps for most of OVERAWES and TEAR SHEET though.

I had more problems with the little guys like NEN, DOS and LEAK. I had SHARP for "Whiz", so it took a while to sort that out.

I laughed at myself because I knew the modern DAVE Matthews Band, but even when I had filled in EDAMES, I thought it was some kind of new age band with the same name as the Asian bean. I know, it is "edamame", but we see what we want to see.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a challenger today. I could hardly believe I had been able to fill in the whole thing correctly, offline, and with no outside assistance. Took some serious head scratching though; definitely not an under 10 minute, walk in the park. Nen (wanted Ned), Fondlers (???), shark (wanted smart) and Foul Tip (??) all seemed pretty iffy as answers to me. I was amazed to find I had guessed correctly on all of them, thinking I must be a letter or two off somewhere.

Don't know about the rest of you, but I've thought all the puzzles this past week very enjoyable, especially the last few days. Yesterday's "pie ala mold" yielded the best "Aha!" moment for me.

Best,

-anon-hp

g8rmomx2 said...

Hi c.c. and all:

Well, I had astrodome at first instead of astronomy; Handler instead of Fondler; Thom instead of Thos; Agrologic instead of Agronomic; Repot instead of Resow. I wanted Trinity but it wouldn't fit. I was all over the place and like Dennis put the simple ones in and kept coming back. I did get Royal Albert Hall, Me and Bobby McGee, General Store pretty early which helped out a lot. Had to google a few but managed to plug thru it. Barry Silk puzzles sure make you think a lot!

Favorite clues: bacon bit, party leader, Have a moving experience?, questions to those who are leaving, and unlawful firing.

Barb B said...

First long clue I solved was ME AND BOBBIE MCGEE. I listened to that song enough to burn grooves in my brain and I still know the words. That put me in a good mood and I was able to finish. Of course there were a lot of wags, but that just made it more fun.

Favorite clue is BACON BITS.

Anon-hp and other whiz solvers, my hat is off to you. I can only do the puzzles with red letter help. Without that help, I’d probably get to OVERAWED and just fade away.

Clear Ayes said...

Today's WOW reminded me of this poem. Haven't we all been there at one time or another. At least I hope we all have. I also thought of "fondle", in Dennis' most tender sense of the word.

It Isn't Time That's Passing

Remember the long ago when we lay together
In a pain of tenderness and counted
Our dreams: long summer afternoons
When the whistling-thrush released
A deep sweet secret on the trembling air;
Blackbird on the wing, bird of the forest shadows,
Black rose in the long ago summer,
This was your song:
It isn't time that's passing by,
It is you and I.

- Ruskin Bond

IRISH JIM said...

Hi CC and all.

A lot more doable than the last 2 Saturdays.

Good start with Me and Bobby etc,
also Royal Albert hall.
Also liked Bacon bits and unlawful firing.

Wrote down North Sea first instead of Irish Sea. Wrong side of English channel.

Never heard of Triune and I am Catholic.

Last to fall was Rural area and I used to live in Hicksville Long Island.

Jimmy, S Carolina

Jerome said...

C.C.- "Me and Bobby Mcgee" was written by Kris Kristofferson. Pretty amazing guy. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa with a BA, summa cum laude in literature and earned a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. In 1965 he was offered the position as a professor of English Literature at West Point. So, what does he do? He becomes a songwriter instead! How time flies... He's now 73.

WM said...

Morning all...I have to say that when I went to print the puzzle off last night and saw that it was a Barry Silk...I did an arm pump and a big Woo Hoo! I knew that it would be a toughie...it is a Sat. after all...but decided to get it at least started very late last night...it took about 45 or so min but I did it!

Oddly, my first fill was SPIDERMAN...who knew? I couldn't believe that SHINE was so easy. We used to read Dr. Suess to the girls and the LORAX was terribly sad as were many of his stories.

I really had to dance all around this puzzle...little bits here and there and filled in all the 3 letter words I could. Got ARSON right off. ASTRONOMY came pretty quickly as did ROYAL ALBERT HALL. I, like Dennis, wanted Bundler and I also put in THOM which messed up the AIRMASS thing for quite a while...and I am a weather geek! LOL! AGRONOMIC and TEARSHEET were fairly easy as we used to have to add tearsheets from published work to our art portfolios. Like CA I first thought EDAMES was one word.
He of the infamous tomahawk throwing incident on Johnny Carson.

Had no clue on ORR, or NEN...but they filled themselves in. Everything eventually filled in and I did get DAVE Matthews early on because our youngest was a huge fan and my husband inherited all the concert shirts since Dave has fallen out of her favor.

Also loved Bacon bit.

Dennis...great WoW as I often find myself empathizing with my mom and trying to picture my own future...at 18-40 I don't think it really registered.

I'm sure JD enjoyed seeing herself in the puzzle and sorry to be so dense, but I still don't get that one????

CA...as always, a wonderfully chosen poem.

Sidebar...someone who fell through the crack was country singer Jeannie C. Riley of "Harper Valley PTA" fame, who also apparently died on the same day as Farrah and MJ.

Appologies for the long post...but will be very busy again today...indoors, as we are aiming for triple digits today. Also staying close to the phone as our oldest niece and husband are about to make us a great-aunt and uncle...WOOT!

Anonymous said...

Hi C.C and everyone,
As I recall someone maybe panning a Canadian train trip.
There is an article in the paper about a family that took a across country train ride.
The Viarail site is :
www.viarail.ca.

Haven't got to this c/w yet.
We have one in our paper for Canada Day which takes up the whole page.
About 1000 clues, may take a stab at it if I can find the time.

Have a great weekend !
Best,
Geri

melissa bee said...

good morning c.c. and all,

definitely kick-started some brain cells with this one. thoroughly enjoyable. got a couple long fills right away which helped alot. TERRA was a gimme only because of the video podcast TERRA, the nature of our world .. it's a good one. loved bacon bit.

wm: juris doctorate.

@tarrajo: thx. if you care to email me i have something fun to share about kids and thunderstorms.

Clear Ayes said...

I'm back from a local yard sale. Not too much there other than clothes, games and toys for little kids. I did pick up a few CDs. We haven't joined the iPod generation, although I have finally disposed of the last of our VHS movie tapes. One of the CDs was a Red Hot Chili Peppers album. The woman who sold it to me said, "I didn't think you'd be a RHCP person". I said, "I didn't think I was either." But it only cost $1, so I'll live a little dangerously. :o)

I liked Kris Kristofferson early on, but after Bobby McGee, Sunday Morning Coming Down and Help Me Make it Through The Night, he just kind of fizzled in the mid-70's.

He has never been a great actor, although I am apparently one of the few people who liked Heaven's Gate. He was the star, but it was a taciturn kind of part and Christopher Walken, as the second lead, stole the show.

melissa bee said...

@clear ayes: which peppers album?

my dad did some recording with kris kristofferson, who actually carved his autograph in one of my dad's guitars with a pocket knife.

was at barnes and noble yesterday and picked up a book called 'crasswords, dirty crosswords for cunning linguists,' from the bargain table. it was, appropriately, half off.

WM said...

MelissaB...Thanks...really had no clue!

#2

embien said...

23:17 today. A fine, fine puzzle, marred only by my inability to correctly parse ED AMES and see that DOS could be anything other than Spanish for "two".

I struggled also in the southwest, where I wanted something like SUISSE for Bern and Geneva and once you have something wrong in there it's mighty hard to get things straightened out, what with all those long downs crossing it.

And someday I'll learn my superhero alter egos, but I'm not really a fan (except for the NBC program Heroes, to which I'm addicted--virtually the only network drama program I watch).

None of these personal problems detracted from my enjoyment of the puzzle, which featured a lot of rip-snortin', lively fill. FONDLER? AGRONOMIC? LORAX? Awesome stuff--Barry Silk does it again! And that's not even talking about the ROYAL ALBERT HALL!!

Re: Friday's blog. I loved the reminiscences of the old Allis Chalmers tractors. I spent many, many hours running one of those things around the fields as a kid (I forget the model, but it was one of the larger ones, and was gas, not diesel).

We also had a Ferguson, which was superfun to drive. You could step on one of the foot brakes (there was one on each rear wheel) and turn a corner on a dime (and fast, too). Just had to make sure Dad wasn't watching when you did it!

Those were the days (50's/60's) when each brand of tractor had its own "colors" so you could see from across a field what every farmer was running. As I recall, ACs were orange, IHs red, Deeres green, Fergies grey or blue. Cats were, of course, always yellow (we had one of those too, but us kids were rarely allowed to run it). Japanese equipment was totally unknown.

Warren said...

Hi C.C. & ..., a real tough puzzle for Saturday, we had to go online in red to finish.

I apologize for over posting the other day, must have gotten too busy trying to answer questions that I didn't notice.

RE: Royal Albert Hall?

I remember it from this Beatles song A day in the life which is one of my favorites.

Anonymous said...

Hello All--Had a whole lot of trouble with this one. I thought I was getting better at this CW stuff, but then one by Barry Silk comes along and I'm stumped. I did get some of the answers, but Googled many.

I liked some of the clues--especially Bacon Bits. I liked many of the same parts as others did, and fell into the abyss where others did, also.

It will be very hot here today, so I picked beans and berries in the garden early so I could avoid the heat.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Chickie

Lemonade714 said...

20:23 and no g-spot. Not sure why, but I must be on Barry Silk's wavelength. ROBB NEN was a member of the early Florida Marlins along with all time saves leader TREVOR HOFFMAN, one of the many great young players sent on their way by the Marlins.

The clue for TEAR SHEETis very straight forward.

TRIUNE


Never heard of TRIUNE
but it makes sense when you look at in pieces TRI=three UNE=one.

It is ironic that during a week in which ED MCMAHON died we have a reference to ED AMES, who is most famous for his HATCHET THROW . Ames was playing an Indian (okay Native American) Mingo on the Daniel Boone show.

Oberhasli said...

Whew! I had a hard time getting things to fall into place today. The top left was hard and the bottom right. The "Bacon bit" had me stumped. I kept thinking of Kevin Bacon in Footloose and trying to remember his name in that movie - DUH! He and his brother are up on top of Pikes Peak for the 4th giving a charity concert. Hope the altitude doesn't do them in.

Have a great weekend!

WM said...

Ed Ames

This is a first try at linking...wish me luck

#3

RichShif said...

Hi C.C. and gang,

Usually do not have anything new to add so I don't post. Today's puzzle had some interesting clueing but our paper had a hyphen in the 21A clue. We had "under-stands" instead of understand. I was trying to come up with something dealing with foundation or base. Did not even consider "gets it" because of the hyphen. The clue was not printed on two lines, but there wasn't a question mark afterward. Did anybody else have this clued the same?

Warren said...

For WM on how to post a link,

This is the text you need. Copy it into the comment field and then paste your URL between the "" marks.

how to link


the BR command bounded by <> puts in a hard return if needed.

I hope this helps?

;-)

Barry S said...

@CC: My original clue for GENERAL STORE was [Sam Drucker had one on "Green Acres"].

I wonder how many people alive today attended that Beatles / Rolling Stones concert in September, 1963? Most Americans hadn't heard of either group at that time!

And thanks for all the (mostly) nice comments!

Barry Silk

WM said...

Yea! Barry...and I really like your original clue...I, unfortunately, remember that TV show. Royal Albert Hall was actually a gimme...It was the first place I thought of. Just an all around terrific puzzle.

Warren, thank you...that's what I did and it didn't work...when I have more time I may play with it again...

Lemonade...thanks for the successful link, it is such a funny clip...I actually remember watching the original show, its one of those things that sticks in your memory...LOL

Argyle...it is so good to have you back, hope the computer continues to behave.

Crockett...how is Leo doing?

#4

Crockett1947 said...

@wm Thanks for asking about the critter. He was in for his blood draw for his thyroid tests yesterday, and had gained back .6 pounds in just over three weeks. He continues to navigate well, and has been off the steroids for over a week. Will have the test results back next week.

Anonymous said...

Crockett1947 and Leo,

Great news!
Geri

Linda said...

Hi all; Full to the brim with garlic shrimp pasta! Yum Yum!

Pelham 123 is a nailbiter and two hours long. If they had left out all the f words...it would have been only one hour long. I felt like coming home and washing my ears out! With Denzel Washington and Travolta, they did not need all that to titilate and audience into coming...most I`ve ever heard it in any "A" movie...be forewarned for the little folk`s sake.

tfrank said...

Greetings, All,

A late post again, due to a morning meeting and putting up ten pints of fig preserves this afternoon.

What a great puzzle. I finished it in about an hour and half with pencil and paper and no g. spotting. Jean helped out by supplying ED AMES, who was unknown to me.

When I took my first look at it, I said, "No way, Jose", but as I plugged away, the answers started to come. I got ME AND BOBBY, GENERAL STORE, and ROYAL ALBERT HALL fairly quickly. Wanted Boss for Host and, like others, Thom for Thos. My first name is Thomas, but I don't think I have ever seen it abbreviated (except by me; I use T.)

I especially liked the three biblical clues. My church did a Holy Week pageant once on the Last Supper with all the apostles around the table, each of them asking the Lord, "Is it I" and telling how they were qualified to be the betrayer.

Good job, Barry!

WM said...

Woo Hoo! I'm a great aunt for the first time! The baby (girl) is named Kamdyn Elisabeth and is 7lbs 15 oz and 20 1/2 in long...her mom is almost 6' and her dad is 6' 5" so she will probably be very tall...everyone is so thrilled...just had to share! :o)!

That's 5 for me so 'nite everyone

Clear Ayes said...

Melissabee, RHCP Blood Sugar Sex Magik. I guess I am a Peppers person. I know it is an older album, but I really like it. I'm going to leave it in the car for a while, so I can listen to it without distractions. LOL, there is an "Explicit Lyrics" warning, but I think I am old enough.

"F-ing" every other word in a movie is definitely overkill, although I wouldn't stay away from a movie because of the language. But I sure hope Linda didn't see any kids younger than older teens in the audience. I've been to too many R-rated movies where parents bring pre-teens along. That does bother me. Adults understand that it is just a movie, but younger children don't. The movies are rated R for good reasons; they are for adults. There are plenty of junky PG movies kids can get into, without their parents purposely exposing younger children to R movies.

I miss responsible reviewers like Siskel and Ebert's At The Movies. If a movie got a thumbs up from both of them, I was pretty sure it would be worth seeing. I do check Roger Ebert's online column. I had to laugh at part of his Taking Of Pelham review, "Since time immemorial, Vehicular Disaster Epics have depended on colorful and easily remembered secondary passengers: Nuns with guitars, middle-aged
women with swimming medals, a pregnant woman about to go into labor, etc."

WM, Congratulations to you and the new parents.

JD said...

CC, I filled in Bob for 23A-one spooning instead, so I knew he couldn't have been in their twice.LOL!

Loved being perplexed over a Silk puzzle. So many ah-ha moments, like "Is it I?" Have a moving experience gave me a giggle.Filled in all, except the u in opus/triune. Family arrived before I could post.

JD said...

omigosh..I misspelled there!oops!
BTW, I have no clue what JD stands for, except juvenile delinquent.

Crockett, great news about Leo. We are keeping an eye on "Parsley" as he continues to lose weight for no reason.

Crockett1947 said...

@wm Congrats all around. Doesn't sound like she'll be a petite little thing, does it?

Anonymous said...

I am, I believe, the one who gets to "turn the lights off" at
"CC's Late Night Crossword Cafe!" Quick word on (37d):Thomas Jefferson--why THOS instead instead of THOS; for the benefit of CC and anyone infamiliar w/the
quaint custom of abbreviating first names: you will this done in many historical documents, including (I believe) the Declaration of Independence and genealogical records.
The habit was using the first few letters or first letter and
then the last letter or a key middle letter: so you get "Wm" for William, "Jas" for James, and "Jos" for Joseph, etcetera! Sometimes,the final letter would be raised slighty and undelined (my father used "Wm"
written that way and even wrote "Mrs" on envelopes in a similar way.
Sometimes, remnants of the tradition live on in company names or logos, (especially in the UK), e g.
Jos A Bank, clothiers .////comdoc